Membership Support – October 2023

The National Annual Meeting 2024 – We are sure members are delighted to hear that the 2024 National Annual Meeting will be held in the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 5 June.
Full details of the meeting, the Federation’s 2024 Link List and the applications for delegates and observers (in person) are being sent out with this month’s mailing. As this is going to be a hybrid meeting, delegates may choose how they wish to take part – in person or virtually. Attending a National Annual Meeting is an exciting experience, particularly when held in such an impressive venue, and we would urge WIs eligible to send a delegate to do so, especially if any members have not been to a National Meeting in the past. This year there is no charge for members to attend the Meeting virtually and details regarding this will be sent out at a later date when available from National.As the timescale for notifying National of the delegates attending is quite tight, we would appreciate it if WIs could adhere to the deadlines set down in the information.
FUTURE NATIONAL ANNUAL MEETINGS – We have been notified by National that they have been reviewing arrangements for future National Annual Meetings. Careful consideration has been given to this review by the NFWI Board of Trustees, the result of which is as follows.
From 2025, National will begin a continuous three-year cycle that will include two consecutive meetings that will offer online participation only, followed by one in-person meeting at a larger venue, allowing members to join both in-person and online. The delegates’ ratio for the online meetings in 2025 and 2026 has been set as 1:4. The delegate ratio for the hybrid meeting in 2027 will be decided at a later date once the venue is known.
When making this decision, National has taken into account the cost of the meetings, both nationally and to Federations and WIs, and also the attendance trends bearing in mind the logistical challenges for some Federations to send delegates in person. Further information will be given at our Council Meeting at the RGS on Saturday 7 October 2023.