Our Chairman’s Message – September 2021

As the children return to school and the evenings start to draw in we all know it’s September and for many of us we wonder how we have arrived at the ninth month of the year so very quickly.
I hope that if you did have a holiday it was enjoyable and that you are now fully refreshed and ready to re-commence WI meetings and events after eighteen long, difficult months. As you can see the Federation and Committees are springing back into action (well actually charging full tilt might be more appropriate) and I hope that you are all filling in the application forms for what is on offer. A lot of thought and effort goes into creating these courses for members. It is often driven by what members have indeed requested and therefore your support is essential for classes to go ahead.
As Team GB has done so well at the Tokyo Olympics perhaps now is a good time to hand out some thank you’s around the Federation as Team Northumberland has performed magnificently in keeping up spirits through the darkness of Covid 19.
Although the Office was closed to visitors and for meetings in accordance with Government guidelines, work went on as normal with Nancy working from home with the computer and telephone being transferred and visits made to the Office to collect post. It was not long before Nancy was back in the Office but still with no admittance to visitors until it was deemed safe to do so. Thank you Nancy for keeping everything up to date during such a difficult period.
Officers continued to meet to discuss and pass on whatever was being sent out from National and the Government and their personal support to me was outstanding as was the help provided by the full Board of Trustees and WI Advisers who made sure that they maintained contact with individual WIs to ensure that they were managing to deal with any issues as they arose.
Presidents of individual WIs kept in touch with their members with many WIs creating their own Newsletters and making gifts for members and holding Zoom meetings which I know was very much appreciated. I wonder how many of you are going to continue to produce your own Newsletter each month?
Finally, thanks to all of Team Northumberland’s extraordinary members who kept in touch with their fellow members and who went the extra mile in their own communities.
I can’t mention you all individually but from me you all deserve a big gold medal and I hope that you enjoy your first face to face meetings in a long time.
Since the last Newsletter I have already been out to Warden in Hexham to an afternoon tea to celebrate their Centenary year and had the honour of unveiling a new banner designed and made by Dorothy Bowman and Jenny Crisp to mark their centenary. It is a stunning piece of work and I hope that many of you will get the opportunity of seeing it for yourselves. I shall also soon be visiting Newbiggin by
the Sea for their Annual Meeting so I definitely feel that things are returning
to where we want them to be and long may that continue.