Some of you may already know about The New Forest & Hampshire County Show but for those who don’t, it’s an extremely popular annual event held in late July with livestock displays, showjumping, fruit, vegetables, flowers, all sorts of exhibitors and also (most importantly) a large WI tent.  Last year even The Queen and Prince Philip attended, as well as a few of our committee members!

It’s a great day out in the New Forest and everyone who went last year had a fantastic time.  The show is on Tuesday 30th July, Wednesday 31st July & Thursday 1st August.  Make a space in your diaries!

If you’re interested in the show, there are a few ways you can take part as a Sotonettes member:

1. Come along! We’ve moved our usual meeting date (the last Tuesday of every month) to the 23rd of July so we can head off to the New Forest on the 30th instead.  It would be fantastic if as many people as possible could come along and join us – last year we got the train to Brockenhurst and then jumped on the free specially provided shuttle bus to the showgrounds.  You can get 15% off the ticket price if you book before the 11th of July, or we can arrange a group booking discount if we get enough interest.  Email us at sotonettes@gmail.com if you’d like to come and we’ll let you know if it’s easier to buy a single ticket or get a group together.

2. Get crafting! The WI are very proud to be part of The New Forest Show and each year they set some categories for craft/baking items to be displayed (and judged!) at the show.  You can find this year’s categories at http://www.newforestshow.co.uk/hres/J13-0022_NFS_WomensInstitute.pdf
We’d love to be able to enter every single class this year and put in a really good entry to show off what the Sotonettes can do!  We’ve got a few people interested in a few categories, but we definitely need more volunteers… if you’re a dab hand a cookie baking, italian breads, flower arranging or painting, amongst others, please get in touch!  One of our committee members, Jen, is helping to organise the entries – email her at jennifer.e.thomson@gmail.com for more info.  The deadline for entries is FRIDAY 14TH JUNE if you want to say you’ll be entering something – you’ll have until the end of July to actually make it.

3. Sell your wares!  If anyone makes their own crafts to sell or jams & preserves, the WI also has some space to sell your handmade treasures.  15% commission is payable to the WI to help with running costs of the WI tent.  more info is in the New Forest Schedule (http://www.newforestshow.co.uk/hres/J13-0022_NFS_WomensInstitute.pdf).  Forms can be obtained from Jen – just drop her an email at jennifer.e.thomson@gmail.com if you need more information or would like a form.

We’re all looking forward to a (hopefully sunny) day in the New Forest – hopefully you are too!