Our current President, Hannah, has written a little bit about the Romsey Show. All Sotonettes members are kindly invited to the next coffee morning on Tuesday 18th February – we’d love to see a good Sotonettes showing if people are free! More details below…
While the New Forest Show is undoubtedly the biggest deal in the Hampshire WI calendar, the Romsey Show, held a few weeks later, is also a chance for local WIs to show off their skills. Every year, the WI have a tent where the public can meet local WI members and get a better idea of who we are. They also have a few craft competitions that any Hampshire WI member can compete in the and the tent is where the experts among the federation lead talks and demonstrations to show just how diverse the skills and interests of WI members are.
This year the entire show is themed “Hampshire Life 1914-1918”. The centenary of the start of the First World War in commemorated in August and as a result, the Romsey Show is celebrating and remembering life on the home front. The WI tent is going all out to join in the fun. We’ll be dressing up, themed talks and demonstrations will be organised and the competitions will link to the contributions Hampshire women made in the First World War.
The Romsey Show is unique for its more relaxed atmosphere. While the New Forest Show can be a little intimidating, the Romsey Show is a great place to get the confidence to compete in bigger craft competitions. It’s also entirely judged by public vote.
If you like meeting new people, the show also offers a great chance to volunteer on the day and meet women from across the federation. It’s a one-day show so the commitment isn’t huge and as a WI Tent attendant, you get a free ticket to look around the rest of the show while it’s not your shift. The Sotonettes have been involved as attendants on the day for the past two years and this year we’ve joined the Romsey Show organising committee.
We’ll be kicking off this year’s event at a Coffee Morning on Tuesday 18th February at 10am in Ampfield Village Hall. In addition to meeting the people involved in the organisation of the show, the craft competitions will be announced. (Don’t worry – if you can’t make it, we’ll post all of the details up on this blog).
If you’d be interested in going, it would be great if you could let the committee know by emailing CarolesCards@hotmail.co.uk as soon as possible – otherwise we might run out of cake, and that would be terrible!