Camberley WI
Previous Meetings
More photos may be found by clicking on the date of the meeting.
21st January 2025 - Seated Yoga and Nutrition talk
We started the year with a meeting focussed on our well being. Local Yoga tutor Jason, who runs a weekly session for some of our members, gave us a 'taste' of Yoga from the comfort of our chairs. He made sure that this was suitable for all ages and abilities, explained every move, and had us working through our body joints from head to toes, accompanied by some very soothing music.
Following this, local Sports Therapist Heidi, who has led exercise sessions with stretchy bands for us in the past, gave us a talk on nutrition. She reminded us of the importance of getting the right balance of protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins & minerals, particularly as we age, and suggested that we cut down on unhealthy foods that we love (like chocolate, cakes, crisps and alcohol), rather than cutting them out altogether.
Two lucky ladies won baskets stuffed full of well-being products in the raffle, and rather than cake, we each enjoyed a handful of grapes with our cuppas.
18th February 2025 - A Schoolgirl's War
We thoroughly enjoyed a brilliant, informative & fascinating talk given by Mary Smith who was a Head teacher & English teacher at Maidstone Girls Grammar School from 2006-2014. She told us how the pupils had to deal with the challenges of their schooling during the Second World War, during air raids when their lessons would be conducted in the underground tunnels. The daily school life of the pupils & teachers were beautifully illustrated by Helen Keen, an art teacher at that time, vividly bringing to life the conditions they had to endure during these times spent in the uncomfortable, partly lit & cold air raid shelters, which are still accessible in the grounds of the school.
Mary showed us wonderfully detailed drawings and paintings from the original "Scrapbook" and told us anecdotes gleaned from talking to some of the "old girls" at the school.
18th March 2025 - Steve Coburn from the Login Lounge
At our meeting this month we had a fascinating talk from Steve Coburn, manager and founder of local business the "Login Lounge". During the Covid pandemic, Steve turned empty offices into a space for co-working. His vision was to provide a place for people to work during the day and socialise at night, bringing life back to Camberley. Steve, an accomplished musician, (amongst many other things) thus became 'The Accidental Nightclub Owner', with the venue hosting a full diary of live events - bands, comedy club, jazz sessions and even some plays.
Steve put a lot of thought into the building of the Login Lounge by upcycling where possible and buying in local produce including coffee and gin, and we get to experience this thriving business ourselves as we hold our coffee mornings here.
15th April 2025 - Diamond Gem Painting
This was a wonderful craft to try! Melanie had managed to source a good selection of animal picture cards at a great price, and we all learned how to pick up the little gems, and stick them onto the cards in the correct place - it was like painting by numbers, but using sparkly gems, instead of paint! This was the first meeting for many of our new members, so it was a great opportunity to get to know them better as we chatted and crafted.
9th May 2025 - Dr Al Pinkerton MP
We arranged an additional meeting, to which we invited friends, family and other local WIs, to hear a presentation by our MP, Dr Al Pinkerton. Held in the lovely building of St Paul's church, we heard Al talk about his previous role as a lecturer in Geo Politics, what led him to become a parliamentary candidate, and how he has found his first year in Westminster. This was not a political event, instead it was a chance for us to find out more about the man who represents us in Surrey Heath, and to learn about the subjects about which he is passionate.
20th May 2025 - The Morse Code
Pete Allen kept us enthralled with his behind the scenes look at the popular Inspector Morse TV series. He described how the 2 hour format of each episode was ground-breaking at the time, and how the sudden popularity of the series paved the way for many of today's crime dramas. We learned that the author, Colin Dexter, loved the way that John Thaw portrayed the character on-screen, and how Dexter has even appeared in each episode of not only Morse, but also the two spin-off shows: Lewis and Endeavour. Many other famous actors, including John Gielgud, Samantha Bond, Richard Griffiths and Christopher Ecclestone, have appeared in the series over the years, and of course the other star is the Oxford landscape!
17th June 2025 - Hats off to Sophie!
Local Milliner, Sophie Fryer shared with us her passion for wearing and making hats. She took 3 lessons 20 years ago with a master milliner in Greenwich and was hooked. She is a couture milliner, which means all her hats are bespoke and painstakingly created and decorated with natural materials. She maintains there is a hat to suit everyone and her top tip to find the right style was to try lots on. Camberley WI were happy to oblige
15th July 2025 - Declutter Detective
At our July meeting Imogen Murphy, from The Little Organising Company, had us all thinking about how to declutter. Sometimes this can seem an overwhelming task! The first step is reducing the amount - the less you have the easier it it is to declutter, organise and tidy. Imogen suggested a good approach was to ask yourself "do you need this? and "does it mean anything to you?" She suggested we make use of storage containers, boxfiles and label things. Then use outlets for getting rid of items - donate to charity shops, or sell online, for example.
It certainly got us all thinking. So ladies don't put it off, get on with it now!!!
16th September 2025 - Lady Gertrude Denman
On the 110 year anniversary of the formation of the WI in England & Wales, it was lovely to have Joanna Foat talk to us about the life of Lady Gertrude Denman, the first President of the National Federation of Women's Institutes. Trudie was an interesting character: she came from a wealthy family and
actively supported women's suffrage as an Executive member of the Women's Liberal Federation, before accompanying her husband to Australia when he was appointed Governor General.
On returning to England at the start of WW1 she managed a Committee to set up the Women's Land Army & was the first chairman of the Family Planning Association, as well as our first National President.
21st October 2025 - Paranormal Mysteries and Cover-Ups
This month we had a thought provoking talk by Andy Thomas, one of Britain's most prolific authors and lecturers on Paranormal Mysteries - a phenomenon that describes events or perceptions that lack scientific explanation. Andy explored the extraordinary phenomenon of crop circles - the stunning, beautiful patterns which appear in the fields each year, and he also delved into unexplained phenomena including UFOs, ghosts, strange creatures, psychic powers, out of body experiences and ancient enigmas. He asked us all to keep an open-mind about such things!
This meeting was organised jointly with Camberley Athena WI, as together we hosted members of neighbouring WIs in the Chobham Ridges group.
