Hello ladies, here we are in summer and I really hope that as you read this, summer has indeed arrived. Like the rest of the WI Advisers I have travelled all over the Federation in the past few weeks, attending Annual Meetings, and normally with the long light nights it is an absolute delight to travel around and see the wonderful countryside bathed in sunshine with lambs jumping for joy but sad to say this year has seen a lot of rain, wind, and soaked little lambs which is not quite so wonderful. However the warm welcome we receive at WI’s has absolutely more than made up for the dismal weather and on behalf of all the Advisers I would like to thank all the WI’s that have recently been visited.
Now, what about the National Annual Meeting? Well for those who watched on line I hope you enjoyed the day and for those attending in person I am sure that you will have come back having had a wonderful experience being in the company of so many fellow members at the beautiful Royal Albert Hall. Many of you will now know that the Resolution on Dental Health Matters was passed with a massive majority and if you have heard the reports from your delegates then I am sure that they will have told you about the terrific speakers. This year they all had a common theme which dealt with domestic abuse and coercive control. I cannot do justice to the speakers in a few lines but I am sure that your delegates have elaborated for you and of course there will no doubt be a full report in WI Life. It was interesting to hear Melissa say that this year there would be no press in the venue to either report or take photographs as the subject is so sensitive and the WI wanted to protect the main speakers and the anonymity of anyone asking questions from the floor. It was certainly a fabulous event and one which will stay in the memory for a long time as well as being the last one for delegates in person until 2027.The next two will be on line and we currently have no confirmed date, nor do we know how they will allocate delegates etc.
We have recently received another generous donation, this time from Hepscott WI and my grateful thanks go to the members there. Hopefully we shall shortly be commencing work on updating the lighting on the first floor.
We have recently had a fire check carried out and one of our newer Board members Dee Ward was in attendance along with Nancy to make any notes. Despite the check being done by a very nice young Fire Officer I rather think they were hoping for a full turnout complete with an engine, a full complement of fire fighters and someone ready to demonstrate the well known fireman’s lift which sad to say is no longer done as the Fire Service exists to put fires out.
Just a quick few words of thanks to Karen, our Chairman of the Craft Committee, for putting on a demonstration of Sushi making. As I go around WI’s as an adviser I often talk about those WI members who went before us, some of whom would have been active in the Suffragist movement and it made me wonder what they would have made of WI ladies learning about constructing and eating raw fish and rice all nicely rolled up, now that is definitely not Jam and Jerusalem, so well done Karen.
Finally I will have seen some of you at Marj on a Mission at Beadnell and I look forward to seeing quite a lot more of you at the next three. If you are going away in the next few weeks, have a wonderful holiday and see you when you return.
And really finally, you may already know that our new National Chairman is Jeryl Stone of Warwickshire Federation. I have sent a message wishing former Chairman Ann Jones best wishes as she resumes” normal” WI membership and good luck to Jeryl as she takes on the mantle for the next three years.
Marj x
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