Our monthly meetings - 2026

Details

January 15th 2026

Location

Our main monthly meetings are always held on the third Thursday of the month at Sowood Community Centre.

Each month the “Helpful Babes” arrive at 6:00pm to help set up the centre for our meetings and then pack away afterwards. All members will be part of this group over the year, there are a variety of tasks to suit all physical abilities.

Tea, coffee, cordial and cake or savoury snacks will be available during the social time of our meetings. Each month, the nominated members provide the food under the guidance of our “kitchen crew” who are identifiable by their green aprons. Refreshments can either be home made or shop bought, and sometimes support the theme of the speaker. Assistance with clearing and washing up are always appreciated.

Helpful Babes

Location

January 15th 2026

Location

Sowood Community Centre,

Stainland Road,

Sowood,

Halifax,

West Yorkshire

HX4 9HY

Doors open at 18:30 and the meeting starts at 19:00

Parking is at a premium, so please car share where possible.

January 15th 2026

Our Annual meeting, a review of the year and sharing of plans for 2026

February 19th 2026

Dementia awareness. We welcome Serena Wigglesworth from Alzheimer's Research. We will hear about the speaker's experience of Dementia, find out more about the charity, will learn more about Dementia, and includes ways to improve our own brain health

Alzheimer's Research UK - the UK's leading Alzheimer's research charity

19th March 2026

Charity and community projects past and present.

We will hear from a speaker about how we can support our chosen charity for 2026 and also look back on the community projects we have delivered as a group. In particular the Poppy Trail and the installation, ongoing management of community defibrillators supported by CPR training.

16th April 2026

19th March 2026

We will hear from a volunteer from the Mothers' Union at New Hall Women's Prison finding out the ways in which they support the prisoners. From family days, the mother and baby unit to cooking with the prisoners to build skills that can be used on their release.

21st May 2026

18th June 2026

Our WI is full of members with amazing and surprising life stories and this month we will be finding out more.

18th June 2026

Back by popular demand, our June speaker will be Steve Midgley, Wildlife Photographer aka the Wildlife Pirate.

Steve is a Wildlife photographer based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. This time we will be hearing about his recent trip to Botswana.

Steve will explain how he captures amazing images like the one above

16th July 2026

18th June 2026

20th August 2026

The dog’s nose is the most sophisticated biosensor on the planet and is capable of detecting odour far beyond human and technological capacity. We will found out how these skills are used to support those with pre-existing conditions and also detect diseases such as cancers.

20th August 2026

Maggie Birkinshaw is a netball legend with 76 England Roses caps, has played in three world cups and remains on the selection panel for the current England team. She is instrumental in building coaching capability in Tanzania, supporting women and girls to compete at elite and world class Netball

17th September 2026

In September we will be having a night of games, along with our crazy September raffle!

15th October 2026

For our 12th birthday we welcome Nicola Mills and will hear about her life, how she came from a working class background to sing in opera companies across the world.

19th November 2026

We are joined by Liz Mistry, a British crime fiction author known for her gritty police procedural novels set in Bradford, exploring themes of culture, mental health, and the complexities of urban life.

17th December 2026

Shake your baubles and round off the year with our fabulous Christmas Party