St Vigeans SWI

15/04/2026

Hello Ladies.
St Vigeans SWI met on Monday evening 13th April at the Parish Hall. After welcome from President Ann Frith and business matters from Secretary Janice Swankie, we had a talk from Police Scotland Community Constable Scott Roberts. Scott held an informal chat with the members and visitors present about various scams, whether telephone, online, door to door , traders etc and offered some advice on firstly how to prevent being a victim of such crimes, and secondly, what to do if you did fall prey to such a scheme or incident. It was a good informative chat with discussion from lots of Ladies present. He also brought along some useful leaflets and a freebie or two...

Scott was then tasked with judging the competitions before joining everyone in a cuppy and a cake ( I am very glad to say there were no doughnuts, that joke becomes a little thin after a while...)

The competition results were 1. A slice of Carrot Cake; 1st Anne Hamilton , 2nd Lesley Masson, and joint third Joyce Lynn and Sheila Forbes. There was a lovely variety of entries for the second competition, namely A Favourite Animal Ornament, Scott chose 1st Audrey Hancock (Highland Coos) , 2nd Nettie McLean (Springer Spaniel) and 3rd Sylvia Tasker (horse)

Discussions are still taking place regarding our Afternoon Tea in June, this looks likely to be in the Hall, more details to follow!

Our next meeting is on 11th May and will be our AGM. Nomination Forms are being distributed to all members for the new Committee. It is also the date of our BIG RAFFLE...tickets are now on sale. I think there will still be a Sales Table, and the competitions are for (make) Double Knit Mitts and (take) a favourite soft toy.

05/04/2026

Happy Easter to you all xx

03/04/2026

I know a few of our Ladies already knit and donate baby items xx

25/03/2026

Hello Ladies.... seems ages since the last meeting, sorry I haven't posted before now...
St Vigeans SWI members met on Monday 9th March at St Vigeans Parish Hall for their monthly meeting and after our usual rendition of the Rural Song, and various items of business and notifications, we sat back to enjoy a floral demonstration from member Helen Robb. With the imminent Angus Federation Show looming, Helen was asked to give the Ladies some ideas for one of the floral categories, namely an arrangement using only £5 of flowers.....
She included the measurements as specified in the Show schedule, and had kept all of the receipts for the many ( many...) shops she had visited in her quest for suitable flowers at the appropriate prices......I believe she also made a few raids into some gardens for some foliage ( as allowed...no berries!!) She put together four different arrangements as ideas , and donated all of them to the Raffle. There were quite a few questions ( mainly from me...) and some humorous anecdotes ( I think we may all remember NOT to mention fish bowls...)
Anyway, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the demo.
The competitions were judged by another member, 1. A Custard Cream , 1st Anne Hamilton, 2nd Lesley Masson and 3rd Audrey Hancock.
The second competition was for A Spring Flower, 1st Anne Hamilton, 2nd Sylvia Tasker and 3rd Joyce Lynn.
Once I have sorted through some of my Federation Show photographs, I will do another wee post.
Our next meeting is Monday 13th April, at usual time of 7.30pm, when we are due to have a talk from Police Scotland regarding scams... The competitions are 1. (make) 1 Slice of Carrot Cake ( this is for the Rose Bowl Trophy) and 2. (take) A favourite animal ornament.
As always, remember to bring your mug for the cuppy, and a raffle prize if you can please,. We are still holding the wee Sales Table at the back of the Hall, so bring along any items for that too ( as usual, if not sold then you take it home again) It's been going very well , the home baking is always well received.
Visitors are always welcome to the meetings (£5)
See you soon Ladies.. x

01/03/2026

🎨 Illustration by ©Ellie Hooi, found on FB page Beautiful Illustrations, isn't it really lovely...
Anyway Ladies, hope you've managed to find a nice easy recipe for some tasty Custard Creams for the Competition next Monday evening (9th March) and have earmarked a Spring Flower to bring along... Hoping for a variety of entries ...
Helen is going to be doing a wee demo , based around the imminent Federation Show category for an arrangement with £5 flowers... not easy with price of flowers having increased recently...

