Timbersbrook Women's Institute

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Timbersbrook Women's Institute

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Community organisation in Buglawton, Congleton

21/09/2026

Timbersbrook W.I. once again took part in the Great UK WaterBlitz, testing the water on the River Dane for nitrates and phosphates. This takes place in April and September each year. This year we chose a spot near the children’s playground in Buglawton.
Once we had fed back the results to the organisers, they provided the following feedback:
“Your dataset indicates that this waterbody has a very good ecological status. Nutrient concentrations are low. These values are expected to vary throughout the year as a result of weather patterns and changes in land use. Please help us to better understand this ecosystem by continuing to make measurements.”
Timbersbrook W.I. also received a certificate thanking them for taking part.
The next water-testing will take place in April 2027.
Thank you to all those involved.

21/07/2026

Line-dancing was chosen as the fun activity for the July members’ meeting. A big thank you to Sue and Kirsty from the U3A Line-Dancing Group who led the group, teaching members the steps and sequence of steps. Members enjoyed the experience, even though there were a few worried-looking faces. Well done to all 👏👏👏

27/06/2026

The members at our June meeting enjoyed a lovely social evening at the home of one of our Committee members, Pam Barrow. The evening included a glass of Prosecco on arrival, strawberries and cream, and music played on the piano. Definitely, a good night was had by all!

The competition was ‘best brooch’ and the winners were:

1st - Christine Elbeik
2nd - Christine Hutchins
3rd - Anne Hinds

21/06/2026

Please note: this is not a W.I. event.

15/05/2026

We had a fascinating and informative talk by David Poppitt at the monthly Members’ meeting this week. The theme was The Christie, a name which I think most people will be familiar with.

David talked about the people in the very early days of work with cancer patients (The Christie Hospital) and the development of research into the potential use of radium (The Holt Radium Institute). Some of these people were wealthy people who were bank-rolling the work taking place. This led to the joining up of these two areas of work into what, eventually, became The Christie where the use of radiotherapy became commonplace. Numerous advances in the treatment of cancers have been made and continue to be made, saving many, many lives.

Many ‘outreach’ centres have opened over the years providing much needed services without having to travel too far for many people. Macclesfield, of course, is our nearest.

For many years, David has been instrumental in raising funds for cancer research as there is no government funding for this. We must have all seen the fund-raising efforts over the years which have been many and varied.

The competition was: Top tip for relieving white coat syndrome. The winners were:
1st - Ann Hinds 👏
2nd - Linda Ross 👏
3rd - Marie Plant 👏

11/05/2026

The Death Penny, shown in the photographs, was issued to the next-of-kin of Noah Whiston, the Grandfather of one of our members, Judith Whiston, after the First World War. They were issued to members of the British Empire who were either killed in WW1 or who subsequently died from causes related to their service in the war. They continued to be issued into the 1930s.

Noah was killed in the trenches near Strazele in France on 14th April 1918.

This was the Timbersbrook’s submission to the recent Cloud Group (a collective of local W.I.s) meeting where the competition was A Military Souvenir. Judith and the rest of us were delighted to see that Timbersbrook W.I. won 1st Prize.

11/05/2026

Five members of Timbersbrook W.I. - Pam Barrow, Liz Shoolbred, Yvonne Wakefield, Pat Gartland and Christina Webb - joined Councillors, members of the Congleton Sustainability Partnership and others on a guided tour around Congleton Waste Water Management Centre (what we grew up calling ‘the sewage works’). We were invited because of our involvement in the nation-wide water-testing activities on the River Dane which take place twice a year.

After getting our hard hats, protective glasses, hi-viz jackets and rubber gloves, United Utilities staff led two groups around the site, covering all the different stages of dealing with our waste water. We started at the beginning where the waste water comes into the site from our homes, roads, businesses, etc. and ended up at the point where the water enters the River Dane, in a much, much cleaner state.

United Utilities have spent £20 million in making improvements and evidence of expenditure could be seen around the site. The technicalities sometimes went above our heads (although there was a lot of talk about ‘sludge’ which we did understand) but it was an informative tour and we would like to thank United Utilities and the Sustainable Partnership for the invitation.

25/04/2026

Members of Timbersbrook W.I. were, once again, out testing the water on the River Dane from Hankinsons’ Field.

Christina Webb, Helen Chappel, Judith D Whiston, Pat Gartland (President) and Carole Clowes were testing the water for nitrates and phosphate as part of the Great UK WaterBlitz citizen science project. People from all over the UK are conducting testing this weekend on ponds, streams, lakes, rivers, etc. In due course, a UK-wide report on the findings will be published.

Water-testing is carried out in April and September and anyone can request the testing kits for free.

Liz was our intrepid hero who managed to get the water out of a fairly low River Dane without stirring up the mud. Many thanks to the woman who kept her beautiful dog from jumping into the river at the same place until we had finished. It was greatly appreciated.

Thanks to Pat for the photographs.

24/04/2026

UPDATE: Tonight’s the Night if you would like to join us!

Some of you may recognise the sculpture in the photo. It is outside The Christie at Macclesfield building at Macclesfield Hospital.

The speaker at the next Members’ meeting (THURSDAY 14th MAY - 7.30 pm) - David Poppitt - will talk about The Christie Hospital. Many, if not all of you, will either have needed their services or will know family and friends who have. Its reputation definitely goes before it!

Anyone wishing to see what Timbersbrook W.I. is all about, please come and join us for the evening.

10/04/2026

Great evening last night when the speaker at our Members’ meeting was Andrea from a wonderful, locally-based organisation called Autism Dogs Charity and, before you ask, no, the dogs aren’t autistic! Andrea brought along with her a canine Ambassador for the charity, Anook (see photos).

The charity was started in 2016 by Andrew and Caroline Preston and has grown massively since then with their services covering England, Wales and Scotland. Autism Dogs Charity support autistic people and their families through their Assistance Dog Programme:

“We are a team of professionals that are dedicated to improving the lives of autistic people through the love and support of highly-trained Autism Assistance Dogs. Many of our team are autistic themselves, with the team including a veterinary surgeon, a psychotherapist, a social worker, a specialist medical lawyer, dog trainers, a canine behaviourist, animal care assistants, an aftercare services officer, and many more.”

Andrea explained how autism dogs benefit children and adults with autism, including medication reminders, deep pressure therapy, item retrieval, intervene in self-harm, encourage daily activities, distraction from meltdown, etc. It is not a cheap option and it costs thousands of pounds to fully train a family and their bespoke Autism Assistance Dog.

The competition was for ‘Your best dog story or photograph’. The winners were:
1st - Judith Whiston
2nd - Norma Pickford
3rd - Susan Worthington.
You can see their adorable photographs below.

Address

St John's Community Centre, Buxton Old Road
Congleton
CW122ES

Website

https://cheshirewi.org.uk/timbersbrook-wi/

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