Comments please

Message to would-be comment-makers
Various readers of my blog have asked me to explain how they would be able to comment.
First point is that it doesn't cost you anything but a few moments' time.Secondly your e-mail address will not be revealed. Thirdly you can write under an assumed name. Of course I have never had to approach the blog from this angle but I am assured it works by those who have been successful.
At the bottom of each entry on the blog, there is a footnote which says COMMENTS. Click on this.
You will now find a box in which you may write your comment but first look at the bottom of this box where it tells you that no anonymous comments are allowed. (This is to protect me from ghastly messages.)
If you already have a Google account, type in your e-mail and password. Write your comment and at the bottom click on POST it and it should work.
If you haven't already got a Google account, click on Obtain... Put in your e-mail address and invent a password of 8 characters for yourself which you will remember and use for this activity only. You may write under an assumed name
eg High flyer/crustacean,disgruntledof/optimist, donethat/the joker (this could be a new party game? I know our quiz contenders found naming their team the most taxing part of the evening!). It is all there with boxes to fill in. Once done you may write your comment and POST/PUBLISH it by clicking on the orange tab below the box.
I may live to regret this posting of information but it is worth the risk to find out how many people actually look at the blog and whether I should carry on.It could be a waste of cyberspace. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

It's all education

24 November
It was up with the lark this morning to join the Bucks WI winter break at Norwich. We ran exactly to time, picking up first in High Wycombe and finishing in Bletchley.We then stopped for a late coffee or an early lunch at a little garden centre just off the A1 and then enjoyed a longer stop in the afternoon at Bury St Edmunds. What a lovely little place this is! The cathedral is well worth a visit and the town centre is most attractive. The hotel in Norwich was fine and the staff kept telling us they had had 4 inches of snow the weekend before we arrived so we felt lucky to see a marvellous red sunset.
25 November
We spent the morning in Norwich. It was cold but dry. Some travellers explored the cathedral in whose close there was the remains of a snowman sinking sadly into the ground. The castle was exposed to an icy wind but afforded a great view of the city.Others enjoyed some excellent retail therapy amongst the major High Street stores and the lovely little old-fashioned shops. The covered market which has been there for 700 years was quite as good as these continental Christmas markets. After a restful afternoon we attended the Christmas Spectacular at Thursford. It was spectacular too.The theatre which is a converted hangar seats 1500 people and there wasn't an empty seat to be seen.There is a Disneyland type exhibition next door and a small Dickensian village of shops attached.I will not say any more about the event because you ought to go and see it for yourself but you need to book a year in advance to stand any chance of reserving a seat.
26 November
Undeterred by a wet start to the morning, we drove to Sheringham and went down to the beach.Again the weather cleared for us but the wind discouraged even the keenest paddler from actually getting her feet wet! Then it was off to the Pensthorpe Wild Fowl Centre near Fakenham. We had booked for a 40 minute guided stroll among the wintering birds. Two hours later we were still enjoying the company of our guide and dashing in and out of hides and ended up watching the feedtime in the gathering dusk. We really appreciated the guide's quirky presentation and gained a lot of information on the difficulties encountered by the pinioned birds in their sex lives and as for identification of ducks and cranes the Bucks WI members must be past masters! Another place you ought to visit.
27 November
Home today via a lunchtime long stop at Newmarket where some of us visited the National Horse Racing Museum which is very interesting and has been recently extended thanks to a Lottery Grant.
While we were away in Norfolk the national papers were full of the speech by Harriet Harman in which she called on the WI members to report on advertisements for sexshops in their local papers so there was quite a lot of discussion about that. Actually what the Minister was asking was not exactly in line with what the Hampshire Federation had been proposing when its members carried out its investigation into prostitution. They came to the conclusion that these advertised places should be licensed as they were safer for the women than the operations in the street directed by pimps.Harriet Harman was concentrating on the unlawful trafficking of women which is part of the campaign against violence against women but I suppose it was publicity for the WI's campaign. I cannot see how from the adverts we can know what nationality the girls are nor whether they are being exploited against their will.I shall have to take to reading these columns. I do know of one 90 year old gentleman who having been advised to try massage by his doctor was very surprised over the phone to be offerred some services but when the mistake was realised was given kind and helpful advice on where to contact a more suitable treatment! She hadn't a foreign accent either!
1 December
We had a most interesting time at the local book group today. It wasn't all to do with the books we had been reading but a lot to do with events in India recently. Two members had avoided the terrorism but returned full of memories of their holiday and we are lucky to have a member who was brought up in India and Pakistan.We have been reading novels set in Asian and Islamic countries and to have someone who can help us to understand these different cultures is a real bonus. We had read the Road Home by Rose Tremain and The Wife in the North, which started out as a blog. These were both about people being uprooted and moved to some place which was new to them, albeit in one case just out of London and up to Northumberland. They were similar in a way but Thank Goodness the British came out of the Road Home in a better light than in the Two Caravans which we have also read this year. I never got round to reading the Ian Rankin---not my kind of book, but several of the others enjoyed it.
3 December
A very social WI meeting always, the last of the year when we entertain ourselves. We bring a plate of something to eat to share, then enjoy a few readings on a Christmassy theme and then this year the committee had worked out a session of The Weakest Link which went down very well. We certainly had a very good substitute for Ann Robinson as questionmaster!
8 December
Tonight the local WI held their Christmas dinner at a nearby restaurant. This is of course an extra event which is outside the WI finances. It always amazes me that some of the members who complain about the rise in the subscription are quite happy to pay out more than the annual subscription on a meal out.It strikes me as double-think but there it is. We were presented with an excellent meal and the level of noise was as usual extremely high and everyone had a really good time. A lovely way to end the year among friends.

Challenging times

10th November
Our local WI craft group held a meeting this afternoon at which we set about planning the activities for the next few months.We are toying with the idea of doing some quilling and a bit of decoupage and also visiting some craft venues too.The main topic was what to do for this sampler for 2010 for which the Bucks Federation has asked every Bucks WI to contribute a page, rather like the County page in the Millennium book or the Book of Banners.The latter may be viewed at Stuart Lodge in High Wycombe or WIs can request it for display at one of the WI meetings. There is always the craft basket down there as well which is of interest to members and may be loaned.Anyway, we want to identify the main features of our town on our sampler but it is going to be difficult to fit everything on to one page especially with the inclusion of the name. Members are already sizing up little sketches and imagining the use of different crafts.
12th November
I attended the Annual Meeting of a troubled WI today. It is so sad when personal feuds infiltrate a WI. Private disagreements should not become public property and disrupt the activities of any WI but it does occasionally happen.Nowhere in the WI constitution does it say that anyone is voted on to a committee for more than one year: it is not a life sentence! It is for this reason that it is always best to go through the nomination procedure even if the outcome is probably a foregone conclusion. A president usually welcomes an election because it re-affirms that the members want her back; if she has had her doubts, she sees that she has been chosen, not just landed with the job.Every member has the right to serve on the committee and, once a committee member, has the right to stand as president.
13th November
The meeting of the Education and Current Affairs subcommittee was held today. We spent a long time conducting a review of the Eat, think and be Healthy evening which was quite hectic but seems to have been popular. Certainly it was good to be able to keep the entrance fee down, thanks to obtaining a small grant to help with the costs of hiring the hall and speakers.The visit to Dorney Lake had been successful too. Other events planned in the future sound promising but I am not sure whether modern technology has speeded up communication as heralded. We still spend ages waiting for replies from speakers or organisations which complicates the long run in to events which publicity in the Federation Monthly Letter demands. Either the notices appear too far in advance or we are accused of leaving it too late.
18th November
Every year the WI Shop takes to the road and is set up in some member's house, one South one North. These are pleasant events as members share a cup of coffee or tea and a mincepie and chat while choosing Christmas cards and gifts. There were fewer people attending in the North this time which was rather disappointing but quite a lot of sales were made.This is a chance for members who never visit the WI shop at Stuart Lodge to see what is available in greater comfort than down there.It is a case of use it or lose it, I'm afraid.
19th November
Cheddington village hall today for a talk called "In the steps of Darwin", except it wasn't! A Chairman's worst nightmare is when a speaker doesn't turn up or in this case double books. Anyway the meeting went ahead with a photographer showing wonderful pictures of wildlife in Africa.Everyone could see the vibrant colours of the birds and the close-ups of cheetahs and zebras as the photos were beautiful.I think the committee did very well to find such an excellent substitute at such short notice.I hope we will not receive too many grumbles because of the change of subject. It is impossible to phone round every WI to warn them when there is only 24 hours notice.
21st November
This evening it was the turn of the local WI to organise an evening of fundraising in the form of a quiz. We had 14 teams booked in from WIs, The Lions and golf clubs and a very professional quizmaster was in charge. I think he over-estimated our depth of general knowledge as lots of the questions were challenging. However, these quizzes are very popular round here so we didn't want easy repeat questions, did we?Well done to the winners who won by half a point--which was a surprise as I didn't think there were any half points! The members produced delicious desserts as advertised, the bar did well and there was a happy atmosphere--no fights but a lot of good natured banter between the teams.Next year we will do something different and try to entice the townspeople to come along and support us again as they usually do.We are grateful for the help given by husbands moving tables and generally carting boxes and dishes about.We billed it as a fun evening and I think it was.