Remember to bring back any Raffle Tickets ( Federation Show) you may have, and anything you wish to donate to our Sales Table, still same rules, if it doesn't sell, you take it home again. It's been very successful so far with some great bargains.
We'll have our usual raffle too, and cuppy and 'piece' , visitors welcome (£5 fee)
See you soon. x

11/02/2026

St Vigeans SWI met on Monday 9th February, and we heard a report from Linda Ramsay about the H & H meeting in Forfar, and other upcoming events from Pres Ann Frith and Secretary Janice Swankie. We all then listened attentively to Brian who gave a talk about Fire Safety in the home. After a few questions , he and some other members of Blue Watch ( sorry guys, we had a wee debate about the names...) were tasked with judging the competitions. There was only one entrant for the Two squares of Tablet, Lesley Masson, however several varied entries for the Favourite Pair of Gloves. Ist place there went to Heather Pitt, 2nd Jackie DeFelice, and 3rd to Helen Robb. The lads stayed for a wee cuppy and cake then normal duty resumed. A donation of food will be made to the food hub as a wee thank you. It was a most informative evening, and we all appreciated their time, knowing they could be called away at any moment.
Our next meeting is on 9th March, where member Helen Robb will demonstrate some floral ideas with the Federation Show Homeskills category in mind, ie Floral Arrangement using £5 flowers.
The Competitions will be for 1. 1 Custard Cream, and 2. A Spring Flower.
President Ann Frith closed the meeting , thanking all for their part in another successful evening.

26/01/2026

Ladies, a reminder to the Committee members that there is a rescheduled committee meeting on Monday 2nd February at 6.30pm at the Hall.

Our next monthly meeting is Monday 9th February at 7.30pm when we hope to have a Fire Safety talk from one of our local Fire Officers. Whoever the hostesses are for the evening, I do believe the "Firies" enjoy a good blether with a cuppy and cake.

The competitions this month are for 1 (the Make) 2 squares of tablet, and 2 (the Take) A Favourite pair of Gloves. Hoping to see a good array of entries please.

Please also remember to bring along cash if you still have to pay for the Federation raffle tickets, and of course, the Federation Raffle Tickets... as always, bring a cup/mug for your cuppy, and we kindly ask for a Raffle Prize donation which no longer needs to be wrapped.
I think we will have our Sales Table at the back of the hall this month, so if you have anything you wish to donate for sale, bring it along, (if not sold you take it home again x)

See you there Ladies 7.30pm, visitors (£5 per month) and New Members (£35 membership) very welcome.

17/11/2025

St Vigeans SWI members enjoyed a visitor's night last Monday (10th November) with Ladies from Colliston, Inverkeilor and Letham joining us to be entertained by The Twa Grannies . Lots of songs were known and hummed or sang along to, much head nodding, shoulder swaying and foot tapping...there were also quite a few new songs and it was lovely to hear how they had 'come about'.
The Twa Grannies , Liz and Maggie, were then called upon to judge our monthly competitions , results of which are
1. A Recycled Jewellery Box (any craft) (For the Silver Salver) 1st Lesley Masson, 2nd, Anne Hamilton, and 3rd Audrey Hancock.
2 A favourite item of jewellery, 1st Sylvia Tasker, 2nd Janice Swankie and 3rd Audrey Hancock.

Some tough choices there with all of the lovely entries...

We also had a successful evening at our Sales Table, with various items donated by our members as a means of fundraising, the cakes and biscuits certainly didn't last long, and the lovely sewn and handcrafted items were all very reasonably priced..

Our thanks also to all the Ladies buying raffle tickets on the night, raffles usually donated by our members, but I noticed a few extras being handed in by our visitors, again, thank you.

Our Christmas themed Quiz Sheet also made an appearance, good luck to all who enter, the winning entry is to be drawn at our January (Birthday Celebration) meeting.

