Recent Events

Eating my Words, with Gill Watson (March 2015)

A local chef really opened the eyes of Barley WI members to what is going on in Pendle!

Gill Watson was born and brought up in Barrowford, went to Manchester and London doing a variety of jobs and trained as a chef along the way. After cooking for various rich and famous people, she returned to Lancashire.

Three years ago, she was told that there were many children locally who were going to school with nothing in their lunch boxes. Not really believing this, she checked with lots of Primary schools in Pendle, who all confirmed that this was true. Even when families had access to one of the 19 Food Banks in Pendle, some parents were afraid to use them for fear that  Social Services might interpret their hunger as neglect and take their children from them.

Gill met the organisers of Fair Share in Manchester, who collect short-dated food from Supermarkets. This visit inspired her to work with Barrowford Primary School to feed those children in most need. This led on to going out to families in the Borough, delivering food and showing them how to cook nutritious meals on a tight budget (taking her own Baby Belling cooker with her!).

She recently described her unpaid job list for the last few weeks like this, "rescuing manky vegetables from the pig bins at Manchester wholesale market; delivering said fruit and veg on a Friday night and Saturday morning in Nelson and Brierfield; delivering Warburton's products on a Tuesday night; writing a report for the Fairness Commission on the effects of poverty......." (see her blog for the complete list!).

Gill was keen to give credit to family, friends and other volunteers who help to collect food and distribute it around Pendle.

Barley WI members were left with feelings of admiration for a remarkable woman and horror that, despite Government statistics, there is so much child poverty on our doorsteps.

Photo shows President Nancy (right) gives Gill Watson some of the food donated by by members

Celebrations at Barley WI  (Feb 2015)

For the first time in living memory, Barley WI Quiz team (called the Barley Sugars!) have been successful in winning the local WI heat against 17 other teams. The heat took place at Waddington on 26th January. Val Widdas, Kate Hepburn, Carla White and Janet Thornton were congratulated by Barley WI President, Nancy Cookson and they were presented with flowers by Tony Flanagan.

Tony Flanagan was the speaker for the evening and he told members about the work of Whitehough Outdoor Education Centre, known locally as the Camp School. The Centre, of which he is the Manager, was opened in 1938 and funded by Nelson Education Authority.

Younger children are accommodated in dormitories while older children and adults can camp in the grounds or on expeditions in the Dales or further afield. For all age groups, the ethos is to enable learning in a safe and enjoyable way.

Many local Primary Schools bring their older pupils to Whitehough for the Transition Programmes, designed to support the move from Primary to Secondary School. Pupils undertake activities that foster self-esteem and self-confidence, encourage lively interaction with group members and give opportunities to develop mutual support, empathy with others and team co-operation.With all ages, the emphasis is on education rather than just an outdoor holiday, which is why schools, uniformed organisations and companies continue to appreciate what their pupils and staff gain from time spent at Whitehough Outdoor Education Centre.