WI Annual General Meeting and ballots

31st May
I spent the evening in a local pub making plans for the next big Federation event. We often find it easier to arrange a meeting centrally in a pub rather than in someone's house. The bigger the pub the less the staff notice that you are spending more time discussing paperwork and less time ordering food and drink.It also reduces the cost of running a sub-committee if it meets centrally and so cuts the cost of mileage. These costs have to be built in to the cost of the event so this system helps keep the prices reasonable for the people attending.
6th June
Annual General Meeting at the Royal Albert Hall--the big event of the WI year.
This was the first time that our coach has ever arrived just as the staff were opening the doors. How different from the notorious time when we were singing Jerusalem somewhere in North London when we had encountered horrendous traffic congestion on the motorway!
And what good seats! The Bucks Observers were situated in the second tier and five of us were in the box just above the royal coat of arms above the Royal Box.It really is a lovely hall and the singing of Jerusalem was inspirational again.
I thought our National Chairman Fay Mansell appeared more relaxed at her second AGM and she delivered a very upbeat address concentrating on the successful campaigns and the introduction of WI Life which had been achieved without quite as much fuss as the initial run up had suggested.
The main theme of the meeting seemed to be about differences. The National Treasurer Sally Roberts had a positive report to make on the finances where for once the VAT had helped rather than been a burden. The NFWI is now zero rated for VAT and staff numbers are down though costs are much the same.Next year the WI subscription will be £27 and pooling of fares £13.The rise of just £1 was welcomed and the rise in pooling of fares not surprising.(This system spreads the cost of travel to the AGM fairly across WIs from all over the country).
Baroness Hayman, the Speaker for the House of Lords, spoke of her admiration for the work done by the WI which she compared to the role of the House of Lords in government. The Upper House recognises female expertise, is really outside politics, being a revising chamber where open debate when scrutinising legislation is welcome.She said that the WI was part of the nation's framework and acted as a vital glue-- an interesting idea.
The resolution about fighting the closure of community hospitals was well presented. A member from Broughton Pastures in our Federation seconded it without the slightest hint of nerves and Graham Stuart MP, representing CHANT, also endorsed it.A civil servant from the Dept of Health, John Pope spoke very well explaining the Government view but poor man, he didn't stand a chance! The mandate is now in place with an almost unanimous vote.
Ruth Bond, a member of the NFWI Trustees, then gave a resume of the progress in the national campaigns--the milk debate, Human Trafficking, packaging and introduced the Carbon Footprint Challenge to which Philip Selby from the Energy Saving Trust added information on renewables in building.
Next I was delighted that an added item was discussed and it was agreed to support the campaign on providing sanitary wear for the women of Zimbabwe. Imagine the cost of buying sanitary products in Zimbabwe is half the national monthly wage!
A new competition was announced to follow on from the Stepping Out Challenge =One Step Further. We are asked to produce a leaflet on a local walk. We could do that locally and I know several other Bucks WIs will be interested in having a go.
Then it was lunch and off we all trouped to bring the traffic to a standstill as we crossed to sit on the steps of the Albert Memorial. Luckily the weather was fine and hot so the grass was covered in people eating lunch and talking 60 to the dozen.
Stuart Rose from Marks and Spencer then introduced the Carbon Challenge which is being shared by the WI and M&S.He told us what M&S is planning for their Plan A campaign, what the firm has already undertaken and asking for active participation from the WI. He was an inspirational speaker.
We received a very good report from Denman College which has had a successful year and is planning structural additions eg a cookery school and modernising some of the halls of residence. Anne Harrison was keen to point out the refurbished seating in the bar and foyer saying how nice it looked.Personally I don't like it but perhaps others do. If it is good for Denman I'll try to go with the flow!
The new NFWI Trustees were announced and the results of the Cycle Cuba for Denman which were fantastic. Not just for the money raised £83,395 but for the personal achievement of those taking part.
Then Alan Cook from Post Office Ltd spoke about Post Office closures and the schemes planned to compensate for their loss. These included a link up with WHSmith in towns and mobile post offices, post and Go boxes etc and added services such as Broadband. He very bravely answered questions but at the end, the meeting decided to write to express its continued concern about closures.I bet poor Mr Cook went home and said "Why did I bother?" It was almost rude to appear not to have listened to a word he said but....
We finished with the most amazing event. Tony Christie came and for some reason sang "Is this the way to Amarillo?" . Perhaps he happened to be passing as it bore no relevance at all to the meeting and he didn't know the words to Jerusalem either. I couldn't help thinking that "Return to sender" would have followed on nicely to the Post Office but then he is dead, isn't he?
The arrangements for travel home worked well but we spent 20 minutes in Kensington High Street completely jammed because of road works. Never mind, it was a wonderful day as always and it re-enthuses one on what the WI is all about.
9th June
We held a garden tea party at home to raise some funds to cover the costs of our local WI's Milk Debate. It was a wonderfully sunny day and although there were only a few of us there we enjoyed sitting about and chatting.And we have now made enough to meet the expenses.
11th June
How can one make a ballot for tickets really fair? In the Federation we seem to chew over this problem and find no easy solution. I hate turning members away when they book for events that are over-subscribed: WIs that meet late in the month are penalised if one uses the first come, first served method; large WIs suffer if one wants every WI to be represented; small WIs suffer if you go by the highest requests; the amount of passengers per car messes up the ratio etc.etc.Two of us spent three hours tonight trying to cut over 300 applications down to 180 fairly and fearing for our lives when the WI secretaries open their post to find fewer tickets than expected.
Another similar event is the obvious answer but the organisers will be on their knees after this one so will need to be given time to recuperate before then--and then can we get the speaker?