CHRISTMAS VISIT TO HAMPTON HAYES FARM, Wednesday 14th December 2010

We would like you to join Newport WiRE Network Members as guests of Bev Chitterm at Hampton Hayes Farm, Worthen, Shrewsbury SY5 9JJ on Wednesday 14th December, from 12.00 to 2.00pm for a Christmas Activity with some of her youngsters, Bev has also kindly offered drinks and mince pies, so it would be good to have the numbers, please email Bev directly to confirm attendance, bebchittem@btconnect.com It is really generous of Bev to host this festive get together, so please do your best to attend, even if you can't make the full two hours.

This was a lovely visit and we would like to join with Bev again to arrange something similar when the weather is better and more of you can come along.  Many thanks to Bev for opening her lovely home to WiRE, which is very much appreciated, thank you.

Hat's Off....

Newport WiRE Network Co-Leader, Penny Eccleston led the meeting today and, brought along some of the wonderful hats she makes to show to us and explain how she makes them and how we should wear them.  A most enjoyable session, thanks Penny.

Marketing - a most enjoyable task?

Wednesday 27th October is the date of our next meeting. We shall be focusing on Marketing. Over the past twelve months, this seems to be the subject which is most often raised. Apart from Producing our Products or Providing our Service, Marketing seems to be the next most important part of our business and, rather than being something you learn and move on from, it is a constant task and for many of us, it can be a most enjoyable task too. Penny Eccleston will be on hand with her Professional Photographer's hat on, to help us achieve that quality image for our publicity .  For each 'candidate' Penny will take a few photographs, which she will then email to you and will charge £10.00, so come prepared for this.  We shall also have our popular Mini Masterminding Session and plenty of opportunity for Networking. Come along and join us, remember same place, same time - The Royal Victoria Hotel, Newport 12.00 - 2.00. £4.00 Members, £6.00 Visitors, sandwich lunch included.

Flower and Produce Show - Vale Head Farm

How delighted I was to be invited to be one of the Judges at Vale Head Farm, the venue for The West Midlands Network Flower and Produce Show. This was a particularly enjoyable show because it is specifically designed for those persons who are less able and / or disadvantaged, nevertheless, the array of cakes, pies, jams and chutneys and the flowers, plants, herbs and vegetables were amazing. My fellow Judges and I were able to , indeed we had to, sample the cooking which was to a very high standard and making the choice for the Best in Show was extremely difficult. It was a day to remember and looking around the crowd as winners smiled to have their photos taken and everyone else cheered and clapped, it was hard not to shed a tear - a most rewarding invitation, thank you. Pictured here is Bev Chitterm (WiRE member) with her 'Team'. Bev says ' Over six months is spent planning, preparing, growing and making for the show. On the day our group trundle home tired but proud, medals around their necks, bursting with pride. We rest for a week or two, then we tell every visitor about our medals and show the photos, Christmas comes and goes and in the dreary months of January and February, we look at pictures and start to plan our entries for the next Flower Show. Thanks for the kindness of persons planning, hosting and helping at the event, they give a years happiness to our group and all others'.

Our Speaker Carol Lovatt from the APE Academy of Personal Exellence - Training for a Purpose gave us an enlightening talk revealing some of the techniques she uses in her training. Photographer Sara Moseley took us outside for a photo shoot, which was fun and wet!! It was great to meet two new faces from the WiRE office and we wish Catherine and Jaia a warm welcome from the Newport Network. Social Media was, once again, a major talking point and our Mini Masterminding Session prompted masses of good advice from member to member. How many of us will be at Stoneleigh next week for The Power of Social Media Event...

Wednesday 25th August 2010

Great Network Meeting today. Our Speaker was Joyce Bullock from Insight Design Consultancy - a talented garden designer with loads of energy, she gave us lots of tips and ideas as to how she keeps her business going.

After lunch we had our usual Mini-Masterminding Session, which just showed what you can do in a very short space of time. Penny goes away with lots of advice and we hope she will update us next month.

BESIDE THE SEASIDE Crosby to Cornwall Exhibition by Pat Clare

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Sneak Preview for WiRE Members and their Guests, the Exhibition officially starts this Saturday, 14th August when Pat will be about to say 'Hello', and it runs to the end of September - the paintings are fab! Thanks to Jo Gadsby (http://www.pebblepr.com/) for the photo too.

WiRE Members and their Guests

are invited to an early viewing of our new Exhibition
from one of our favourite Artists, Pat Clare.
You are welcome to join us at the Gallery
from 6 - 8pm on Thursday Evening, there is no charge.


Beside the Seaside
(Cornwall to Crosby)

Pat Clare

The Exhibition officially begins

on Saturday 14th August with an 'Open House'
and runs until the 25th September, there is no entry fee.

The Gallery is located on the first floor of this charming 16th century Coachman's House and hosts a regular display of high quality Contemporary Applied Arts from British Designer/Makers, including studio pottery, glass, ceramics, textiles, baskets and a variety of different styles of jewellery, which Maggie sources from all over Great Britain. The Picture Shop, which provides a Bespoke Framing Service is on the ground floor. There is a pleasant courtyard too, so, weather permitting, there is room to relax.