New life

29th October
It was the last committee meeting before the Annual Meeting tonight so there was a lot of planning to do. Sometimes we have a glass of wine or snacks at the Annual Meeting to try to sugar the pill of so much business but I think we have left it too late this year. The programme for next year is organised and looks interesting and varied. We now need to thread in some competitions which are vaguely relevant to the subjects. There has been a marked improvement in the number of entries recently so we will continue to hold them.Looking back, the worst problem we have experienced is the way in which members happily sign up for tickets to County events and then receive "better offers" and think they can just cancel.One doesn't like to say that they must still pay if they cannot find a substitute, but there is no way the WI should lose money in this fashion.
31st October
There is a good write-up of our local Big Tidy Up in the weekly paper. Not everything is accurate but the photo is good and we all look very cheerful--which we were. Several people in the town have asked how we got on and admired our efforts so it was a good community exercise.The trouble is it needs doing again. I never noticed much litter until the Big Tidy Up and now I see it everywhere!
There was a good article in the Daily Telegraph about the WI's national Love Food campaign. This is a diet plan with a difference because it gives ways of food planning in order to reduce waste and waist and save money. As an antidote to the credit crunch, the WI is encouraging the rebirth of cooking skills with fresher food that has more nutrients and less fat and salt.
3rd November
I went along to the Public Hall this afternoon to help serve teas and drinks to the people who have given blood. Our WI has been doing this for several years but one of the regulars had to pull out at the last moment so I went for the first time.It is an admirable thing to do---to donate blood,not to serve teas--- and must be one of the most personal impersonal things one can do. I believe the law has changed the set-up for the other donations because of the perceived necessity for traceability nowadays. With blood, no one knows who gets whose. I fell to wondering whose blood I would like to have had and whose I wouldn't if I had seen them in the hall. My donor must be past his/her drip-by date after about 40 years. These people give blood which is such a personal transaction, yet some put up a wall and hesitate to talk to those offering them tea afterwards.It is true altruism and great to see.
Just heard from the Chaplain in BFPO that we can continue to send parcels to the forces as we are on our detachment's "Friends and Family" list. That's nice, isn't it? We didn't want to clog up the postal service for relatives so had enquired.
5th November
There were explosions outside the hall tonight but thankfully not within for our local WI Annual Meeting.I quite enjoy these meetings when we review the year but many members don't. They are either frightened to get landed with a job or just find it boring. We try to make ours lively but really if it proves difficult to get someone to volunteer to ask someone to give the thanks at a meeting, not to do it themselves, what hope is there? There is one change on our committee which is still too big in my eyes. I'll have to come off next year and put my money where my mouth is.
We have a born- again new President. Fifty four members, about 8 nominations for President and still we had to twist an arm to get a yes! Everyone is so busy these days. We were busy too--we had families and jobs and husbands that needed to be fed but I am told it's different today.
Good article in Woman's Weekly about the new-look WI this week. I haven't seen this magazine for ages and I couldn't help comparing it to WI Life and finding ours so much better. WI Life is not so desperately feminine as this, more ideas about the world beyond a "dream kitchen". Who dreams of kitchens anyway?
7th November
Local WI in the local newspaper again this week but no photos this time. It is just reporting the safe delivery of the knitted house to the playgroup. Also in the paper, another WI is praised for its continued support of the Carers Association providing cakes for every meeting and generally being around when needed. Another example of how WI members are vital to the community, but we do hide our lights under bushels.

Different lives

20th October
Mutiny in the ranks at the local WI Book Group when at least 2 members refused to continue reading the Amy Tan book "the Kitchen God's Wife".Yet several other readers loved the novel because it reveals insights into the Chinese way of life and the traditions of this fascinating culture.The strength of the women up against mental and physical hardship was amazing and helped one to understand the history of matriarchal power in that country. We are now embarked on an Ian Rankin thriller so perhaps I shall be the next rebel.
23rd October
Thank Goodness I now have something better to read! I bought a couple of the books written by Kate Adie who was the main speaker at today's Half Yearly Council at Aylesbury. Kate Adie is an excellent speaker with wonderful clear diction and she gave a well constructed talk. The themes were risk and danger and although she underplayed her own bravery, she has obviously witnessed very dangerous situations during her working life on battle fronts around the world and had some scary moments.
The Bucks Federation is well organised for its 90th anniversary in 2010. There are lots of events and competitions already planned. Joy Greasley, the NFWI vice-chairman is always a delight to listen to. She gave an amusing account of her experiences since joining the WI. The general standard of presentation from the stage was good with a variety of people advertising forthcoming events. I enjoyed especially the reading of the Bucks winning entry for the Lady Denman Cup written by a member from one of our newer WIs.
25th October
Armed with litter pickers and sacks borrowed from the AVDC and from Encams, 14 local WI members went litter picking this morning as part of the NFWI Big Tidy Up campaign launched by Bill Bryson on radio and TV last month.We were joined by members from other town organisations and actually it was an enjoyable exercisein cold but dry weather. We covered 5 areas of the town and were amazed to find in an hour and a half, we had collected 26 sacks of rubbish. We thought we were a pretty clean town! We are lucky to have a friendly and efficient regular road sweeper so we invited him along for the photoshoot. Several car drivers tooted at our florescent green safety tabards. I think/hope it was in support, as if we were on duty on an industrial strike picket line--some thought it was more likely to be in derision.However, it was suggested that the WI repeated the sweep but we will have to see about that.
27th October
The Education & Current Affairs Sub-committee organised the Eat,Think and Be Healthy evening in Winslow Public Hall today.This was over-subscribed so there were about 100 members present which was heartening after the last health day had to be cancelled from lack of support. The Nintendo people with 2 WiiFit machines wanted to take over the meeting but had been booked only as a sideshow (WIs may book Nintendo for their own meetings).Consequently there had to be a lot of jigging of the programme to fit as many people as wanted through the trials. For once WI members were encouraged to be in the hall an hour before the advertised time. It may never happen again! The main speakers from Nestles and the Blood Pressure Association were interesting and the side stalls did a brisk trade. Luis Mendelez, our meditation expert, is the only person I know who has been able to keep 100 WI members absolutely silent for 3 minutes at a time! Hopefully we all picked up some useful tips about what and what not to eat but on the whole the audience was fairly knowledgeable so we may have been preaching to the converted. Perhaps the real gain will be if some have been strengthened in their resolve to improve their ways. Good news about the wine and the chocolate though!

Crafty methods

6th October
Eleven of the local WI members spent the day learning how to cut glass and we all produced a frame for a mirror and a hanging mobile thing to catch the light wherever we chose to exhibit it.I must admit that I expected to need the first aid kit either immediately or in the days following the activity but the Health & Safety people would have been very relieved as we escaped accident-free.These craft schools are very enjoyable as everyone gets to know each other while taking part in a common project. The stumbling block is being able to find a meeting place which doesn't raise the cost beyond a reasonable level or indeed finding a hall not taken up by playgroups.This was our second craft session and both times we have had to hold them in private houses which is very pleasant for the guests but a bit daunting for the hostess.
8th October
This evening two of our members attended a meeting up at Emberton for the WI Press reporters. This event is one of two called by the Federation Press Officer which is a good idea as she is new to the job and this way members get to know her. The speaker was John Falding, a retired editor from the Financial Times.I think those attending would have liked more practical advice on writing their columns as most of them have built up or inherited good contacts with their local papers. There were a lot of different papers represented on our evening, stretching across all our county borders. We have always given reports rather than blatantly advertised forthcoming events which our Press Officer seemed to want us to do. However most local papers do not welcome advertising except as straightforward paid for advertising so we have always "sneaked" in forthcoming events. Also we did not see the point of passing our press reports through her for the papers, although we were quite willing to advise her of events planned. The Press Officer in history has been the link with WI Life and the national papers and local media so I don't know whether the WI reporters will be very happy or co-operate with this new idea.WI reporters are aware of the benefits of e-mail for photos for the newspapers and many are using this method to good effect. We were able to cite good examples of coverage as well as those which did nothing to enhance the WI image--and it was those that we hoped would be helped by the evening held.

