The Clifton Women's Institute

  On a very warm and sunny summer’s evening in Clifton we enjoyed a walk over and near the bridge with photographer Nigel Goldsmith. Nigel   gave us some excellent tips for improving our outdoor photography skills and we took some lovely snaps, before repairing to the White Lion for a few well-earned refreshments.

We're sorry to say that tonight's meeting (24 June) has been cancelled as a safety precaution due to the extreme heat warning currently in place.  We hope to rearrange our talk on the history of women in policing to another time.  Stay cool, everyone! (As best you can, at least!)

  We were all abuzz with interest in May as Lizzie Everard (bettysilk.com), a former contestant in The Great British Sewing Bee (2023), talked to us about her early life, inspirations and career in sewing and needlework and her experience on the Bee.   She brought her fabulous Bee creations with her and we had the opportunity to handle them ourselves and marvel at skills and creativity.  

We were delighted to meet Claire Callaghan, a hugely experienced, Bristol-based, physiotherapist specialising in female health, well-being and performance.  It was hugely interesting to hear about the particular issues affecting women from perimenopause and beyond and the health challenges we face as our oestrogen levels reduce.  Bringing many years of wisdom, and an obvious passion for her work, Claire shared advice and information on how to protect and support our joints and bone strength, giving us all plenty of ideas about the different ways we can look after ourselves and how to manage and address specific conditions.  You can find out more about Claire on her website: www.clairecallaghan.com.

25 March 26 Meeting - Defibrillator training with St John's Ambulance Many thanks to Ali (pictured-centre), very ably supported by Karen (left) and Sue (right), of St John's Ambulance who joined our March 26 meet-up.  They provided a very engaging and informative session on CPR and how to use defibrillators , including some advice on how to help with choking cases .   As you can see, some of us took the opportunity for some hands-on practice and we all left feeling more confident about what to do if needed.   We also learnt more about the extraordinary and challenging work these kind volunteers do.

Our thanks to Elise Heptinstall-Holmes , who joined our February meeting to tell us about her work as a personal stylist and to share her wisdom on what (and what not!) to wear to suit our body shapes and skin tones.  During her engaging talk, one lucky member  also had a live colour profiling to help us all understand how wearing the right colours can make a huge difference to our appearance and confidence. We'll all be thinking about it as we dust off our Spring wardrobes shortly.   We also welcomed Laura and Verity from the Clifton Suspension Bridge Museum who shared a few words about one of their upcoming exhibitions and how we might get involved.