Guild Insider

Take a look inside some of our different Townswomen’s Guilds to find out more.

Sedgley Evening Guild

Our Guild was set up in 1955 and we are based in Sedgley, a small town in the Black Country. We meet on the third Monday of each month at 7.15pm in Sedgley Community Centre and we now have 70 members. Whilst we lost a few members during lockdown, we are thrilled to see new members joining almost every month. Our Facebook page has been a brilliant way of attracting new members.

Our members are a diverse group of people, many of whom have followed their mothers to become members. Our most senior member is a lady of 98 years of age who has been a member for 66 years. Whether we are retired or still working, we all enjoy getting together to participate in the wide variety of activities that we organise on a regular basis.

Each month we listen to a visiting speaker and have enjoyed a variety of themes such as using DNA when tracing your family tree, life in the 1960s and how our speaker cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats.
Wednesday afternoon is when our Craft Group meets. This has been a very successful means of attracting new members. The group has produced and sold a wonderful range of items over the past year and these have been sold at our Craft Fayre and the proceeds sent to charity. We also worked with local community groups last year to produce hundreds of red, white and blue flowers – knitted or crocheted or paper – to form a “Flower Tower” to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. The opening was attended by many local residents of all ages and one of our former Presidents performed the official unveiling.

One of the best things about our Guild is that you can choose to attend the events that appeal to you. This might be the Lunch Club or the Supper Club, which take place on alternate months; the Book Club which meets in a local pub each month for a lunch and to review the latest book provided by the library; the Walking Group or the Strolling Group which has several canine members; or TG Singers which meets each Monday evening and regularly entertains members and local groups such as residents of care homes. In the summer we also have a Gardening Club where we meet in a member’s garden and enjoy chatting about gardens and other things!

Each year we organise an outing for members. Last year the trip to Hampton Court Castle was extremely popular. The visit to the West Midlands Police Museum was great fun and we have another outing planned for this June when we will be a visit to Shrewsbury and then to the British Ironworks Museum.

This year we organised an event for International Women’s Day and we were delighted by the compliments from our members and those from other guilds who attended – we look forward to doing this again next year.

So, Sedgley E TG is a thriving, friendly, supportive and welcoming group which provides activities for all tastes. Our members were asked for their views of TG and one said “This last 12 months our TG has helped and supported each other daily with our Facebook messenger group, and we know we are there for one another through good times and bad”. Another replied that she “had made friends with some lovely ladies who she might have never otherwise met” and our Chair summed the Guild up very well in “feeling proud to belong to an organisation that supports and develops women through education, sharing and friendship. I am following in my mom's footsteps who was a guild member for many years”.

If you are interested in joining us please come along or contact us via our Facebook page.

 

Knowle Guild

Founded in 1935. Flourishing in 2023!

Knowle Guild is situated in South Bristol, two miles from the city centre.
We are fortunate to be able to meet in a bright and well maintained Community Centre overlooking the park. From the window we can see the tree planted by our Guild to celebrate the Golden Jubilee.

Knowle is a medium sized Guild having 30 members and, because we meet in the afternoon, all of our members are over retirement age. In order to attract new members we promote our activities on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/knowletownswomensguild) and we also display posters in prominent places such as the library and local shops. After Easter we are having a temporary display at the library to promote TG.

We organize a variety of speakers which will appeal to all our members. This year it ranges from a visit by the Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, a topical talk on Climate Change, a nostalgic talk about Fry’s Chocolate and an entertaining singing duo.
To add to the mix we have a craft afternoon when we make decorations for our Treefest entry, a Christmas Lunch, a New Year Party and an August Event.

On entry our members are given a raffle ticket and the meetings always end with the much anticipated drawing of the raffle tickets! Our meetings also include a Book Table where members can bring their books to sell and purchase a new one and a recently started Jigsaw Swop.

As much as our members enjoy the speakers the reason they keep returning is for friendship and fun, all washed down with tea and biscuits!

Looking towards the future we hope to start an evening Guild which would attract younger members. We are very proud to have inherited the Townswomen’s Guild tradition and we would like to see it carried on. We will be looking to TG Headquarters for help and advice.

 

 

Cheltenham Pittville Guild

I am Chris Hyett founder member of 52 years.  Why did I join? Recently married in 1971 a flyer came through the door with many activities all surrounding a wheel. The question was would you like to do any of these? My answer was yes all of them. During that time I have always been on the committee as Secretary for the greater part but also as Chairman and other committee duties. In 1971 we had to have 50 members to start a guild. Today our number is 24 although those that remain many have long service badges. So, what have we been up to. We started with a recruitment campaign and took part in the local carnival. We were loaned a lorry had hundreds of flyers and purported to be TG on the moon. The local baker loaned us white boiler suits. Over the years we have run French classes, craft groups, food appreciation, fitness classes, book club, gardening clubs, Drama. Luncheon club. Amazing speakers on all kinds of subjects. Lots of fund raising Nationally with TG and local projects. Everyone has a story to tell. When funds are low, we hold an auction. This creates a fun evening with members vying for something which is just what they wanted. All of this has led to lifelong friendships. I have been particularly fortunate in representing Pittville at the BBC Town and Country Quiz. TG v WI. We got to the finals in London, but WI won over all however a great experience. My other lucky experience was being invited to represent TG at the Queens Garden Party. What can you hope for now? We meet In Highbury Church on the 4th Wednesday in the month at 7.15pm we are very friendly and welcome all visitors. Our monthly meeting with speaker has interesting stories to tell some with visual aids. We run a monthly gardening club where members meet at a garden for a tour or if weather is inclement at a garden centre. All events feature coffee and cake. We also share plants and cuttings. Bimonthly we meet for Book Club each member takes a turn to choose a book and we have lengthy discussions on the story and then rate it accordingly. This group has been running continually since 2005. We take an active part in Zoom for some committee meetings and of course events which are organised nationally The Weekly Quiz, Computer questions. Drama, Friday Murder Club. Beryls Themed evenings. We are open to new suggestions and would welcome anyone who would like to organise luncheons at local restaurants or explore any new talents which present themselves.