Tickets to ride

30 September
The best part of today was spent sending off tickets for our health day event "Eat, think and be Healthy" to which there has been an excellent response. It is however interesting to note that only 2 WIs from south of Aylesbury have applied: this proves that it is a firm belief held among members that it is further to travel up the county than it is for us northerners to travel down! Many of us spend hours travelling down to the High Wycombe area for events when those from the Thames Valley look upon anything North of Aylesbury as the outskirts of Birmingham and quite beyond consideration.Perhaps it is because in north Bucks there are gaps between our towns and villages where there appears to be no human habitation. Should we go back to the practice of putting on maps "Here be dragons"?
Another hobbyhorse brought on by a closing date, closely followed by another. If I see another 2"x2" gold envelope sent as an SAE for 6 tickets to an event, I shall be heard screaming for miles around.Luckily the travellers to Norwich do not commit this sin so it was trouble-free to send off their final instructions for the November break.
1 October
The local WI met tonight and we enjoyed a very professional talk from the founder of the Ethical Food Company which is very local to us.It tied in well with the work we did last year on the Great Milk Debate and members were interested and felt challenged in matching their beliefs with the practical economics of buying ethically. Food for thought, dare I say? We have more names now volunteering to help with the Big Tidy Up but I'm not sure we have many new people willing to stand for next year's committee which is a shame. Anyway we welcomed 4 new members and there are a couple more in waiting so that is good news.
3 October
Three Bucks members left today for a holiday in the Canadian Rockies. I taxi-ed one down to Heathrow but the other pair went under their own steam. I must admit that I wanted to do this to make sure they all met up safely before leaving and I could relax and know they were on their way.I need not have bothered as we all found each other easily and were soon swept along with what looked like half of Devon and Wiltshire WI Federations.Those federations are experienced travellers with the Collette Worldwide people: some have been to New Zealand with them whereas we have gone only as far as Sicily which was a bit of a test run.I hope some more of our Bucks members will ask to go to Norway in 2009 and the Oberammagau trip in 2010 which will be promoted at the Autumn Council Meeting this month.It was freezing at Heathrow but the sunshine made our countryside a joy to drive through.
4 October
A local lady phoned tonight to enquire about joining the WI. She said she didn't know the WI did things like quizzes and holidays but she had read in the Parish Magazine about our activities and wondered whether she and a friend could come along next month. I heard myself saying that it might not be the best as it was our annual meeting and we wouldn't have a speaker etc. and then I thought what a negative response I was making. I have now delivered to her house a copy of our programme and a list of diary events and our extra interest groups and a copy of the WILife and the Green Letter so now I have probably scared her off completely! I'll keep you informed or maybe not...

Denman College Diamond Celebration

23rd September
I think it was 24 of us from the Bucks Federation who had spent the weekend making cakes for the Denman College Diamond Anniversary celebrations. The neighbouring federations around Marcham each undertook to do the refreshments for one day during the week of celebration. The Denman kitchen provided the ingredients for the rolls and sandwiches but it was up to us to make the cakes. It was an early start and because this was the first day Bucks were the guinea pigs to see whether it would work. There were too few urns and problems with the water supply but besides that, it was with a sense of achievement when we finished the day having looked after over 600 guests plus staff and stewards over lunch and tea.A heavy shower of rain at lunchtime ensured that everyone came in to eat at the same time but the atmosphere was sunny both sides of the serving tables. No one commented on the fact that two out of the 24 Bucks caterers had black eyes. I thought there would be the usual quips plus mention of the current WI campaign re. Violence against Women but narry a one.I hasten to add that both eyes were the result of accidents with bicycles which is pretty noteworthy as one lady must be well on towards her eighties!
Those of you who didn't go to Denman missed a treat. The flowers were wonderful dotted around the grounds all very modern but absolutely beautiful. It was good to see Diana Kerley the former Denman College Head of Staff flying about in her black boots just like old times. She never walks when she can run! There were masses of things to see and do in the marquees and across the gardens but I left the inside activities until later in the week when I was to steward and not fill rolls all day.
24th September
This was a long committee which got a bit out of hand as we heard of mutters against the rise in the subscription, about the last year's rather dull speakers and general dissatisfaction with the amount of things organised in the run up to Christmas. Have you noticed how the car has become a sort of confessional box these days? People air views that would not be heard elsewhere.What gets me mad is when the same people who complain about the subscription don't turn a hair at agreeing to an extra event eg Christmas dinner which costs the same as the sub. but is eaten in one evening! There was the usual complaint that it was no use circulating the sheet for nominations to the NFWI Board of Trustees because "We don't know anyone". I would have thought the arrival of WI Life would have helped with this problem but no...
The committee will wear name badges for the next meeting as would you believe some members are not sure who we are either. Perhaps I was tired, but I admit I was looking round for a bag of lime!
25th September
Back to Denman this morning and the weather was bright and sunny. I was stewarding inside the Main House which would have been where I would have picked, if given a choice. I just love that place. The flowers inside the house were wonderful and so imaginative. And then the quilts were on display which had been on view when we went to the NEC in Birmingham and I got to talk to the lady who had created the winning quilt.Then there was the sound of the piano being played wafting up from the drawing room and then two harpists. Magic! Ann Stamper the WI Archivist was in attendance upstairs giving advice to members worried about their WI scrapbooks and memorabilia.Lots of visitors were not WI members and they were enquiring into how they could attend courses and many were absolutely bowled over by the bedrooms. I went over in the lunch break to see the new Holly Cottages and the Ferris Home Economics hall. Everything is impressive and state of the arts with equipment and I really believe that the College will go from strength to strength from now on. Lots of Bucks members visited over the days when I was there so there were lots of positive comments which restored my belief in the WI after last night's blues.
26 th September
Spent the morning on the phone sorting out a muddle created by the travel firm which is dealing with the November holiday. What on earth possessed it to send the invoices direct to the travellers who wanted insurance instead of me I'll never know. Luckily most people said they had thought it rather strange to be asked to pay twice and had waited to see what would happen next, but one had dutifully sent off a cheque to the firm because they had put a closing date on the invoice and she didn't want to miss it!
WI Life arrived and as the members who went to the training session said, it had another extremely young face on the cover. Could we not feature the members of the Board of Trustees: then members would have no excuse to say they don't know what they look like.

September:season of meetings

1 September
This morning three of the local WI committee got together for a cup of coffee to discuss a plan of campaign for the NFWI initiative the Big Tidy Up. We were keen to take part in this as the WI really kickstarted the Keep Britain Tidy scheme way back in the nineteen fifties.We are going to invite other organisations in the town to join us and try to have a public gathering to start off together to cover our various areas. We need more equipment so will try to borrow litter-pickers from the Council and we already have the kit ordered from Encams. So we worked out publicity and a draft letter and we will tackle the local paper nearer the time.It should take only a couple of hours if we have the volunteers and gather together the right bags for disposal etc.
2 September
Another small meeting --this time in the evening to make arrangements for the next WI Group meeting in October. I enjoy group meetings when five or six WIs get together for a bigger meeting twice a year, taking turns with being the host under the general direction of the Group Convenor. Each WI does its own thing about catering and reports on the successes and disasters of the previous year.We are lucky that our Group Convenor also arranges a coach outing as well, usually in the summer. These are very popular as of course the initial pickups for the coach are all so local that we avoid the long drawn out starts to the Federation trips: Bucks has an awful county shape to find an easy solution.Eighty miles long and forty wide is quite a logistical problem.
3 September
Tonight was our local WI meeting which was well attended considering it was the September one. Many members are free of childminding this month so take their own holidays then. We enjoyed a good speaker talking about bee-keeping. Isn't it the way that the person who requested this talk was on holiday so missed it! We all enjoyed it anyway so will be able to tell her enthusiastically what she missed. We heard a very favourable report from a member who had been on a course at Denman College. What enthusiasm she showed, so one can only hope it will encourage others to go along. It is true that once they get a member through the door at Denman she will return for more.It's just that initial visit which is so difficult.I hope we will get lots of people putting £1 in an envelope for the Dip for Denman draw at the council meeting next month.We have volunteers for catering at our fundraiser quiz in November and also for litter picking for the Big Tidy Up--that was a bit slow as people thought litter included dog dirt but that is another department and we need only alert the Council to the worst areas for that Thank Goodness!
8 September
We certainly have to pay for doing very little WI business in August because so far September has been non-stop! A small working party meeting tonight about the November Quiz. Publicity and tickets again to plan and to check up on the hall and bar arrangements and the buying of raffle prizes. I heard someone mutter that we will not make money on this event and we should stick to what we always do for fund-raising. However when pressed she had to admit that there is not something which we always do as we try to ring the changes each year. A lot depends on the people on the committee who come up with ideas which of course reflect their own strengths eg flower arrangers go for that sort of event, caterers for cookery demonstrations but at present a quiz is very popular to people living in our town.It is better for the WI if it attracts money into funds from non-members and it is good publicity to gain new members. We have three waiting to join now who have come in through interest groups run as offshoots of the WI.
11 September
A Federation meeting of the Education and Current Affairs sub committee which also involved lots of planning of a future event was held this morning in High Wycombe at our County Office.Again correspondence had mounted up over the summer. We had been in touch with Postwatch over Post Office closures, with the various councils over their getting closer to communities scheme, with NFWI over the Violence against Women initiative and other environmental issues. It all takes time but shows what a valued role the WI plays in society. Our Health evening is looking good but we are having trouble arranging a brain games mini-school for February 2009.
15 September
A rather select group at the local WI Book readers met this afternoon. We are starting on a new list of the collections on offer from the County Library but feel we would like to go back to the Mail on Sunday selection to run along side of this. We want some more biographies to choose from and we have more members now who like historical novels. We have an Amy Tan book to read for next time.
17 September
Tonight a WI training session was held in the town so two of us went along.It was well run and it was good to be introduced to some new WI Advisors in training. A lot of hints and strategies are swapped at these events in a fairly relaxed atmosphere. Opinions expressed about the WI Life magazine were on the whole positive and also on the NFWI website but oh dear! the Bucks website was roundly criticised, and justly so. It is not kept up-to-date on the campaign side of things and it ought to look more lively with photos of people and events. What we need is someone designated just to deal with the editing of the website. There is nothing wrong with the setup of it: it is just the use made of it. But then who am I to talk as I haven't added pictures to my blog which I promised to do this year!
18 September
Great news! I have just heard that Twyford Post Office is to be saved. Padbury still loses its but I think people thought that would happen as it has been precarious for a couple of years now. A muted review of the stage show of Calendar Girls appeared in today's national papers. I am looking forward to its arrival in High Wycombe and hope a lot of WIs will run outings to see it. Can anyone improve on Helen Mirren and the film cast? Let's wait and see.They are a real hard act to follow.

