WHATS ON / AGM / 2024

Veronica Main, MBE of Hat Plait in Buckinghamshire has been invited to give a talk immediately after the main AGM business, in the Main Hall at the North Oxford Association Community Centre. The meeting is from 2pm – 5pm with the business part from 2pm to include the Chair’s report, Treasurer’s report and AOB. The talk by Veronica follows next, concluding with questions and then finally tea and cake to end the 2024 AGM meeting. Veronica Main was awarded an MBE in 2021 in recognition of a lifetime spent researching, practicing and teaching the craft of straw plaiting for the hat industry. Once an important trade in the UK, straw hat plaiting is now on the Heritage Crafts Association critically endangered crafts Red List. Veronica has made it her life’s mission to ensure that these skills are not lost, has been involved with Wardown House Museum and the Culture Trust in Luton for over 30 years and has been a consultant on straw work to museums across the world, including the V&A and the Museum of London. Over the years Veronica has taught many hundreds of people the skills of straw plaiting in the UK, US, Europe and Bangladesh.