WINK Rayleigh

Home
United Kingdom
Rayleigh
WINK Rayleigh

Directions Website

Women's Institute New Konnections - a WI with a modern vibe. We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7.45pm in the WI Hall, Bellingham Lane, Rayleigh.

We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7.45pm for 8pm start, in the WI Hall, Bellingham Lane, Rayleigh, SS6 7ED
Our membership is currently at full capacity. New members always welcome! WINK Rayleigh was set up in 2014 by a group of ladies who wanted a WI with a modern feel to it. We are fairly informal and so don’t do a lot of the ‘typical’ WI things (no singing Jerusalem, for example). Our emphasis is to gather together likeminded women who want to learn new skills, go on outings and generally have fun! Whether you are working, retired or somewhere in-between, we have events, activities and subgroups for all ages and interests. March 2024 saw us celebrate our 10th birthday and we would like to thank all past and present members for their kindness, support and friendship over the last ten years and we look forward to another fun-filled decade! If you'd like to come to a meeting, we'd love to welcome you! Contact us for more information, or simply come along on a 3rd Wednesday of the month. Please note we can only accept cash as payment for meeting fees. Please bring your own mug for drinks.

24/09/2026

A quick snap from our Dinner Club's recent trip to Manzano Lounge.

22/09/2026

🫅For our September meeting, we stepped back into history with a visit from Henry VIII, aka Good King Hal. Henry spoke to us about his reign and his many wives, how they formed and brokered alliances within the court and gave a brief overview of his succession. We all know the Tudor reign was a pivotal time in Britain’s history and it was great to see it brought to life with Old King Hal who portrayed Henry VIII very well.

👜 We also collected handbags and toiletries for the Love Grace campaign which seeks to support women fleeing domestic violence. Thank you to everyone for their generous donations.

💜 Our meeting fell on WI Day and in honour of the WI and the women that came before us, many of us wore purple in celebration of 111 years of the WI.

https://winkrayleigh.co.uk/september-meeting-henry-viii/

21/09/2026

At the start of September a group of WINK ladies visited the Old Bailey. Our tour was guided by a very informative ex-journalist who had covered such cases as the Yorkshire Ripper. It was interesting to learn the history of the workings of the British Judiciary System.

The building was designed to look like a cathedral and it certainly does. After a quick sandwich take away lunch we spilt into 2 groups and sat in a couple of court cases which was very interesting. A very worthwhile day.

https://winkrayleigh.co.uk/wink-visit-the-old-bailey/

10/09/2026

What a lovely day out for our WI. We teamed up with Andy from Fresh Air Fitness for a fascinating historical walk around Paglesham, starting at the Plough & Sail pub.

Andy was incredibly knowledgeable, sharing lots of interesting facts and stories about the local area, which we all found both fascinating and informative.

We finished the walk with a lovely lunch back at the Plough & Sail. The weather was just perfect too, making it a really enjoyable day all round! 👣☀️😊

https://winkrayleigh.co.uk/wink-do-the-paglesham-plod/

24/08/2026

This is us! We had a great time, highly recommend! 🚶‍♀️

What a lovely group the Rayleigh WI were on the Plough Pootle on Saturday… so well behaved 😜
I enjoyed it so much that I’m going to kick off the next series of walks with this one at Paglesham on Saturday 5th September followed on the next 2 Saturdays by Canewdon and Shoebury. Full schedule to follow… 🥾 🌞 🥗 🍻

29/07/2026

July’s meeting was chilled affair as we gathered together for a paper flower craft evening. Gill and Tricia guided us through making cosmos and roses using crepe paper and kebab sticks. It was a fun, relaxed evening and we chatted while we crafted, with a few keeping an eye on the football score.

Also in July, we group of our members enjoyed a ladies’ golf taster day at Ballard Gore Golf Club with some professional coaching, a putting and chipping competition and playing on the course, with refreshments. We were also joined by a few Saxon Queens which was very enjoyable. Some ladies have decided that golf really is ‘fore’ them and are looking into taking up the sport.

We also had a team at the FEWI Inter WI Quiz who had an enjoyable evening with some quite challenging rounds!

https://winkrayleigh.co.uk/july-round-up/

29/06/2026

Diary dates for our Member meetings for the rest of the year.

22/06/2026

Join us for a fun craft evening to create some paper flowers. No experience necessary!

Wednesday 15th July, 7.45pm for 8pm start.

Members only.

Please note our our meetings are closed to visitors as we have a full membership and are not taking on any new members. If this changes, we will announce it on our website and Facebook. Please contact Essex WI for details of other WIs in the area.

19/06/2026

In June we had a very interesting talk from our local RNLI station in Southend. Tony came to talk to use about the history of the RNLI and the work they do saving lives at sea. We learned about the 4 different boats they have at the Southend station and how the calls are attended to. There was an interesting demonstration of all the multiple layers of PPE that volunteers wear to attend calls and we were surprised at how much equipment they wear.

The work of the RNLI Lifeboats is carried out entirely by volunteers who give up their time to train and become experts in rescuing those in need out on the water and around the shoreline. They are always looking for volunteers and financial donations to help keep the lifesaving service running. If you would like to donate or volunteer, please check out their website: https://rnli.org/

Also this month our dinner group enjoyed a lovely meal at the Old Windmill in Hanningfield and a small group of us went to see a matinee of Waitress the musical at Cliffs Pavilion. Thank you to Linda for organising the tickets for us.

We were so busy having fun at our gatherings this month, we haven’t got any photos to share! But here’s one of the Rayleigh Windmill looking splendid in the last few moments of the sunset this week.

https://winkrayleigh.co.uk/june-meeting-the-rnli/

02/06/2026

Our May meeting had us buzzing with excitement as we had local beekeeper Alison from The Bee Friendly Honey Company visit to give a talk about how bees and their honey can help us with their multiple health benefits. We were treated to some very special guests too as Alison brought her observation hive full of busy bees and many of us were able to spot the Queen Bee and see them all at work.

We also had our third annual plant sale which was a good success and our surplus plants were donated to FitzWimarc School for their allotment project.

Address

WI Hall, Bellingham Lane
Rayleigh
SS67ED

Website

https://www.winkrayleigh.co.uk/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when WINK Rayleigh posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.