Showing off

21st August
Every year BFWI invites every member who serves on any sub-committee or who holds a special responsibility within the organisation to join them for supper somewhere in the County. I hasten to add that we all have to pay for the privilege: there is no such thing as a free supper either! Even so it is a nice gesture and we appreciate it. It is about the only occasion when we all get together and can talk over our plans and ideas for the coming year. This year we met at Naphill and the local WI did the catering. Excellent, of course.One of the best things about the evening was that no one rushed us and we were able to do a lot of talking or should I call it networking these days?
22nd August
The local newspaper has done us proud with the article about the WI's opposition to the closure of the Post Offices in our area. I hope that lots of people will write this week to the Consultation Team and express their concerns. The trouble is that if we save one, another will be for the chop as the Post Office maintains it has to fulfil its quota.
25th August
Thank Goodness it stopped raining even if there was no obvious sunshine for the Winslow Show. It was great to see the animals back in the show-ring after last year's ban because of foot and mouth disease restrictions. We had lots of visitors to our stand which had a new location this year, right next to the pig roast so we were sure of people dropping in to look at our exhibit. We majored on the Big Tidy Up campaign which NFWI will launch in September. Winslow WI is hoping to do a litter pick around the town sometime in October so we were asking people where they thought the trouble spots were to be found. We are going to invite other organisations in the town to join us. Our knitted house exhibit was popular with the children, as was the little free quiz which was organised for them. I hope we attract some new members but it was nice talking to our own members and visitors from around the country. These events are a lot of work but well worth the effort.At the end of the day everything was packed off to go to the County Show at Aylesbury where I am pleased to see we have a couple of tables for promotion in the Shopping Tent.
30th August
Front page spread in the Daily Telegraph about the "sexiest WI in Britain"! All publicity is good publicity except one's obituary they say and personally I don't think this will do the WI any harm. The matter that I question is talk of re-writing the rules. There is nothing in the rules to stop WI members making nude calendars or learning pole-dancing but a group is not a WI unless it obeys the constitution. WI Lite is a WI drawing up its own programme and providing what its members want which is exactly what every WI should do. One of the things people who enquire about joining the WI are always told is to look around, visit lots of WIs and see which suits you. It is a shame the members of Bramley WI complained about the new one but it is ever so irritating if a new WI is formed in one's locality and one sees it as a threat: there is room for both.
We may not want to have speakers and demonstrators who will teach us how to appear beautiful and sexy enough to appear in glossy magazines.We have all had our moments! Quite frankly there are a lot of younger people who don't want that either. They are turning their attention to learning traditional crafts and skills which recent education has missed out.We are learning from them the modern technology for communications--each generation benefitting from the other and appreciating what the other can provide. It was ever so and the WI programme should cater for the membership. The first WI members fought for emancipation and the education of women and without their efforts and dedication WI Lite would never have been able to strut their stuff anywhere accept in the privacy of their own homes.
The WI is alive and well but its members reveal it in different ways!
There must be something in the water in Hampshire these days.

abuse and exploitation

3rd August
Well of course they had to pat the WI on its collective head and say that it was sweet of it to care and ho! ho! you are dear innocents in a world you have no idea about. The WI Guide to Brothels on Channel 4 chose to go along this route and I think the two ladies from Hampshire Federation rather played them at their own game--TV production not prostitution, I hasten to add.If you want to present a resolution which will tackle violence against women where prostitutes are at the mercy of some of the worst perpetrators of violent abuse, then you must get the attention of thousands to support you and what better way than through the home TV set? The aim is to license brothels, not to ban them, and to afford these women some form of protection. This is what the police wish too. Think of the employment opportunities for the bureaucrats of Health and Safety, Hygiene Inspectors and their ilk!
It was a very informative programme and amusing in the same way as the WI Alternative Calendar was amusing because of the juxtaposition of the WI's image and the shady world of nudity and sex. But you had to admire the bravery of those two to even think of doing what they did. Could you have talked to some of those people, gone into those places?
4th August
Almost a full house for the local WI Book Group this afternoon. We have been reading several books over the summer but Joseph O'Connor's Star of the Sea was the "official" choice this month. We agreed that it wasn't a book we would have taken off the library shelf if we had been left to our own devises. However it was much enjoyed and admired as a novel which described the horrific conditions in which the people of Scotland and Ireland dispossessed by either the clearances or the potato famine travelled to a new life in America.
I had been reading Two Caravans by Marina Lwycka (the Tractors in Ukrainian woman) which was another depressing and horrifing story, even more disturbing as it was set in modern day Britain. Talk about violence to women and rampant abuse of the immigrants coming to our shores and it is not much better than on board the Star of the Sea hundreds of years ago.It was funny too but I felt ashamed that I had almost forgotten about the cocklepickers drowned on Morecombe Sands and the exploited flowerpickers in Cornwall.Mind the flowerpickers were helped by the Cornwall WIs but we know of youngsters working for next to nothing in hotels and restaurants in London, fleeced by unscrupulous agents but travelling up from the respectable Home Counties.
7th August
The local WI had planned a summer outing to Waterperry Gardens and then tea with an Oxfordshire WI but the numbers dwindled and dwindled until we had to cancel the tea which was very embarrassing. In the end only ten of us went as even more baulked when they saw the morning weather but they need not have worried because we had no rain at all while there. The gardens are well worth seeing and the items for sale are interesting but rather expensive to buy--well, the things I was eye-ing were! There were few people there because of the weather forecast so we enjoyed a leisurely walk round and on the way home stopped for a lovely cream tea at one of our own Bucks villages' post office plus shop plus cafe. Who wants to think about cholesterol levels at a time like that!

As others see us

20 July
An early start to help steward in the WI tent at the Chiltern Show at Great Missenden. Our site was very close to the main stage so we were able to follow the various items featured throughout the day. It was very rewarding to see that most of the recommendations for the awards for work in the community were put forward by WI members. These were not just for local members but for people who had been spotted as making a worthwhile contribution to the life of others in their home area. The WI was also well represented in the prize list for the original writing competition. One of our own WI members was highly commended so we felt very proud about that.
Apparently attendance had been low the day before but it was fine on the Sunday. However it does work out very expensive for the families visiting and it may be wise for the organisers to make more favourable terms for family tickets in order to increase the gate figures.We were promoting the WI of course and had lots of members drop in to see us and the usual amount of people saying that they will join as soon as they retire! We joined when we were mothers and working part-time too, a lot of us so why can't others? I don't believe it is any harder for the modern younger mother than it was for us.
22 July
This evening I attended the meeting arranged by Post Offices Ltd re. probable closures in North Bucks. The WI has been fighting these closures nationally for several years now and we have been writing letters to all and sundry in the hope of influencing the powers that be against adding to rural isolation.There was a representative from Post Watch, an organisation which has been fairly sympathetic towards our concerns but which in reality has very few teeth to alter these rulings. The meeting was attended by about 50 people and all the old arguments were aired both for and against. We were told that we could make our concerns known and send up more information to back our cause during the consultation period but one felt it was a foregone conclusion. The inadequacies of local transport had not been fully considered in a practical fashion. OK one can get a bus from Twyford to Marsh Gibbon to visit the Post Office but with the best will in the world what can one do in Marsh Gibbon for two hours before starting the return journey! And why consider closing a branch which is growing in its custom in favour of one where the trader wishes to retire?
The writing was on the wall for Post Offices when the Government altered the payment of pensions and removed other services from the PO counters. And then to keep saying to the elderly "Look this up on the Web and pay this over the Web" is ludicrous! Why should they be forced to have a computer or to have to ask a family member to do it for them ?
25 July
The local WI craft group enjoyed a really amusing session working on the exhibit for the Winslow Show. It is great fun working together and coming up with solutions to problems and arguing the feasibility of someone else's mad ideas.It is also amazing what strange things people keep which they think may come in useful..and they do! Adaptation is the name of the game on these occasions.
30 July
The local WI committee met tonight over a glass of wine to discuss the results of the questionnaire which we had sent round our members last month. There was a 60% response which is marvellous and better still the majority had positive comments to make. We discussed each question and our WI secretary has prepared an immediate report for our September meeting and the committee has the beginnings of an action plan built on the replies. It was a very useful exercise to see whether we were providing the members with the WI which they wanted. We have gained new ideas for speakers, suggestions for extra activities and constructive comments on the running of our meetings. I will write more about our findings at a future date when we are a bit further along the line with planning. I do recommend that WIs do take a look at themselves every now and again. This idea came through a meeting which two of our members attended which had been organised by the Member Services sub-committee. There is another one planned for September so watch the Green Letter for dates and time.