At our next meeting Monday 8th December, it is an in house craft event, under Janey's expert guidance, and possibly some glue/drying by Lesley, we will all be taking home a festive Coaster.

The competitions are for (make) 1. A Decorated Fairy Cake. ( Cake will not be sampled, competition is for decoration only....)
and 2. (take) a Favourite Christmas Tree Topper....
Looking forward to seeing some great entries to both.

We will also have the menu for the Birthday Meal so everyone can make their choices. We are asking for a deposit of half the cost this year so please bring along some extra cash.

21/10/2025

What a super and informative morning we had when some of our members attended the Arbroath fire station.
We were invited along for a guided tour of the only full time manned station within Angus.
The morning started with a chat around how the service works alongside the other 999 providers, the types of calls they will attend throughout the year and how large fires and incidents have a knock on effect right throughout Scotland.
We then moved into the main part of the building where we learnt about the internal workings of the appliance! Absolutely fascinating as each piece of equipment plays a vital role in any emergency.
Then came the hard work and we moved outside to the training area where we were guided through the usually smoke filled rooms to gain an idea of how to keep ourselves safe if we ever find ourselves actually in a smoke filled room!

We asked lots of questions and the "Gaffer" said he was looking forward to attending our February meeting to talk with us about "Safety in the home".
After a very good 1.5hr tour we said our goodbyes and left the current watch (blue team I think ) with a bag full of home made goodies! Some of the pictures we caught on the day.

16/10/2025

Well LADIES, (and very welcome visitor Jim) , what a lot of photos we saw on Monday night, fascinating pics of old Arbroath, and what a lot of memories they evoked. We sat , chatting relatively quietly amongst ourselves, about the different streets and shops we all remembered. George had put a tremendous amount of work into the presentation, and we appreciated the result. He was able to take a few questions at the end too. His work wasn't finished there though, he then kindly agreed to judge the competitions...I heard him tell another member that he'd judged the Smiddy Loaf as closest to what he remembered his mum making... There was a good amount of entries this month too...
Results. 1, a slice of Smiddy Loaf; 1st Audrey Hancock, 2nd Ann Frith, 3rd Sheila Forbes
and 2, a single stem flower, 1st Jane Mentiply, 2nd Anne Hamilton and 3rd Ann Frith. Well done Ladies.
We also had a wee sales table which will be a regular thing at our future meetings, grateful thanks this month to Heather for the cakes and biscuits, and to Linda for the toiletries.
Next month, 10th November, we will have our annual Visitor's night, and we have entertainment to look forward to from The Twa Grannies . A fun night of singing, probably dancing, maybe some tambourining.... The competitions next month are 1, for the Silver Salver, a recycled Jewellery Box, and 2, a favourite item of jewellery. So 1 is a "make" ie, you recycle a jewellery box, any craft, and 2, is a nice, easy "take" ( you don't have to do any work other than remembering to bring along a favourite piece of jewellery)
Please also bring along a wee raffle prize if you can, and your own mug. I am sure there will be cake aplenty...

27/09/2025

Hello Ladies...
St Vigeans SWI next meeting is at 7.30pm on Monday 13th October in the Parish Hall. Hopefully we will see some more membership renewals ( cost remains same as last year at £35) and of course visitors are always welcome (£5 fee) Looking forward to a talk from Mr George Park, ( I hope he doesn't mind me pinching his profile pic) about Arbroath , and I'm sure there'll be a fair few local stories shared about times past and present.
The competitions this month are 1. A slice of Smiddy Loaf, and 2. A single stem flower.
As always, remember to bring your mug for the cuppy, and a wee raffle prize if you can too please.
There is also a Federation H and H meeting on Saturday 4th October at the Guide Hall, Myre Car Park, Forfar at 2pm and there will be an Embroidery Workshop with Dee Pearce and 'her happy helpers' (Admission £2)

Looking forward to seeing you soon..🙂

19/09/2025