Welcome to the Rase WI in Middle Rasen

The Rase WI welcomes its members from the wider Market Rasen and Middle Rasen area. We are part of the North Lincs Federation of WI's which of course is part of the National Federation of Women's Institutes - https://www.thewi.org.uk

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WE MEET AT

Middle Rasen Village Hall, Wilkinson Drive, LN8 3LD

Every 4th Wednesday of the month.

Summer meeting April-September at 7:00 pm

Winter meetings October-March at 2:00 pm

If you would like to know more just come along to a meeting,

or e-mail: North Lincs Federation lincsnorthwi@gmail.com

or call 01507 525546

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WHAT DO WE GET UP TO?

We have about 30 members and our monthly meetings are a great place to meet up with friends and neighbours for a catch-up and a cuppa. The meetings feature speakers on a wide variety of topics, craft activity or demonstration, or events like quizzes and Beetle Drives.

In addition, we also have regular social outings which range from visits to Beehive makers to a simple get-together for a coffee, cake and a chat. We also fund-raise through holding events like coffee mornings or participating in craft fairs. Please see below for details of our recent activities and our up-and-coming programme.

We are part of the North Lincs Federation which also organises lots of events. For example, coming up over the summer and autumn there is

•  a visit to the International Bomber Command Centre,

•  a coach trip to Harrogate Autumn Flower show,

•  ‘Death on the Beach!' – a murder mystery day,

•  ‘Through the Garden Gate and Bee....yond' – an all-day event featuring speakers on beekeeping and conservation,

•  and of-course our regional quiz night in September.

So why not just pop in to see us?

Casual visitors are always welcome! Why not join us for one of our meetings to get a taste of what we are all about.

WHO'S WHO?

PRESIDENT: Jenny Turner

VICE PRESIDENT – Pat Golby

SECRETARY – Rosie Dawson

TREASURER – Maureen Williams

There are also 4 other members of the committee itself, but other members help out with various tasks like running refreshments and the raffle, and supporting events as and when needed.

LATEST NEWS FROM RASE WI

Christmas festivities got off to a good start “Oh no they didn't! Oh yes they did”, as Ruth, the afternoon's speaker, took members on a fascinating journey outlining the origin and history of the Pantomime.

The Pantomime, although somewhat different from today's, can be traced back to Ancient Rome and to early Greek mythology. We were taken on a historical tour through the ages and the development of the characters involved, leading up to the principal boy (always played a girl) and the Pantomime Dame (always played by a man). A very entertaining and informative afternoon culminating in two members, Eileen (as the Dame) and Marion (as the principal boy), acting out a typical panto scene which ended with the Dame having a “custard tart” in her face. Well done Eileen - she wasn't expecting that as the grand finale! Thank you, Ruth, for getting everyone into the Festive Spirit!

Ladies left in good spirits wishing each other seasonal greetings and everyone receiving a gift from the committee. A vote of thanks was given to the committee who had planned and provided festive food for the occasion.

The next meeting is on Wednesday 25 th February at 2pm when it will be the Annual meeting and social afternoon.

Val Wright

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It's always nice to learn a little more of the county where you live, in particular the environment. So, the members, a lot who have adopted Lincolnshire life, enjoyed the talk given by Leanne Smart from Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

After a brief history of the Trust and it's development and plans for the future, we learnt a little about the lesser-known parks and the more recent visitor centres. Most of the members were familiar with and had visited the larger and more popular sites. The talk was accompanied by some beautiful slides of the habitats, flora and fauna which could be found within these areas. A very interesting and informative afternoon, thanks to Leanne.
A party enlivened with a “Snowman Drive” is programmed for the next meeting on Wednesday 28 th January at 2pm. Sounds like it could be a fun afternoon!

Valerie Wright

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Oh dear! The annual WI lunch which was booked a year ago was suddenly cancelled as the venue Hemswell Court had gone into liquidation. So, what to do at such short notice? The treasurer who had already collected members money then, with the aid of other committee members set about making new arrangements. After several phone calls another venue who would be able to cater for the 24 ladies was located. The result was a very excellent meal at The Kings Head Tealby. Everyone enjoyed their meal and the happy convivial atmosphere, so we were all relieved that the saying “all's well that ends well” thanks must go to Maureen, our treasurer, for reorganising our lunch and for the staff of the Kings Head for saving the day!

The next WI meeting is on Wednesday 17th December at 2pm when the speaker Ruth Andrews' talk is entitled “Pantomime Dames”. No doubt this will be a very lively fun and entertaining afternoon. Why not come and join the fun?