wheels within wheels

3rd July
Back to school with the girls for sewing today. Progress is being made with the crochet lessons although the pieces are turning out to be triangles instead of squares! At least they are persevering and enjoying a good laugh.We were shown the photos of the evening dress being worn for which we had helped to produce accessories and were given a happy account of the event. A new person came along to learn to knit and everyone seemed relaxed in our company.I must admit I enjoy talking to the youngsters and meeting their children.
7th July
More knitting and talk today but this took place in our local WI craft group. The project for Winslow Show is taking shape and looks a lot better than I thought it would a month ago.If it attracts children, it will draw the mothers in as well and you never know, they might find something in the rest of the display to tempt them into joining.
10th July
The second Thursday every other month is now the regular meeting day for the Education and Current Affairs Sub-Committee. This month we welcomed two observers to the meeting. This is the way in which we hope to recruit people on to the committees. Some volunteer and some are spotted at other events held across the county.We had to wind up the Westonbirt outing and the Taste of Poland Day and then start to plan the next series of activities. Nothing daunted by having to cancel the Health Day in the Spring, we are going to try a slightly different slant in October in Winslow Public Hall. We are taking some travel under our wing and thinking about another international day.The really good news is that we now have an appointed representative for ACWW (the Associated Country Women of the World).This is an international organisation to which every WI contributes its Coins for Friendship each year. One may specify how the money should be spent to help women less fortunate than ourselves. In the past BFWI has helped with fresh water projects in Lesotho, bought sewing machines for Africa and cattle and goats for India.We hope that now we have another representative, we may be able to ask the members to undertake a named scheme again.What seems a small amount to us in UK can make a huge difference in the Third World.
12th July
Six members of our local WI took part in a very different activity today.We travelled north to the DIRFT centre near Daventry and enjoyed a conducted tour of the Eddie Stobart logistics park at Crick.One may do this only with a bona fide member of the Eddie Stobart Fan Club! It was great fun clambering into lorries, being shown round the workshops and hearing how the journeys and loads are planned. We saw where freight is transferred on to rail and learned how the drivers are trained and the way they live in their lorries and the type of loads they carry. We were told of the costs not only of the vehicles but also of the journeys.Unfortunately we cannot afford to have our names on the front of one of these giant lorries but why pay when one can spot one's lorry right there in the parking area? I think one of the most impressive things of the visit was to be told how well the drivers are looked after and that it still is a family concern and this caring element is appreciated by the men. Oh dear I have just realised that I forgot to ask if they had female drivers! They were certainly females in the HQ planning routes and loads, but there would be wouldn't there! That's organisation and we are good at that. Everyone we spoke to seemed to take a pride in working for the company so we were impressed. Now there are five more who will relieve the monotony of motorway travel by spotting Eddie Stobart named lorries.The company is also environmentally aware and does lots of worthwhile things for charities.

Inside and outside June activities

23rd June
I have written before about the Bucks Federation Dates and Sub-Committee Chairmen's meetings. This is the day on which all the sub-committee officers and anyone appointed to perform a special task for the county as a whole, come together to plan the timing of events over the next 2-5 years. Everyone fights her own campaign and hopefully at the end there is a unified programme for action. Sometimes one has to hold back and listen to others re-invent the wheel rather than say "We've tried that" and dampen new enthusiasm. Maybe the situation has changed and it will work this time.
25th June
This afternoon the local WI Book Group met and we were joined by a new reader whom we hope will become a WI member. We have gained several new members through our extra interest groups such as the ramblers and badminton. We had been reading different titles and some had been playing catch-up with past books for discussion such as The Book Thief and various Salley Vickers titles. Therefore the subjects were a bit more general than usual but no less enjoyable for that. We have a recommendation from a member of the group and a set from the Bucks County Library for next time.
The local WI committee meeting took longer than usual as our questionnaires were shared out among committee members for delivery around the town. These questionnaires were suggested after our secretary had attended a training day run by the Member Services Committee.We hope to find out what our own members think of their WI and how it could be improved. There was also the need tonight to decide how best to mend the rift about an added game for another charity at our fund-raising quiz in November and to arrange the take-up for the extra outing in August to Waterperry. The e-mail solves some problems of communication but shoe leather is still needed sometimes.
26th June
Two of us from our WI went to a neighbouring town to help with a Let's Sew project with young mothers.These are very enjoyable sessions and there is a lot of talk and laughter. We help with various needlework ideas which the girls have started such as making accessories for an evening dress or teaching crochet or knitting.The amount of basic materials which they have is amazing but they lack the skills to make use of them. That is where we think we can be useful and the girls and the staff certainly make us very welcome.
29th June
A big town event today when the gardens are on show and refreshments are available all day. Fortunately the WI caters in the afternoon only. We had set up a working party to organise our contribution and it was extremely successful.Everyone turned up when they said they would to serve and clear away and the flow of delicious cakes was wonderful. The bulk of the proceeds from this event goes to local charities but some surplus is made by the WI too to add to funds.
2nd July
Our WI meeting tonight was a bit disappointing as the speaker showed too many slides and the commentary was not really very good. We could all produce holiday slides from a foreign country but what one needs is some local facts and pieces of information or anecdotes which will make one want to visit there too or teach one something about another way of life.At least be able to identify the flora and fauna! Unfortunately the speaker came recommended by two federations' yearbooks so others will be booking him so we will have to send in a critical report to the producers of the yearbook to encourage him to improve or drop that subject from his repertoire.The filling in of those report sheets is an important chore for WIs and a necessary part for the production of the list of recommended speakers. We stand or fall by the quality of our speakers at the monthly meetings.
The attendance was very good considering the appeal of Wimbledon and the lovely summer evening. We listened to an excellent report of the NFWI Annual General Meeting at Liverpool made by our link delegate who had obviously enjoyed the experience. I hope it is our WI's turn next year at the Royal Albert Hall.We also obtained the permission of the members to play a part in the Big Tidy Up campaign launched by our National Chairman last month.We hope to feature it at the Winslow Show and involve other groups in the town.

