Birmingham Branch Embroiderers’ Guild: Chairs Report 2015
Birmingham
Branch has had another very successful year and again this is due to
the hard work of the committee and the enthusiasm of branch members.
Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement. We have
continued to grow and we see attracting new members and sharing
enthusiasm for stitch, as an important part of our work. Our times at
the Library on the first Saturday of the month make an important
contribution to that. There have been significant national
developments this year and we were pleased to exhibit some pieces at
the national meeting held in Birmingham this year and supported the
result of the vote. More important consultation is about to begin;
please say what you think and help the guild develop in the best
direction.
We
have enjoyed a stimulating programme of workshops and meetings. This
year’s A
Tale of Two Members featured Meriel Hutton and Janet Lee who had
varied stories and allowed us to share their wonderful work. We had a
talk about colouring fabrics from Edwina MacKinnon and heard about
the history of buttons from Jennifer Swindells and our Christmas
competition this year is inspired by that. We have had member’s
sessions including one on canvas work and have also used those
sessions to kick start new initiatives including Travelling books
which the branch has taken to with enthusiasm and Tactile books for
visually impaired children, led by Elizabeth Parker. Our summer party
featured great cakes from Angela Rowles and a talk from Stevie
Walker. Some of us were able to have a weekend in Westhope with
Stevie in September which was a great success. Our workshops have
been well attended, a messy and fun day with Art Van Go and Tag
making with Angie Hughes both very successful and a very recent
gold-work day.
We
completed our Tolkein Wall hanging and have again been involved in
CoCoMad, the local park festival in July where we had a stall selling
kits and finished items and providing a chance for others including
children and their parents to join us in stitching. This was fun and
also helped to generate funds for the Branch. Some of our branch
members have been published or are about to be in Stitch, June
Parkinson, Angela Atwood and Tina Francis. We are very proud of them.
We have just started working with a group in Washwood Heath with some
of our members helping them put together a hanging from elements of
work they have been doing together.
We
have started a DVD library and are lending out stamps and encouraging
members to share equipment with others. The blog continues to thrive
and that and email are really useful ways of communicating to each
other and to others outside of the branch.
http://birminghamembroiderersguild.blogspot.co.uk.
The
planning group for the Regional Day (Heather, Meriel, Tina,
Margaret, and Clare have been working hard planning for Saturday
18th
June 2016 at Portway Lifestyle Centre, Oldbury. Huge thanks to them
and soon branch members will have the chance to join in the
preparations, making tags for the Goodie Bags.
http://westmidsregionalday.weebly.com/
is the website for the Regional Day. Please make sure you have the
date in your diary and get working on the competition ‘Within Your
Footsteps: within 1000 footsteps of your front door’ and the
YE/JETS competition is ‘Garden Details’.
Ruth
Dugdale has taken over the leadership of the YE group with the
ongoing support of Janet Lee. Ruth will do her own report but on
behalf of the committee I would like to thank her and Janet for their
ongoing commitment to young people and stitch.
Our
monthly meetings continue to be well attended and the raffle led by
Lorna and helped by all of you, goes from strength to strength. We
are grateful to all of you who volunteer for a range of things
including the tea and coffee. I am personally very grateful to all of
the committee members and looking forward to working with Janette as
well next year. Everyone on the committee makes a real contribution,
planning the programme, greeting members and looking after new
arrivals, managing our finances and membership, delivering on the
blog and making sure we are all kept informed and receive important
information from the guild. Clare and Heather also attend the
regional committee and do fantastic work on our behalf. What I love
best about the committee is that we all like and care about each
other and have fun – what more can you want? Clare is also our
liaison for the Capability Brown Project happening soon.
We
are looking forward to next year with a varied programme and the
challenge of the regional day. Please keep coming forward with ideas
and suggestions and with new challenges for us all.
Comments