Bake, Natter and Roll - Farnham WI

23/10/2026

Dear All,

Please see the information below from Waverley BC about the “Be Ready” website:

Be Ready

The UK Government has launched the “Be Ready” website with simple, updated guidance on how households can prepare for emergencies as part of its National Resilience Campaign.



Please share this information with your clients, networks, staff and volunteers.

Are you emergency ready?

Everyday emergencies like storms can disrupt the essential services you rely on like your phone, water, power and the internet.

Taking a few simple steps to prepare can make a big difference, helping you manage while emergency support reaches those who need it most.

If you or someone you know might need extra support during a gas, electricity or water outage, they may be able to sign up for the Priority Services Register. It’s a free service that ensures utility companies know who may need extra assistance. Lots of households are eligible, including those of pensionable age, people with long-term illnesses, and families with children under 5.

Find out more about how to prepare and check your eligibility for extra help at:

Find out how to be ready for an emergency in your area. Being ready for 3 days helps you manage while support reaches those in need. See what simple steps you can take at GOV.UK/BeReady

17/10/2026

The members of Bake Natter and Roll were in the pink at the October meeting, as we were wearing pink in support of the charity Breast Cancer Now.

We were so lucky to have the amazing Catherine Pretty speak to us about her role as an embryologist and her 20 years working in the field of IVF. She took us through the mechanics of how IVF works and the understanding of what factors are involved for people going through IVF. Catherine's enthusiasm and passion about IVF and her support and kindness really shone through, and we all felt very privileged to have had her as our speaker.

We refuelled on "pink-themed" cakes and bakes; Gail had created two amazing cakes that really tantalized our taste buds.

After our break we caught up with Bake Natter and Roll business, such as the Curry Club, Book Club, W**e O’clock get-together, and our forthcoming visit in November to the Spike in Guildford.

We ended our pink evening with a pink-themed wrapped raffle (the prizes along with the raffle tickets were pink too). The draw of the tickets was made by Ann our visitor from Surrey Wl.

Through the generosity of our members, we raised £91.70 to donate to Breast Cancer Now.

The next meeting of BNR will be on Thursday, 19th November, when it will be our AGM, followed by Christmas Crafting.

21/09/2026

Bake Natter and Roll Farnham WI had a wonderful late summer meeting on Thursday 17th September at the Spire Church, Farnham when we had the amazing Ann Barnard speak to us about her life as a Store Detective.

Ann, had worked for both Marks and Spencer and Boots as a Store Detective for many years both locally in the Farnham, Aldershot, Guildford and Fleet area but also covering other towns in the South East. She gave us a brief insight as to the training and legalities of her job as a Store Detective plus what the routine would be when a perpetrator had been caught. She took us through some of the more notable cases she had delt with and the outcomes for the store and the person caught. Ann kindly took questions from the audience and she discussed with us how attitudes to shop lifting has sadly changed making the situation for a Store and its staff so difficult.

Our evening was fuelled by the delicious cakes created by Janette and Gill. Ann, kindly joined in with the general BNR meeting after her talk, evening drawing the tickets for the BNR Wrapped Raffle. BNR’s business and activities were discussed such as the forthcoming Curry Club and W**e O’clock get-togethers. Two dates in November have been decided for the visit to the Spike in Guildford which is being organised by Val.

Bake Natter and Rolls’ next meeting will be on Thursday 15th October when Catherine Pretty will be reflecting on 30 years working in the world of IVF. It will be also our “Wear it Pink” meeting when our meeting will be raising money for Breast Cancer Research. For more information, please visit our website farnhamwibakenatterandroll or email [email protected]

25/08/2026

Thursday the 20th August the Members of Bake Natter and Roll Farnham WI were introduced to the team from Surrey County Council Fostering Services, Kara and her colleague Laura plus two Foster Carers, Cindy and Benedickte. Kara told us that Foster Carers can be single people, married couples those in civil partnership, there is no upper age limit and all backgrounds are considered.

There are various forms of fostering support for the children, their families and foster carers such as Parent and Family Fostering, Supported Lodging, Kinship - where the Child’s Foster Carer is a relative so that the child will stay within the family.

Cindy and Benedickte told us what it is like to be a foster carer; Cindy focuses mostly on older children and Benedickte on little children and babies. Foster carers share Parental Responsibilities with the Council. Within Surrey they need foster carers from all backgrounds but to be a Foster Carer it has to be right for the individual and their families, but it is very rewarding. During the year Surrey has about 1000 children needing fostering and of that number 60% are children over the age of 11. Their aim is to have a happy ending for all.

After the members refuelled on cakes and bakes created by Katie. The members then went onto discuss BNR business relating to the Curry Club, The Book Group, the Theatre Group and the new get-together group of W**e O’Clock - the first meeting will be held on Friday 28 at the Tellers Arms.

Bake Natter and Rolls next meeting will be on Thursday 17th September when Catherine Pretty will be telling the meeting about the life of Store Detective. For more information please visit our website farnhamwibakenatterandroll or email [email protected]

20/07/2026

The July Meeting of Bake Natter and Roll Farnham WI was back at the Small Hall at the Spire Church and we were privileged to have the wonderful Colin Brown from the RNLI speak to us about the 200 years of operations by the RNLI which has been entirely supported by donations.