WI members arrived at the meeting in September slightly anxious about the planned evening's programme entitled “Pilates”. What would this involve? Visions of floor exercises, balancing on large bouncy balls etc. so it was with some relief that this was not to be the case.

After being introduced, our speaker Emma Peplinski gave a short and very interesting account of the history and origin of Pilates, which is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by a German physical trainer Joseph Pilates after whom it is named.

As we all relaxed, we were made aware of different types of breathing and then participated in simple hand, fingers, arm, feet and leg exercise. This resulted in a lot of fun and laughter as we tried these out and were encouraged to do them on a regular basis to help in our general health.

Our thanks to Emma for such an interesting and beneficial evening.

The next meeting on 26 th November is a talk on the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust by Leanne Smart.

Valerie Wright (Nov 25)

RASE WI - MEAL & MAKING CHRISTMAS CARDS

Our annual meal out is at Hemswell Court on Wednesday 29th October. For more information about the meal and what else we get up to please go to our web page on the Middle Rasen Website http://www.middlerasen.org.uk and click on the link for Rase WI

“It's never too early to make Christmas cards" or that is what some Rase WI members thought at their August meeting.

WI member Sue had planned an evening of card making and under her supervision a wide range of cards for all occasions was available. Amid a lot of laughter and talking everyone set about being creative and producing their own works of art. A very enjoyable evening with members leaving very happy with the cards they had produced.Thanks must go to Sue for all the hard work she had put in organising such a successful evening!

Valerie Wright

Caroline Foster, our popular local and family history expert, joined us in June for another informative and interesting insight into our rich local history. Using local Lincolnshire newspaper archives she weaved together some fascinating tales going back over 150 years. From stories of bankrupts in the 1850's to tracing the female occupants of one particular local street, she utilised her historical research skills to bring our local ancestry to life.

Rase WI meets monthly at the Village Hall in Middle Rasen. Our July meeting is an outing with a strawberry tea. The next meeting in the village hall is at 7.00 pm on August 27 th - Why not join us for a night of crafting when one of our skilled crafters will be helping us create greetings cards? These nights are always great fun!

For more information about what we get up to please go to our web page on the Middle Rasen Website http://www.middlerasen.org.uk and click on the link for Rase WI.

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At our meeting in May, we welcomed Jenny Goucher from Market Rasen Health Centre. Many of us have older friends, neighbours and relatives who are reaching the stage in life where they may need extra support. We all want to stay as healthy and independent as possible, so Jenny's talk was of great interest to the group. Jenny is part of the Adult's Team at the surgery and gave an informative talk about the services available to help support people in their own home. It included lots of information about the different levels of support available, what social services can do to help and information about funding.  

Rase WI meets monthly at the Village Hall in Middle Rasen. For more information about what we get up to please go to our web page on the Middle Rasen Website http://www.middlerasen.org.uk and click on the link for Rase WI.

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Just as well WI members had not had a meal before their April meeting as the speaker for the evening was from Wiltshire Farm Foods. .An insight into the history and the production of their ready meals proved very interesting, as we learnt about the high nutritious standards they set for their meals. Different food allergies are also observed and different portion sizes, so all aspects of a ready meal could be catered for. Only a microwave is necessary to heat the meals, what could be a simpler way of obtaining a satisfying nutritional meal?

We also heard that the delivery drivers often do more than just deliver the meals, as they engage in conversation with the customers, sadly for some elderly people who live alone this could be their only contact with another person that day. After the talk we all had the opportunity of sampling a large selection of their meals, which we all agreed were very tasty. Even the more dedicated cooks amongst us admitted that they were impressed.

Some members decided to give meal delivery service a try as there are the odd times after a busy day when a simple ready meal would be a boon.The speaker was thanked for the presentation and for organising the many sample dishes, and we all left with “food for thought”.

For more information of Rase WI do contact a member for the programme of all future events.

Valerie Wright (June)

“The weird and wonderful. What could that mean? WI members were trying to hazard a guess( somewhat unsuccessfully) when they arrived at their monthly meeting. Ruth the speaker for the afternoon invited everyone to come, study and handle the items in the display she had arranged. What an eclectic assortment of miscellaneous goods lay before us! After we had returned to our seats Ruth inquired which items we would like to find out about. There followed a very amusing talk and discussion about the weird and wonderful objects. A very funny and entertaining afternoon enjoyed by all . Many thanks to Ruth for imparting her knowledge to us. The WI summer meetings take place at Middle Rasen Village Hall on the fourth Wednesday of the month starting at 7pm. A programme of the years meetings are available from the Secretary. Do come and join us we would love to welcome you. (from CS May 25)

FEBRUARY ANNUAL MEETING

Our President Yvonne Rowe presented her report and thanked the committee and members for their continued support. Similarly, the Secretary and Treasurers presented their annual report and all were adopted.

