Author Archives: deansdiva

Much more than just jam and Jerusalem

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The first Nottinghamshire WI was formed in Southwell on Thursday 14 June 1917, when 45 ladies met to hear a talk on wartime cookery…

Now, as the Nottinghamshire Federation celebrates its centenary, there are 118 WI groups across the county, with over 4000 members. And, although baking and other traditional skills are still popular topics at their meetings, things have changed a lot over the last 100 years. Even Jerusalem – the WI’s anthem – is available as an iTunes download these days!

On this week’s show, Federation chairman Jane Jefferson joins the Girls Around Town to talk about some of those changes. There’ll be details of how the WI is making a real difference through its involvement in major national campaigns, helping to raise awareness of key issues such as low staffing levels on labour wards, the gender pay gap and the health and social implications of loneliness.

She’ll have news too of some of the ways members have celebrated the centenary so far, what’s planned for the next few months and, with any luck, she might be persuaded to share a recipe or two from the Federation’s brand new cookery book, which was published at the end of September…

If you thought the WI was just jam and Jerusalem, think again! Tune in or listen online between 10am and 12 noon on Sunday, when June and Tina find out more about what the WI gets up to both locally and nationally – and how you can get involved by joining a group near you.

Flushed with success

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How time flies! It’s been a year since menopause campaigner Deborah Garlick last joined the Girls Around Town. But she’s back this weekend with an update on what has been an incredibly busy – and very successful – 12 months…

When she was on the show in October 2016, Deborah and her Henpicked colleagues had just created the Twitter sensation #HotFlashMob and put World Menopause Day and Nottinghamshire on the map.

Since then, she’s taken things to the next level, getting blue-chip businesses to develop menopause support programmes for their staff. And with companies such as Severn Trent, Next and PepsiCo involved, as well as Nottinghamshire Police, real change is on the way.

Tune in or listen online between 10am and 12 noon to find out exactly what Deborah’s been up to since her last visit to the studio. And to say ‘goodbye’ for the time being at least to Fiona, who’ll be handing over the reins as the show’s wellbeing guru to Rosalyn from next month…

She’ll be back before long though, with updates on her own new adventures working with Inspire – watch this space for news of her return!

Passion on a plate

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From bikes to bakes on this week’s show, when the Girls Around Town meet Jade Ostler…

Still in her early 20s, Jade has already achieved almost as much as many people do in their entire working lives. And she’ll be in the studio on Sunday morning to tell June and Tina all about it.

After a hectic 10 years, three of them spent living and working in Australia, she’s now back in Lincoln where she’s recently launched Jade’s Bakes.  From cakes to cordials, pies to preserves, traybakes to truffles – if you’ve a sweet tooth, merely reading the descriptions on her website of all the goodies on offer will make your mouth water!

Tune in or listen online between 10am and 12 noon tomorrow to find out more. She’ll be talking about her time spent working in bakeries and restaurants both at home and abroad, including a three-week spell at Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, and explaining how the experience she gained gave her the knowledge and confidence to launch her own business.

So just where do the bikes come in?

Well, not so long ago Jade was all set for a sporting career. At 10 years old, she played tennis for her home county, then later switched to cycling and qualified for the British team for the 2012 Olympics.

But her long-time passion for food won out. She turned her attention to baking and, four years later, she’s now sharing that passion, to the delight of cake-lovers in and around Lincoln and beyond!