Colin took us through how the RNLI was created back in the 1820’s by a gentleman called William Hilary on the Isle of Mann, where around the country there were over 35 shipwrecks per week. He unified various other rescue boats and they pooled their knowledge, and 200 years later it is still in existence with lifeboat stations around the country and still supported by donations without any government support. Now the number of ship wrecks has gone down but pleasure boat rescues have increased so also have the rescues of people kayaking, wind surfing plus open water swimming. 98% of off shore calls are responded to in less than 10 minutes. There are also rescue services operated from the Thames. 97% of the Crews and are volunteers.

After such an amazing talk we re-fuelled on delicious cakes created for us by Caroline and Ali, and then went on to discuss Bake Natter and Roll business. Updates were received regarding The Theatre Group, Book Club and Curry Club and also the new Monthly Friday night group called The W**e o’clock Club.

Val gave us a resume about BNR’s recent visit to Brookwood Cemetery and also, she proposed a trip to the “Spike” in Guildford.
Other news regarding charities, collection of bras, Wear it Pink, the WI National Raffle etc was chatted about plus the collection of the amazing mugs that were created by the members at our June Meeting at the Ceramics Cafe.

The next BNR meeting is on Thursday August 20th when we will have Kara Dennis who will be doing a presentation about Fostering in Surrey, which will start at 7.45pm and will be in the Small Hall at the Spire Church, South Street, Farnham. For more information please visit our website farnhamwibakenatterandroll or email [email protected]

07/07/2026

Thank you to all the lovely ladies of Helen, Barbara, Jeanie, Hilary, Katie, Val an Gill who created such a wonderful Tea Stall at last Sunday's Music in the Meadow We had such a great afternoon in the shade and met lots of lovely Farnham People.

Thank you also to Megan and all the team of Farnham Council for all their help plus the wonderful music that kept us entertained from Vic Cracknell and his swing band.

25/05/2026

On Thursday 21st May the Members of Bake Natter and Roll were Busy Bees at their meeting in the Small Hall at the Spire Church when we were entertained by the amazing Juliet Evans from The Hive Helpers Project of Farnham as she raised our awareness about Bees, these important little creatures.

Juliet’s daughter Erica started Hive Helpers in 2021 and they have become very involved with Farnham Community Farm. Juliet told us that in the UK we only have one type of honey bee but there are various different types of bumble bees and solitary bees. Bees are very, very important pollinators and they need habitat to forage and this sadly is being depleted, the solitary bees like to be close to their homes.

Juliet took us through the life cycle of bees; how they pollinate; other insects that also pollinate; she also told us that some of the bees' favourite plants are ones that we might be class as weeds such as dandelions and toad flax. Debbie one of our members dressed up in the full beekeeping kit.

In Farnham we have the wonderful Bee Safari Leaflet (available from the Farnham Council Offices) and one of the most popular places for bees is the Library.

Staying on the bee theme, our wonderful cake bakers of Melisa and Bobbie created delicious bakes that had honey as one of the ingredients or decorated with bees.

After the presentation by Juliet the general news of Bake Natter and Roll was discussed, such as the Curry Club, Book Group, Theatre Group, Walks available with the Farnham Walking Festival and the forthcoming guided walk around Brookwood Cemetery.

On Thursday 18th June BNR will be having a Members Only get together at the Ceramics Cafe. The next full meeting will be on Thursday 16th July which will start at 7.45pm and will be in the Small Hall at the Spire Church, South Street, Farnham. For more information please visit our website farnhamwibakenatterandroll or email [email protected]

17/05/2026

The BNR Theatre Group - Katie organised a terrific visit on 7th May to "Glorius" at the Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford everyone really enjoyed the production.

The next visit will be on Sunday 21st June and this time it will be all the way to Hollybourne, Alton to see Adrian Lukis (yes him of the iconic BBC production of Pride and Prejudice) in his one man show "Being Mr Wickham".

Dates for other outings are 2nd July, 3rd September, 5th November and 7th January 2027 - Katie will be able to tell you the productions that are going to be seen and further information at BNR's next meeting on May 21st.

20/04/2026

The Members of Bake Natter and Roll on Thursday 16th April proved how artistic they are when they met at the Small Hall at the Spire Church for a “Craft Evening” of painting stones.

It was a wonderful evening to relax and be inspired, painting pre-primed stones of various sizes with acrylic paints. It was a great opportunity to chat and catch up with fellow members all the while eating cake and drinking tea. The delicious cakes were provided by Gail and Debi. Not only was it a craft evening, but it was also a mindful evening.

While the members painted they were updated about various BNR events and activities that would be coming up in the future such as the Curry Club, the Theatre Group, a possible guided tour to Brookwood Cemetery, plus walks that BNR are getting involved in during the Farnham Walking Festival.

The assembled members voted for the BNR charity for 2026/27, which will be Change of Scene, a local charity that offers animal-assisted outdoor learning for young people with complex emotional, social and behavioural needs who have recently relocated to Frensham.

The next meeting is on Thursday 21st May when we will be having a visit from Juliet Evans from Hive Helpers. The meeting will start at 7.45pm and will be in the Small Hall at the Spire Church, South Street, Farnham. For more information please visit our website farnhamwibakenatterandroll or email [email protected]