Our Chairman’s Message – May 2024

What a busy month April has been for not only myself but all the Advisers as we have been travelling the length and breadth of the county to Annual Meetings and in the case of Karen Wynne and Rosie Harden-Vane opening a new WI. Well done ladies. I am sure there will be more news of that under Membership Support.
I am delighted to tell you that the updating of the lighting at Cresswell House has now been completed on the ground floor and we hope to have the first floor done before the end of the year. All of this has happened due to your generous donations to Federation funds and once again my thanks go this month to Garden Village, Corbridge and Bardon Mill. Bardon Mill hosted a pre-loved sale on Saturday 13 April and the money raised has also been donated to our funds. I went to the event and along with bagging a few bargains I was able to chat to members from neighbouring WIs and have some fabulous food so what a great way to spend a Saturday. Thank you to all of you at Bardon Mill on Saturday and all of the other WIs who have been so very generous in their donations since our Council Meeting last October – you are indeed all stars.
I am now about to ask you for something else, with no fund raising involved. As you know this year it will be 80 years since the D-Day landings on the Normandy beaches during WW2 and I also know that many of your individual WIs have done wonderful poppy displays in your local communities over the past few years. My father was part of the troops that landed on those beaches and I would like to have a small cascade at Cresswell House that can be hung outside on the metal grill but brought in each night and my sincere hope is that every WI provides one poppy for the Cresswell Cascade. It can be any size and any medium and you can incorporate your WIs name if you wish but it would be Northumberland Federation’s salute to all who took part and to all the brave men and women who have lost their lives fighting for their country over the years.
Now to all that travelling that has been going on during April and will continue into May. Most of it has been to Annual Meetings but Jenny and I said a sad farewell to Wingrove WI as we joined them for a lovely fish and chip lunch on their very last meeting. Two days later I was down in North Ormesby as a guest at Teesside Federation’s Annual Council Meeting and two weeks later Moira and I were at Cumbria Westmorland’s Council Meeting. These are excellent opportunities to see how other Federations do things, discuss ideas and listen to their chosen speakers. Barbara Kilkenny went along to Durham’s Council Meeting so we now have quite a few different ideas as you can imagine.
Castle West group invited me to their meeting which as always was a great affair with a super buffet and entertainment and finally I must mention Hexhamshire and their fantastic 100th birthday party. It was quite an event with musical entertainment, a three course meal and gentlemen manning the bar! However the real highlight was one of their members, Barbara who is in her 90’s and told everyone about joining Hexhamshire in the 1960’s and trying to follow the Northumbrian dialect but for me it was when she performed a Joyce Grenfell monologue about The Committee. What a real star she is and thank you to all the members for the invitation and warm welcome.
I am going to sign off with the sun shining but still cold and windy outside, surely the better and warmer weather will come along soon and I look forward to those of you that I will be visiting as your Adviser in the next few weeks.
Marj x