A big thank you to Yvonne who stepped down after a successful year as our President. Yvonne remains on the committee to help support the new President Jenny who takes over for 2025-26. Pat, Maureen and Rosie remain in post as vice-chair, treasurer and secretary respectively. The rest of the committee remained unchanged and there were no other members wishing to join the committee this year.

Following the formal business of the afternoon, we all participated in a Beetle Drive and raffle which was great fun, followed by tea/coffee, cakes and savouries provided by the members.

MARCH MONTHLY MEETING

Whilst some of the committee attended the North Federation Annual meeting (see below) our March meeting was chaired by our vice-president Pat, with Marguarite deputising for our Treasurer Maureen greeting members at the door. A big thank you to our speaker Ruth Andrews for her interesting talk. Ruth will be joining us again later in the year when she presents her ever popular Panto Dames night.

NORTH LINCS FEDERATION ANNUAL MEETING

In March four or our committee members attend the North Lincs Federation annual meeting which this year was held at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln. The meeting featured the well-known historian Tracy Borman as the keynote speaker. Tracy is a local girl from Scothern who was educated in Welton and Lincoln and is now Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University. Many of us watch her wonderful history programmes on TV and she is, of course, Chief Historian of Historic Royal Palaces. Her office is in Hampton Court Palace and her talk featured stories about her work and anecdotes about the palaces she is responsible for, including which ghosts she and her colleagues have seen!

Members of Rase WI were lucky enough to meet Tracy and have our photo taken with her when she presented us with a trophy for winning the North Lincs Federation area quiz! Well done Yvonne, Rosie, Maureen and Amanda.

APRIL MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting was opened by the president Jenny who welcomed everyone to the first of our spring/summer evening meetings. Our secretary Rosie went through all the notices which included upcoming events in the WI North Federation region, and a reminder that this years' National Federation of Women's Institutes Annual Meeting is being held on-line, with a screening at the New Life Church in Market Rasen on 4th June.

Our speaker this month was Rachael Pugsley from Wiltshire Farm foods who gave an interesting and informative presentation about the range of meals available from this well-known company. The evening including a tasting session which everyone really enjoyed. As usual the evening closed with a raffle, refreshments, and a chat with friends.

MONTHLY MEETINGS SUMMER PROGRAMME

MAY 28TH – HELP FOR THE MORE MATURE

Jennie Goucher from the Market Rasen Health Centre will be providing us with useful information about what's available locally to help support members to live health and independent lives.

25TH JUNE - IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN IN LINCOLNSHIRE

Caroline Foster is a local speaker specialising in all things Lincolnshire. This will be a fun evening of funny stories from local newspapers, and anecdotes about Lincolnshire life and Lincolnshire people .

23RD JULY – RASE WI OUTING – TBC

This is a popular event where we join together on a fun activity, cost covered from committee funds.

27TH AUGUST – CRAFT NIGHT

Sue Borman, one of our members who is a skilled crafter, will be sharing her knowledge and skills to help the group in a crafting activity. Why not have a go!

24TH SEPTEMBER – PILATES

Emma Petlinski is a local Pilates teacher who will be joining us to go through Pilates exercises to help us all improve our fitness and flexibility.

MONTHLY MEETINGS WINTER PROGRAMME

29TH OCTOBER – ANNUAL RASE WI MEAL

Our annual celebration will once again be held at Hemswell Court, and immensely enjoyable meal and a lovely venue.

26TH NOVEMBER- LINCOLNSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST

Leanne Smart, a member of LWT will provide a talk on the work of this important Local Charity.

17TH DECEMBER – PANTO DAMES

Ruth Andrews from our local Broadbent Theatre will oversee a fun evening of dressing up and pantomime silliness which always proves to be great fun.

28th JANUARY 2026 – PARTY AND SNOWMAN DRIVE

We like to keep the festive activities going into the New Year! This is a seasonal version of a Beetle drive and the evening will of course also feature refreshments in the form of tea/coffee, cakes and savouries.

25TH FEBRUARY – ANNUAL MEETING AND SOCIAL NIGHT

Our annual meeting is a mixture of business and fun. The business will involve the election of the committee and the fun will involves a quiz, games, refreshments and a raffle.

25TH MARCH – STAX OF WAX

An evening of all things bees and honey from a local beekeeping business which makes honey, candles and bees wax burners.

RASE WI is part of the North Lincs Federation of WI's.

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