The Picture Shop and Gallery is located

near the entrance to New Street Car Park,
which is just off the High Street opposite the Church

in the Centre of town.

The Picture Shop and Gallery
The Coachman's House
2c New Street
Newport
Shropshire TF10 7AX
01952 813316

Wednesday 28th July - Maggie helped us to revisit a previous WiRE Annual Conference, when Lucie Storrs gave a memorable speech entitled 'The Seven Deadly Sins of Running a Small Business' and although this speech was actually presented to that WiRE Conference over five years' ago, it still raised some interesting points and gave us plenty of inspiration - many thanks to Lucie. There was much networking, as usual, followed by our Mini Masterminding Session, which is proving very popular and we have even managed to keep it very short (10 - 15 mins) if we find time running out. Many thanks to Rachel and Janet for arranging our drinks and sandwich lunch as always....

AN EVENING AT THE GALLERY - THURSDAY 12th AUGUST 2010
Maggie is planning to open her Gallery in Newport for a Private Viewing over wine for the Network, on this Summer, hopefully sunny, August evening. If you would like to come then please email MagHoll@Aol.com, there will be no charge but we will need to know how many are going to attend.

WiRE Apron Workshop Tuesday 7th September
Venue – Newport Cricket Club, Audley Avenue, Newport
Time – 9.30am – 4.00pm
Come and enjoy a creative sewing day and make beautiful fabric into a fabulous apron.
You will learn -
how to follow pattern instructions to make a stylish apron
how to work several dressmaking techniques including making pleats and gathers.
how to make and turn neck bands and waist ties.
pressing as an essential part of the dressmaking process.
plenty of handy tips to help you with your sewing so that you will create a beautifully finished apron that you will be proud to wear.
Apron fabric kits comprising, fabric, thread, interfacing and metal rings for neck band will be included in the price.
Details of sewing equipment required will be given on booking.
Special Price for the day – £60.00
Please bring a packed lunch (fridge available). Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided throughout the day.
You will need to bring your own sewing machine which must be in good working order. If your machine is over 1 year old it will need to be PAT tested. Catherine can help with this.

LOVE DRESSMAKING – APRON WORKSHOP -- TUESDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER 2010
One of our members, Catherine Demet - Love Sewing, has kindly offered to host a Sewing Workshop for Newport WiRE Network, details will follow and places will be very limited, if you would like to reserve a place then please email MagHoll@Aol.com we will give you all the details and you will be asked to pay in advance to secure your place.

A VISIT TO HAMPTON HAYES - DATE TO BE ARRANGED
Maggie and Penny are currently discussing with Bev Chitterm a planned visit to Hampton Hayes, which is a centre offering care and respite for children and young people with special needs, futher details to follow.

SUMMER EVENING DINNER Thursday 22nd July we had a lovely Evening Dinner in Gnosall at The Gastronomy Shop, it was superb, conversation was diverse and it was great to have time to talk in more depth to other WiRE members. We forged some good freindships and business opportunities, this is certainly an event that we shall repeat towards the end of the year. Many thanks to all who came to support the evening, for those who couldn't make it, you missed a really good evening

30th June 2010 - Caroline Oakes, Locality Manager (Newport and Rural) for Telford and Wrekin Council, gave us an overview on some of the work Telford and Wrekin Council are doing and Caroline is keen to be able to talk to WiRE members (she is already is close communication with WiRE HQ) on how we can work better together. The meeting was buzzing and Caroline was able to expand on several subjects and offer a line of communication for WiRE members to find out more, particularly in the light of changes brought about by the recent General Election and budget changes.

26th May 2010 - Jan Minihane (Jam Consulting) gave us a few interesting pointers towards Working Smarter particularly for those working alone at home, this was followed by our new Mini Masterminding Session facilitated by Cathy Landau (Mindforce Dynamics Coaching and Consultancy) and it proved to be a great success and well worth including in our future meetings. The amount of information and ideas shared in such a short time was facinating and of enormous benefit to the originator of the question - difficult to describe briefly to you, so come along and share the experience.

28th April 2010 - So near to the General Election, we were pleased to welcome Paul Kalinauckas to speak to us about Co-operative Enterprise. As the Chief Executive of a Community Development Finance Institution involved in small business lending and Chair of Co-operatives West Midlands, Paul is well placed to give us a very interesting talk. I think we all thought we knew about Co-operatives, but there was much to learn and Paul left us all feeling better informed.. Paul Kalinauckas is the Labour and Co-Operative Party Parlimentary Candidate for the Wrekin, although this particular session was not to be a party political discussion.

31st March 2010 - Following on from the Planning session at our last meeting, each member of the group described their most recent Marketing Strategy, whether it had been a success and what had been learnt, this made for a fascinating discussion and told us much more about each other and our businesses.

24th February 2010 - Our speaker Denise Evans gave an inspiring introduction to 'Dreams, Visions and Goals', setting goals for your future, Maggie followed on with a starting point for drawing up your five year plan - those attending went away with plenty of 'food for thought'.

27th January 2010 - Our speaker Liz Thursfield gave us all a great introduction to the benefits of Twitter and we know that most of the people at the meeting had been twittering by the end of the day Liz pitched her talk at just the right level to enable all of us to understand and take notes.