AGM Liverpool 2008

Delegates and Observers from Bucks left in two coaches on Tuesday for Liverpool to attend the NFWI Annual General Meeting on June 4th. On the way we enjoyed a short visit to Bridgemere Gardens to grab some lunch and to look at the WI gardens still maintained there after successes at the Chelsea Flower Show. We arrived at a pleasant hotel just outside Chester for an evening meal and a night's accommodation before the big event the following day.
An early breakfast and off to the arena for doors open at 9.30am.It is a lovely hall on the banks of the Mersey and the atmosphere was marvellous as coach after coach disgorged its load right outside the doors.
The singing of Jerusalem was inspiring in spite of a rather tinny piano. We were welcomed by Councillor Mike Storey to his city of culture and then it was down to business.NFWI Chair Fay Mansell stressed the need to continue to increase the membership and mentioned all the positive things achieved which are listed in the Annual Review. The WI was vital to the social well-being of the UK and was the glue which held society together. She aimed to make WI membership in 2015 stand at 250,000.The Hon. Treasurer Aleathia Mann told us the WI had a surplus of £434,000. The subscription next year would be £29 with £14 pooling of fares.
The resolution on the unsuitability of imprisonment for the mentally ill was carried by a 97% vote in spite of Government assurances that the matter was being addressed. Nobody seemed to believe him when family members and magistrates listed their personal experiences.
Averil MacDonald, a physicist from Reading University talked about the need for women in science.Although girls started off ahead of boys academically, they reached a glass ceiling at 30 years old. She pleaded for flexible hours of work and for part-time work not to be prefaced by the word "only". Change it to PRIME TIME WORK and see the benefits for everyone.
The resolution on deep sea trawling was well proposed by Bucks WI Chearsley and caused a lot of healthy debate. However it had a basic flaw in its wording so that although the proposers wanted to ban only harmful bottom trawling, it read as if they demanded a total ban on all bottom trawling. Amendments had been sent in but NFWI had not accepted them as it didn't see the ambiguity, whereas this had been pointed out both at Bucks Briefing Meetings and at the WI discussions in May. As a result, the coastal areas were up in arms in support of the fishing industry and the motion was not carried: 3051 to 3335.
Baroness Susan Greenfield (in a very smart trouser suit where the trousers were shorts) spoke to us about the way in which the human brain makes us all unique. This was a fascinating topic and really stretched the audience's understanding.She condemned the over-use of computers where children and adults could merge the real world with the cyber world. Everyone has the potential to be someone eg an individual, anyone eg part of a collective body, and nobody eg lost in a sensory world. Combine the three and you reach the EUREKA moment of creativity.
The improvements to Denman College were described. There were reports on the campaigns of the last year and then Sandi Toksvig took the stage. We were swept along from funny story to funny story and everyone loved her energy and sense of fun.The serious part of her message was that WI members should make sure to record their personal lives and those remembered of their forebears in our wonderful diverse language.
The National Chairman finished by launching the Big Tidy Up campaign and the search for a WI face or W-Icon for the Sky Learning Channels which will bring great kudos and about £10,000 to the NFWI.This was followed by a choir singing 3 items and then taking part in a concluding rendition of Jerusalem.
It was a great AGM to have attended, some controversy and some mind stretching presentations and some uproarious fun. We all travelled back in good humour even though it was a long ride home.

Premises old and new

23rd May
I know it is 6 months before the event but tonight the local WI had a planning meeting for our big fundraiser in November.Halls and speakers need at least 6 months pre-warning so we thought we might as well organise some of the detail at the same time. At present quizzes are very popular in our locality so we will need to make ours a bit different.Is this a case of "thinking outside the box"?
Every WI needs to make a little extra money above the subscription to pay for its meeting place and speakers during the year. Some WIs cater for other organisations or run money-making stalls at fetes and town events. We prefer to hold a large meeting which attracts the locals so that we can socialise at the same time.
28th May
I am a dual member of another WI which allows me to enjoy the events arranged over there. Dual membership involves paying the dues to that WI but not the part that goes to the County federation or NFWI. I can take an active part in my "second" WI's life but my vote on County or National matters has to go through my first WI.
Anyway, my second WI had arranged a walk this afternoon and booked a Blue Badge guide to show us round the Roman villa and Bradwell Abbey. I bet you didn't know that within yards of the concrete cows in Milton Keynes is the remains of a Roman villa. It was an interesting walk not just for the history but also because the river had burst its banks and we ended up having to make a diversion and paddle along the redway.
The local WI's committee meeting in the evening ended off a rather full WI day. I shall be sorry to miss next week's meeting when a group of handbell ringers is booked to entertain us but I will be up in Liverpool for the Annual General Meeting.
29th May
What a week! This morning we were off to the Oxfordshire Federation WI headquarters at Tackley for a meeting for members of county federations' Education and Current Affairs sub-committees arranged by NFWI. I was interested to see this federation's answer to having to move from an inconvenient premises in Oxford to somewhere cheaper and more suited to modern WI use. It is ideal in a converted farm courtyard set up in an attractive village. Is this the way Bucks should go? What kind of letters did their members write after negotiating a single track road to get to their headquarters? It isn't true that our members don't reverse---well, not the majority of us!
It was an informative meeting where we learned about the many educational opportunities in the WI and the various schemes that are up and running at the moment. There is money available out there if only one knew how to get hold of it in time for arranging local courses etc. Federations attending were from as far away as Cambridgeshire and Avon and they had all managed the minor roads OK.

Out and About

14th May
Holiday and Tour Operators are always very keen to work with the WI Federations. It may be that the WI has a lot of members who are of an age to enjoy the "grey pound" and are widows or full-time carers who don't want to drive or plan the details of a holiday on their own but whatever the reason, these firms are in fierce competition for our custom.The Federations receive a commission which rises or falls depending on how much work the WI Travel Group puts into the outing. The amount of work by the WI depends on the commitment or enthusiasm of the local WI Travel Group.
It is an interesting and rewarding position which can be time-consuming but that time can be fitted into one's personal timetable : there are few deadlines.It is also possible to share the workload with a friend or with 2 others. Is there anyone out there who would consider volunteering to help BFWI in this role?
15th May
Today 3 coaches travelled to the National Arboretum at Westonbirt. Last night the weather forecast was diabolical and the south of the county suffered a thunderstorm between 6am and 7am which made several people rethink the idea of tramping around woods all day. What a pity! Once off the coaches at the Arboretum, we never had a drop of rain. Although we were all a little late for our pre-booked tours, the guides were welcoming and knowledgeable.The trees looked marvellous and the blossom, undamaged by the overnight rain, was beautiful. Even the bluebells were still in flower. Judging by the greenery carried on to my coach, I reckon the plant centre had a good day too!
It is a sobering thought to be told that the park was saved as a national site by only one vote when it was given to the Nation in lieu of death duties. Now it has developed new collections as well as taken on the preservation of trees 2000years old.
Many of the party today plan to return under their own steam for the autumn colours when the trees will look magnificent but there will not be the freedom from crowds which we enjoyed. After all,one of the purposes of WI outings is to encourage members to visit these places again either with family or with their own local WI.
17th and 20th May
The members of the local WI had been invited to set up a promotional stand at the Town Council's event at which the councillors hoped to launch a scheme to construct a Town Plan. Our stand attracted quite a lot of attention and comment and the occasion was good for talk between the various organisations in the town.There were certainly lots of comments and suggestions pasted up on to the boards by the visiting public.Unfortunately, the age group attending on the Saturday was predominately over 50 years old but in the evening there were a few more of the younger inhabitants of the town.When one considers that the 20-30 year olds are more likely to be around to enjoy the future of the town longer, it is a pity there were not more to offer an opinion. The display is going into the local primary school but the youngsters who are on the brink of being able to cast a vote in a national election are going to miss out completely. Mind, quite a few WI members were conspicuous by their absence too!
20th May
The Book Group met this afternoon and we have a new member which is a great delight. Differing views were held on Kate Atkinson's Case Histories and The Book Thief was re-discussed as other members had missed the previous meeting. We've come to the end of one list of sets of books from the County Library Service so we have been let loose this time to see what we pick up over the next month.
22nd May
The Education and Current Affairs sub-committee met over lunch in Prestwood to finalise details for the forthcoming Taste of Poland Day. There was a new face at the meeting which is always welcome but we could do with another couple to join us. The event sounds as if it will be excellent and very interesting. Maybe we are a bit late in our timing as the media tells us that the visitors from Poland are now drifting back home. The hospitals and hotel businesses will miss them: they weren't all plumbers!
23rd May
The local working party planning our annual fundraising event in November met this evening.It is always better to have a small group organising these things rather than waste time at the monthly meeting discussing the virtues of scones above cakes or the order of the programme. I wish the authorities would stop altering the rules about licences--who needs one, how to apply etc.It drives you silly and as for what one has to do to conform to Health and Safety rules...Nothing like a bit of risk and hazard to make life interesting.Whatever will we do without the unexpected?

Resolutions and show promotion

7th May
Most WIs in May are busy preparing their delegates for the Annual General Meeting of the National WI in June this year in Liverpool. The Annual Review has to be accepted and the Resolutions discussed and voted upon. Personally I enjoy these meetings but I know others who don't. We always have to offer carrots to entice members to come along: wine helps the tongues to wag as well.This year every member was asked to bring an item of food which had a locality attached to it but which could be eaten in the fingers. We thought this would avoid a Lancashire Hotpot or a large plate of ravioli! It was amazing what turned up and how well it balanced out between sweet and savoury.
There was quite a good debate on the undesirability of imprisonment for mentally ill offenders. Probably this was because locally various psychiatric hospitals have been closed in favour of care in the community and there are 2 prisons in the area.Cases were cited of where long-term imprisonment had resulted in real harm to the inmates but also it was felt that the public needed to be sure that any hospital was properly secure.
Bottom trawling (although the resolution came from Bucks) was felt to be ambiguously worded so the members asked our delegate to be prepared for an amendment at the meeting in Liverpool.We felt that if the movers did not want a total ban on this type of fishing they should have said "where it causes catastrophic harm to marine life" not "which".Let's hope this is changed on the day as we are too late for an amendment ourselves.
We also spent a bit of time while the Treasurer presented her budget for next year and the Secretary is going to construct a survey for our local members to complete on what they want from the WI and what they don't want so that we can try to make the WI a little more tailor-made. This may be a revelation to the committee but we must be doing something right as we gained a new member even after what some describe as a boring meeting!
8th May
There was a small gathering of 6 interested members to plan our contribution to the Town Show in August.We want a corner site this year even though this costs more. We have been in the same place for years which may or may not be an advantage.We want to fly the flag for Winslow WI and for the County Federation so we have lots of ideas on what to display.The general public always expects us to be selling cakes but that is not practical in August and others do that anyway. We are looking for something to attract attention and keep people in the tent for long enough to take in what the WI is all about. So we need an attraction for children while their mothers read or something to make the adults linger but we are not out to make money and want to get away from the endless raffles and tombolas.Not easy.
In the afternoon 2 members went over to the group for young mothers to teach them how to sew, knit or crochet. This is a new undertaking so we are not yet sure how successful it will be. What we really need is financial backing to be able to provide a creche but that is proving difficult.It happened for the Let's Cook project so maybe we will be lucky too.
12th May
Back to the Town Show planning--this time the Craft Group's contribution. We think we will be able to make something eye-catching to draw people into the tent. The trouble is that everyone imagines the final outcome differently! It will need a bit of furious activity to finish in time but we like to have a joint project so it all sounds hopeful. Those who don't want to take part can organise the display of items made over the last year.I think we will need to borrow some of the display furniture from the Federation stores, banners and perhaps a piece of trellis--but that is why such things are kept there for WIs to use.

