Hanbury & Draycott WI

19/06/2024

In 2024, the summer solstice will occur on Thursday 20 June at 21.51 BST (20.51 GMT)

The summer solstice occurs in June in the Northern Hemisphere and marks midsummer: the 'longest day' and 'shortest night' of the year. On this day, the number of hours of daylight are at their maximum, while the number of hours of night are at their minimum.

However, while most people consider the summer solstice to be a day, it is in reality an exact moment in time that falls upon that day. This moment comes when whichever hemisphere you're in is most tilted towards the Sun.

Did you know… the world 'solstice' comes from the Latin solstitium meaning 'Sun stands still', because the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south stops before changing direction

Why do we celebrate the Solstice? Since humans began using the Sun as a timekeeper, particularly when it came to the cycle in farming, the summer solstice has been marked with varying degrees of importance.

Perhaps most famously, the ancient monument Stonehenge has for some time been the centre of a ritual celebration. This comes from the fact the stones are lined up to frame the rising of the Sun on the solstice, perhaps suggesting a connection to the day and as a celebration of Sun. However it isn’t clear if marking summer solstice was indeed its purpose. The stones also mark the position of sunset on the winter solstice, and so may instead indicate a place to request the return of the summer months.

In any case, many modern-day religions gather at the site to mark the occasion: it is also one of the rare times visitors are allowed to walk right up to the stones themselves.

Elsewhere around the world, celebrations range from the biannual appearance of the feathered serpent shadow on the pyramid at Chichén Itzá in Mexico to a range of floral-themed events in countries like Sweden and Latvia.

Fact… In the southern hemisphere, where the summer solstice occurs in December, the day is instead strongly associated with Christmas, having once been the day of its celebration until various calendar changes shifted the dates apart.
Taken from The Royal Museums Greenwich. To read the full article, visit Summer solstice | Royal Observatory (rmg.co.uk)

Article taken from The WI Learning Hub Newsletter – 15.6.24

17/06/2024

We are applying for an educational grant. We would like answers from as many individuals as possible so please spare a minute to answer a couple of questions. Your help is greatly appreciated.

16/06/2024

15/06/2024

15/06/2024

13/06/2024

13/06/2024

📌 Dental Health resolution passes at the NFWI Annual Meeting

On 5 June, over 5000 members gathered at the Royal Albert Hall in London. After passionate speeches and a lively debate the 2024 resolution passed with the support of over 95 per cent of WIs.

Dental Health Matters

There is a chronic shortage of NHS Dentists and people are suffering health issues as a result. The NFWI calls on the Government to increase investment in the training and retention of dentists and to review the current inadequate NHS contracts in order to ensure everyone can access an NHS dentist wherever they live.

The NFWI Public Affairs Department will now take the resolution away and develop a WI campaign to take action on the dental health crisis both locally and nationally. There will be lots of opportunities for members to get involved.

10/06/2024

Craft : Felicity’s Learn to Knit for Absolute Beginners
Date: Monday, 17 June 2024
Time: 1:00PM - 2:00PM
Link: https://tinyurl.com/3fsfuhyr

Skill Level - Beginner

Join Felicity as she teaches you the basics of knitting!

In this session you will learn to cast on, knit, create garter stitch and cast off! Felicity is then going to show you how to make your first creation – a sheep greeting card.

10/06/2024

Super afternoon tea this afternoon at The Dovecliff in Rolleston on Dove.

10/06/2024

Wellness: Seated Strength Building with Sarah-Jane (June)
Date: Friday, 14 June 2024
Time: 11:00AM - 11:45AM
Link: https://learninghub.thewi.org.uk/at-home/courses/2024-06-14-110000/

The focus of this class is to build strength by adding weights to enhance our Yoga and Pilates poses and exercises.
Strength training has the ability to improve bone density, increase muscle mass, enhance coordination and boost metabolic rate. As a result of adding a little weight to your workout, Sarah-Jane's aim is that you will see an improvement in physical function in all areas of your life (she also promises that it will be a lot of fun!)
There is no need to buy dumbbells as you have everything you need for this class in your kitchen cupboards! We will also use our own bodies as our personal weight machines.
As always you can take every exercise at your own pace and skip any that don’t feel right for your body.

10/06/2024

Craft: Steve’s Splashy Watercolour
Date: Monday, 17 June 2024
Time: 4:00PM - 5:30PM
Link: https://tinyurl.com/45pxrrht

Skill Level - Beginner

Steve is looking at a more abstract aspect of watercolours this week - splashing!

Enjoy some freedom by going with it and letting your artistic skills develop by embracing fluidity and a liberating looser style of watercolour painting as you create these lovely wildlife paintings.

10/06/2024

The is here! 🥳

Show your support for action to tackle climate change, protect nature and support the hardest hit by taking part. Get involved at greatbiggreenweek.com today.

