December Newsletter

Nov 27
3 min read

View all photos on the front page of the website or @sheffforgewi on Instagram

Meeting Roundup

Just look at the concentration on those faces! Our November origami session was very successful with everyone concentrating on following the instructions and completing the gift boxes, Christmas trees and Santa Claus figures.

Wednesday 3 December Christmas party, festive jumpers optional.

No cake Rota: Please bring either a savoury or sweet dish for the buffet table

View all future meetings

Next meeting: Wednesday 7 January 2026 will be a talk by Andy Foster (Retired Policeman) How to protect yourself against fraud.

Next Committee Meeting: Tuesday 13 January 2026 - AGM preparation & Events Calendar.

Fundraiser : Saturday 22 November Terminus road 10. 30 - 3.30

A cold, drizzly day to start, but nothing as bad as last year! Our ‘Bakes & Makes’ stall attracted quite a few of our regular customers for Christmas Cakes (not enough big cakes, so orders have been taken for 6 more), however the smaller individual Christmas Cakes sold out except for one! usual cakes made by the bakers Jan, Carolyn, Madeline, Shelagh, Margaret, Julie, Heather, Pat, Mavis, Ann B & Viv. The crafts were slow to sell this year although Carolyn’s hats, headbands and scarves helped to boost the craft sales, along with Jenny’s lovely crochet bell tree decorations. The star of the show was definitely the lovely hand made Bear made by Louise, a new prospective member, the bear was raffled by Ann D & Jenny raising £72!

Thanks to all those who helped on the day including Liz, Madeline, Jenny, Ann D, Carolyn & Jan.

The total raised was £410.80p, however that does include the £29 float provided by Jan, who will be reimbursed from the sale of the extra 6 cakes ordered.

Craft Corner

We handed over 10 blankets and 8 fabric squares (from Viv). also a few hats to Louise at the November meeting. Thank you for the donated fabric cut into squares. I will endeavour to sew these over the Christmas break!

We will continue to make hats, mitts and booties between now and the end of January for Jessops.

You do not have to come to knit and natter meetings to join in with our charity knitting, contact Jan for patterns etc for our WIPs.

Next meeting:

Friday 5 December - 1.30 pm - Jan
Monday 8 December -7 . 30 Robin Hood Pub Millhouses.
Friday 19 December - 1.30 Carolyn
Monday 22 December - 7.30 Robin Hood Pub Millhouses.

NB: If anyone needs to know the location of a meeting please contact Jan either by text or email.

If you enjoy crafting of any type you are most welcome to join us, or if you don't want to craft just come for a relaxing afternoon/evening chat!.

Craft and Natter dates for 2025 are now published on the Events Calendar on the front page of The Forge website

Book Group

This month’s book was Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. This book was well liked by the majority of people. However some people found it hard to gel with the characters or rather long winded and once again some people thought the ending was disappointing.

The dog Six- Thirty was a well liked character. We discussed the attitude of society towards women in both America and this country and how hard it was for an intelligent woman to have a career outside the home or the generally accepted careers at the time. We felt that the book covered lots of things such as Madeline’s difficulties in fitting in with her peers and teacher at school. The book scored 8/10.

Next meeting: Wednesday 17 December - 7.30 pm Laycocks

Next Months book: Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Book Group meetings - 3rd Wednesday of the month, 7.30pm at Laycocks Sports Club. For full details see Upcoming Books

Social Events

December Social Events

Coffee morning: 8 December - 10 am Wards Garden Centre Cafe, Eckington rd, Coal Aston S18 3BA. Please book via the website.

As Social Events have grown we have decided to give them their own space rather than overload the general monthly news roundup. These updates will be emailed as necessary.

In the meantime, be prepared and complete the online Social Events Declaration form that must be filled in by anyone wishing to take part in an event. The Declaration can be completed online (you'll find it on the members page), or alternatively it can be completed during a monthly meeting.

For future events see Upcoming Social Events book online or at the Social Events Desk