Going round in circles

25th April
Another very good article about the WI appeared in The Daily Telegraph last week. This featured the new WI formed in Shoreditch which is trendy (according to the title) and yet is still interested in crafts. There is definitely a surge of interest in the WI movement which must be related to the fact that our magazine WI Life now has a huge circulation base which is attracting not only more advertising revenue but also informing every member of what is going on, out there, beyond her village hall. I keep hoping more of the doubters publicly will eat their words.
This morning our area of the Bucks County Council held one of its Getting Closer to Communities sessions. The local WI was invited to attend. The idea was for the organisations within the community to meet and exchange ideas on what was good and what was lacking in their locality.There was a lot of officialdom present using all the right sort of words but even so I think something useful was achieved. The thing that worries me is that it was very similar to the Area Focus Groups that have been being held and also to the local Town Council's Town Plan meeting which is yet to come.Surely one layer could have been cut out? These events are not cheap to run as the carrot of snack refreshments has to be presented.
This evening was great fun. The Leisure and Performing Arts sub-committee held a Hoedown in one of the Aylesbury schools.I think a lot of people cannot tell their left from their right nor clockwise from anti-clockwise but who cares? The supper was suitably American, the caller knew what he was trying to get us to do and the atmosphere was great. I suppose this committee has got to the end of its regional evenings and we will be able to start again with a Caledonian Evening. I for one look forward to it.

30th April
Today was the event which has been occupying the minds of a small Working Party for several months--The Literary Lunch at Cheddington. This was the fourth in a series but it was slightly different in that the WI Catering Committee was not doing the refreshments. We called in the professionals which was a blessed relief to the caterers but meant that the price had to go up.Unfortunately none of the WI caterers can be expected now to lift the pans of a size necessary for over 150 diners so it will have to be either outside caterers or a simpler meal. When we started, we wanted to offer something really special, something different and we did! WI catering is second to none.
Anyway the meal today was excellent, plentiful and hot.I was impressed by the serenity in the kitchen. The hall manager is one of the best in the County and the room looked really attractive.Our speaker was very good too. Salley Vickers is a well known novelist, highly thought of in literary circles, a keen supporter of the WI and an entertaining speaker.She will be a hard act to follow.

1st May
My poor little car struggled down to High Wycombe because it was full of everything but the kitchen sink from the day before. It was the first meeting of the new 2 year term of the Education&Current Affairs sub-committee. This is a small group which could do with some more volunteers. It has an interesting remit: but not the domain for blue stockings. What WI sub-committee is? At the moment we are working on an outing to the Arboretum at Westonbirt and a day event called A Taste of Poland which unfortunately is taking place in Bucks --not in Poland. Of course the visit to the Terracotta Army was arranged by this committee too so there is off-site work as well as keeping up with NFWI campaigns when we have to write letters to MPs or Councils for this, that and the other.Come and join us, please!

Women who do things

4th April
I am very pleased that the article which appeared today in the Daily Telegraph did not appear on 1st April . Otherwise several people would have read it as an April Fool. The heading "The WI ladies off on tour in search of prostitutes " would not have been believed.However it is true and it is not the first time that the WI has tried to protect the health and well-being of the ladies of the night. It is part of a campaign to eliminate some of the violence perpetrated against women which is itself part of the campaign against the dangerous lives that some women live at home as well as on the street.The WI has been trying to get brothels legalised and has secured support from unlikely sources such as the Roman Catholic bishop of Portsmouth.
I think these ladies from Hampshire deserve a lot of credit and I wish them luck in their research.
16th April
There was a lively Group Meeting this evening where a young woman came as the guest speaker. She was an excellent speaker and entertainer. It was hard to believe that someone so slight had rowed across the Atlantic twice! What fortitude and bravery and all to raise money for the National Epilepsy Society! I must admit that I went along expecting an obvious athlete with bulging muscles and there was this slip of a girl.Everyone was full of admiration for her and for her mother who rowed with her.
17th April
Today two members of my WI went along to see whether we could set up a Let's Sew project in a school near us.We came back full of enthusiasm to get going. The staff were keen and felt sure it was possible. However we really need some funds to finance the creche as we don't fancy playing about with sewing machines and needles and pins knee deep in toddlers. I am hoping we can come to some arrangement similar to the Let's Cook scheme which was promoted nationally by NFWI last year.
The WI is still respected for its work with crafts and who better to pass on the expertise than the WI members?
18th April
Another Group Meeting tonight when the WIs concerned celebrated their 80th birthday and what have they just done? Made themselves an embroidered banner. This is a beautiful example of the traditional and the modern techniques available. I keep on saying how the WI must maintain its traditional skills and hand them on. It was a very happy evening with good food, a little drama and singing and a lot of chatter. Some of the previous members had travelled large distances to attend and to join in the celebrations.
From these members I learned that some Federations have given up having groups which seems a great pity. The reasons cited were financial complications and the lack of time for 2 extra meetings a year. How pathetic! Groups have always been outside the Federations and gone their own way and it seems a shame to close them. A meeting of 4or 5 WIs enables them to afford a more expensive speaker and to show off their individuality beyond the confines of the WI constitution.
I hope our federation doesn't plan to abandon our Group scheme.

Busy,busy meetings

25th March
Today three of the local WI members travelled South to visit the WI shop at Stuart Lodge. Although they planned to buy a few items, the main reason was to view the BFWI Offices. They were really impressed: of course, it was post a bank holiday weekend but the level of activity was amazing. Besides the usual three members of staff and the shop people, there were some judges working on some secret mission and members of Executive popping in for paperwork and equipment for forthcoming events. If all Bucks members could visit Stuart Lodge, they would understand just what running a WI Federation involves and also be able to put a face to the voice on the phone.
It was great to see the finished upstairs bathroom and to view the redecorated committee room.
26th March
Local WI committee tonight, the main purpose of which was to plan next week's Open Meeting. We want to cover everything in as short a time as possible because, hopefully there will be lots of visitors.We also want to fly the flag a bit. We don't usually have a timed agenda but for this we must and take the record of the last meeting "as read".However, the committee refused to abandon Jerusalem as part of the time-cutting exercise!
31st March
What a day! In the afternoon the local Book Group met. Everyone was very pleased to be in print in WI Life but not so pleased to have been given away to another County! We discussed the "Book Thief" which all rated highly.
Then it was a short meeting to sort out a ballot for a couple of the WI summer rambles which are oversubscribed. Anyone involved with running an event hates to turn any members away. BFWI has been criticised for opening events to non-members but sometimes we need those extra bodies in order to actually hold the event. If the number of tickets is cut, it is up to the WI to locally distribute the tickets on the basis of members first, non-members next.
In the evening three members of the local WI attended the Briefing Meeting in Aylesbury. This is when experts are called to give information to the delegates to use at their own WIs in May. It was a lively meeting and there was lots of informed discussion which augurs well for the AGM in Liverpool in June.
2nd April
I may be biassed but I think our Open Meeting was a success. We did have lots of visitors and also we had an excellent speaker who appealed to a general audience. His subject was his experiences around the world while in the diplomatic service. We kept to time and there was a healthy buzz of conversation during social time. We were also able to arrange some dates for working party meetings and fix attendance at the Town Council's meetings to produce a Town Plan and to attend the Bucks CC day school on Closer Links with the Community. All part of the social conscience of being a WI member but it does make for a busy couple of months.

