Buns & Roses: Where the WI meets rock and roll

Your Committee

We’ve been aware of these urban foxes for a while and asked them to tell us a little bit more about their activities, Gemma Rathbone spills…

I always knew I’d become a member of the Women’s Institute eventually, I just never thought that day would come before I even hit my 30s!

Around October 2009, suffering from boredom, lack of money and a desire to expand on my newly-learned cross stitch skills, I discovered the Buns & Roses WI group. Describing themselves as a rock and roll group and with workshop titles such as Thread Zeppelin, Jeweller’s Priest and Face of Base, they sounded like just what I needed.

Turns out they were. Back then, they met upstairs at Mojo, so, cocktail in hand, up I ventured for my first Buns & Roses experience. I was greeted by many smiley faces, who I’m very pleased to say are now my best friends, with new additions every meeting. Warm, welcoming and a little bit crazy, the committee – president Georgiana, treasurer Hayley and secretaries Gloria and Zoe – made me feel right at home and I haven’t left since!

The Women’s Institute was created in 1915 and has since grown to more than 200,000 members up and down the country. The initial ethos was to revitalise communities and encourage women to help the war effort by growing food. Today, this has evolved to the general motto “Inspiring Women”, a lovely play on words that sums up what makes the WI so great. We are a bunch of inspirational women doing our utmost to help others learn and grow.

Knitted Cake Pasties

At Buns & Roses, this task is interspersed with the required tea, cake and gossip, one or two glasses of wine and a good dose of humour and enthusiasm.

Having been a member for a year now, I have been involved in many classes, projects and activities. I can decorate a cake (kind of), make a fascinator (fairly successfully) and chat and laugh with good friends (until the cows come home). In the past 12 months I have learnt new skills in several hands-on workshops, taken part in sessions to help boost confidence and become a successful business woman and learnt about and helped other local charities.

More recently, I’ve taken the next step and made it on to the committee as a co-ordinator of all things crafty; finding fairs where members can sell their wares and generally getting us out into the big wide world to share our talents. It’s challenging and hard work, but the reward is being able to make a difference and spread the word about Buns & Roses.

But it doesn’t stop there! Next year I’m running my own workshop for the group and sharing my talent and love for paper craft. I’ve also been awarded a bursary to study Elizabethan embroidery at Denman College – the WI’s beautiful home of creativity and learning in Oxfordshire.

And as I take on these new roles and adventures, so too does Buns & Roses grow. Having been founded in Mojo and holding meetings there for around 18 months, the group has now outgrown the space. Although sad to bid a fond farewell to the bar, it’s testament to everyone’s talents, dedication and enthusiasm that there simply wasn’t enough room to fit everyone in.

As of November 2010, Buns & Roses meets at the Leeds Deaf Social Centre on North Street. This wonderful venue provides a drop-in centre for people with hearing difficulties and has kindly welcomed our motley crew for our twice-monthly get togethers. Here, we have tons of space for bigger workshops, disabled access, the use of a kitchen and storage space and, best of all, our very own bar!

So, as 2011 approaches and Buns & Roses looks back on a successful year, the future is very bright indeed. In the next 12 months there will be all manner of meetings, workshops and outings to enjoy, lots of gossip and laughter and just the right amount of rock and roll shenanigans.

We’re always delighted to welcome new people, so check out the website at www.bunsandroses.co.uk for details of our next meetings. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too! Please do come along and say hello – we don’t bite and you’ll leave with a smile on your face, great friends and a new skill.

And don’t just take my word on all this – read what other members have to say about Buns & Roses. Our choir mistress Tessa Smith sings our praises (Ha!) on her blog at and the insanely creative Eleanor Snare shows off her talents, nurtured by Buns & Roses, on her pages

Gemma Rathbone
www.makedoandgem.blogspot.com

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