Let’s for good 💚

09/06/2024

Patients with heart conditions at UHNM are set to benefit from an innovative new pacemaker procedure. ❤️🏥

Teams from the Royal Stoke University Hospital’s Heart Centre are pioneering a new conduction system pacing technique.

This new procedure sees the existing pacemaker attached to the heart via the nervous system rather than heart wall, resulting in more natural contractions.

🗣 Dr Thanh Phan, Consultant Cardiologist and Lead Cardiac Electrophysiologist at UHNM said: “We fit around 1,500 pacemakers each year at UHNM, usually to more elderly patients whose heart rate has slowed down as they’ve got older. The pacemaker box which contains the brains of the pacemaker and the battery are implanted underneath the skin, usually on the left shoulder. There are then pacing leads that connect the pacemaker to the heart via a vein in the shoulder. With these leads attached to the heart, the pacemaker detects when the heartrate is too slow and begins pacing the heart by sending electrical signals down these leads.

“Conventionally, these pacemaker leads are implanted into the inner muscle of the heart, however, this can cause a desynchrony between the left and right sides of the heart when it contracts, and over time this can lead to potential long-term problems such as heart failure.

“The new conduction system pacing technique places the leads next to the nervous system of the heart itself, sending signals to the nerves that spread to the rest of the heart, resulting in a more synchronised, more natural contraction and reducing the risk of developing heart failure.”

The new conduction system pacing procedure will be offered to patients at UHNM with reduced heart functions who would benefit from a more natural form of pacing.

One of the first patients to benefit from the new technique at UHNM was Lynda Packer from Wombourne.

The 70-year-old underwent the new procedure to replace a previous pacemaker fitted following a heart attack three years ago.

🗣 Lynda said: “I had my previous device fitted following a heart attack whilst at the Staffordshire County Show. My new pacemaker is amazing, I can now breathe properly and am not getting anywhere near as out of breath as I had done in the previous years, it’s incredible. I now feel like I want to get back to the gym.

“It sounds a cliché, but everyone involved in my care at the Heart Centre at UHNM is amazing. I’ve got no complaints about anybody, all the staff are just incredible, and they are so knowledgeable. The Heart Centre is a kind and wonderful place, and my message to any future patients is don’t be afraid of what you’re about to have done, go for it. It will change your life and give you that feeling you’ve got a life again.”

🗣 Joanne Hill, Directorate Manager for UHNM’s Heart Centre said: “It is fantastic news for our patients that we can offer our patients this cutting edge technology, and I am very proud of our Cardiology Team who continue to support our mission to deliver exceptional care to our local population.”

Dr Phan added: “We’re very excited to be able to offer this new pioneering technique to our local population, further enhancing a minimally invasive procedure that is already offered as a day case, in our state-of-the-art cardiac catheter laboratories, supported by UHNM Charity. It has a very promising future, and to have this ability here at UHNM ensures we are giving our patients the most cutting-edge treatment.”

05/06/2024

Wasn't brilliant? We are so grateful for her sharing her truth with us today, at our , on the theme of violence against women, and domestic abuse. Thank you also to being the best interviewer on-stage at .

📸

05/06/2024

* PLEASE NOTE: Form to be used for all SFWI events and competition entries going forward.

05/06/2024

NFWI Chair, who is standing down after 3 years, tells the members that this year has been the strongest year of WI recruitment! Continuing to grow, through flexibility (e.g.17 virtual WIs) and offering women the chance to be supporters.

05/06/2024

SFWI : Staffordshire Federation Women's Institutes Chair and Vice Chairs Helen and Verity Royal Albert Hall

05/06/2024

SFWI : Staffordshire Federation Women's Institutes Barlaston Afternoon WI

05/06/2024

Here we are: Staffordshire Women's Instututes at the NFWI ANNUAL MEETING at The ROYAL ALBERT HALL

19/12/2023

Our December meeting definitely had a festive atmosphere. There was mulled wine, mince pies and music, and lots of sparkly accessories. Ann had devised a fiendishly difficult quiz - Karen was the winner with a score of 7 1/3 out of 20. Would you have known the Tom Tower was in Oxford? That the Metropolitan Police were founded in 1829? Or that the Collossos of Rhodes represented Helios? No? - neither did I!
Jackie's picture quiz was a little easier, although we couldn't decide whether it was Fountains Abbey or Tintern Abbey we were looking at and didn't recognise Chatsworth. But our table were eventual winners with a score of 33 out of 40. They were both great fun - and we all learnt something new.
The competition was for Christmas earrings and we duly lined up in front of Audrey, who took her responsibility as a judge very seriously. Kath's sparkly stars were chosen as the winners. She did confess, however, that she had taken them off the Christmas tree on the way out.
Altogether a superb evening, full of Christmas spirit.
Judy

05/12/2023