Parcels and the Textile treasures of the WI

This week
A funny statistic appeared in the national press re. the WI's carbon footprint. Apparently following our eco-initiative WI members have reduced their annual amount of household rubbish to 18st instead of the national average of 152 st. They have been doing it for only 4 months so how do they know that?
I prefer the story about Charmouth WI in Dorset whose chronicle of wartime village events has become a national treasure. Accounts of knitting socks for the local regiment, caring for evacuees and providing food from gardens and hedgerows fill this scrapbook--beautifully illustrated and written with humour. No wonder it has won a national award!
12th March
As usual when one of the family moves house I approached the local branch of Country Markets (WI Markets as was) to arrange the delivery of a parcel of goodies to the new address. The parcel scheme is a wonderful national organisation which promises to deliver selected items from the local stall to the value of whatever the customer wishes, ranging from preserves to flowers, from pastries to cheeses.The person in Glamorgan that I was talking to lived previously in Drayton Parslow. The recipients will say "The WI mafia strikes again"!
13th March
A small group of WI members were invited to RAF Cottesmore in Rutland as a thank you for the parcels sent out to the forces in Afghanistan. We were welcomed by the Squadron Leader, driven around the base, given lunch and then had a conducted tour of the control tower and the aircraft hangars. We were even allowed to climb up and inspect the cockpit of a Harrier plane.The pilot has just a bit more space inside than a Formula One racing driver. All the personel were so grateful for the parcels and so appreciative of what the Bucks' WI members were doing for them. How they love the sweets, biscuits, cakes, coffee and toiletries that have been arriving out there! One Harrier pilot said that the men and women were like children opening a Christmas stocking. Westbury and District WI know of 500 boxes that have been filled and have passed through their hands but there are others going direct through Post Offices in Bucks.
So well done everyone.
14th March
Eight members of the local WI went by train as a group to the NEC in Birmingham to see the Sewing for Pleasure Exhibition. The attraction for us was the Textile Treasures of the WI. This was an excellent display, beautifully presented which made us feel very proud to be a part of such a talented organisation. Bucks Federation seemed very well represented but we may have been biassed! We went our separate ways following our interests, met up for lunch and then it was off again until we had worn our feet off.

I imagine all the WI members interested in horse racing backed DENMAN for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. It may be why the odds were so short!. He won of course.
18th March
The local WI enjoyed a Soup and Sandwiches lunch at the home of a member today. This was to raise funds and also to get rid of our soup lake. We seem to lurch from mincepie mountains to soup lakes in our WI! A very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours though.
19th March
The WI where I am a dual member met today and we listened to a pair of girls from John Lewis who advised us on how to co-ordinate our wardrobes for the new season. They knew their job but the members expressed strong views on the lack of sleeved dresses, appropriate sizes and cheerful colours in clothes for women over 40 years old. We know more about "power pants" than we did before so that fulfils the educational aims of the WI.
20th March
WI Life arrived this morning. Lo and Behold our WI book group was featured as well as the Bucks Federation.In the last issue the editors gave Taplow and Hitcham WI to the Berkshire Federation and in this one they gave us to Cheshire. That'll teach us not to go seeking glory. I thought it was an excellent issue--lots to read and think about: plus the new programme for Denman College.

Terracotta and Glass

27th February
The local WI committee met tonight in a member's house.Apparently no one had come up with a better idea than the quiz for our annual fundraiser in November so we began to think of contacts whom we could use. We shall ask for a few volunteers at the March meeting to form a working party to run the event. Of course the hall has to be booked well in advance but the finer details can be tackled later. It will need good publicity to spread it around the other town organisations.
The Town in Bloom event is more pressing at the moment so two members were absent while attending that's planning meeting in another house! There always seems to be a core of people who are involved in lots of different circles and they are the ones who volunteer all the time.Thank Heavens for the doers of this world!
Our April meeting is going to be an Open Meeting because the topic has general appeal.The WI Widowers are to be invited and ex-members who feel they cannot be sure to be well enough to turn out for WI meetings during the winter.
28th February
Unfortunately I was balloted out of the allocation of tickets to visit the Terracotta Army so my husband and I set off at the crack of dawn to queue at the British Museum for entrance tickets. According to the web there would be 500 tickets available every day from 9.15am. We joined a long queue at 9.15am and by the time we got to the desk the first available slot was 2.55pm so we amused ourselves until then and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. The exhibition is well worth a visit but it may interest you to know that to view it and travel up by train was £10 per head more expensive than the trip organised by the WI with a coach. We didn't include the lunch in this calculation and of course we couldn't use concessions on the train because of the time of travel. The exhibition itself gave reductions only to students and the disabled. So you see what a good offer some of our WI outings are!!
5th March
Hardly had we set foot inside the Local Centre where we hold our WI meetings when the fire alarm went off.We were lucky as we still had coats on; the Tai Chi students were coatless and bare foot waiting for the all clear. Some joker had pressed a panic button somewhere so there was no fire which was a relief.
The response to the boxes for the forces appeal has been marvellous. We will be able to fill another six after tonight's meeting. The local Lions' Ladies have joined in with the WI on this project.We organised delegates for the Annual Council Meeting and the Briefing for the AGM meeting.I tried very hard to explain how much better it was to volunteer for working parties than to be at the mercy of its members and be volunteered for something which one didn't want to do. It didn't work! The members could see me coming but we have a nucleus for all 3 which we need this year.
The speaker was excellent talking and demonstrating about her work with stained glass. Perhaps we will be able to fix up a craft session with her later. I always like to hear of the moments when a person is suddenly aware of what he/she wants to do with their life and refuses to be diverted in spite of all sorts of difficulties.

WI unconcerned with health issues

11th February
Local WI craft group meeting this afternoon. We had booked a demonstrator to show us a new kind of knitting which doesn't seem to have a name.It is rather like making a patchwork of knitting, working in squares and triangles but not having to seam them--just build up with the knitting needles.It is quite fun to do as I hate sewing up.The lady who demonstrated works for a fashion designer and is asked to test patterns to see if they actually work.It will be interesting to see what we come up with for the next meeting after a little practice on our own.
15th February
I think I can count on one hand the times in 40 years membership of the WI when I have wondered why I am a member. The first time must have been about 30 years ago when at the AGM in the Royal Albert Hall the members voted against the provision of improved nursery care facilities and I listened to people saying that a mother's place was in the home etc. quite oblivious even then of the mothers who had to work to maintain their children.I remember feeling that the majority was actually voting against the support of family life.The second time was when at the resolution selection time I listened to members saying that prostate cancer was not a subject the WI should be heard to be discussing. This was about 20 years ago and again I thought that one of the aims and objects of the WI was the health and well-being of the whole family and that this topic surely encompassed that.
Today was the third time. The Education and Current Affairs Sub-Committee has been planning a day on women's health.Speakers and demonstrators had been booked for months to talk about the management of breast disease, recent advances in reproductive medicine and maintaining healthy lifestyles.Today I had to unravel all that knitting because there were not enough members willing to come to learn about such things."This is just for young people"."We don't discuss things like that".Really? Don't you read the papers? Don't you see the unhappiness of daughters and daughters-in-law who don't know where to turn for help and advice with their problems? Is it not part of family life to be able to know how to support your friends and relatives as they wrestle with the misery and fright of a diagnosis of breast cancer which can strike at any age. I hate the sentence --"So-and-so was always there for me" but I'll use it now because the Bucks WI member wont be there for anyone.
Membership of the WI is not to enjoy a non-stop entertainment :it is far more than that.It is educational and 100% supportive of family life and values. If we forget that, we might as well belong to a club --lower in stature than the working men's clubs which were originally formed to look after their own.
You will have gathered that I am a little annoyed and very disappointed. Also embarrassed because what will our speakers think of the WI when I tell them that we couldn't raise a big enough audience to not be an insult and a misuse of their time away from their worthwhile occupations helping women face their health problems? In fact I'm so cross that my grammar and punctuation has gone awol.
18th February
Well after all that I was really impressed with what my WI had provided in our boxes for the Forces in Afghanistan. I took them up to Westbury and District WI this morning and was filled with admiration at the way its members had organised themselves to handle this project. I'm glad to say that there is a lot of support for this campaign and that the recipients of the parcels are taking the time to write and say thank you. This adds a personal touch to the scheme. Some have mothers who are WI members and who knows perhaps when the girls are demobbed they may remember and become members themselves.
19th February
The local WI book group met today. We had been reading Penelope Lively's "A House unlocked" which is an autobiography describing this novelist's childhood. It stirred memories of World War II and of another way of life in a country house where gardening, hunting and organised picnics a la the Bloomsbury set were enjoyed.But the author also discussed the changes in society over the last half century, the alteration of values and the coming of travel.I picked up an article in the national press where the Campaign to Protect Rural England said that a new village green boosted village life. "It tends to encourage events, inclusivity and a resurgence of traditional forms like the Women's Institute".This was one of the points Penelope Lively was making too.
We are hoping to join up with another reading group in the town for a session together but we need to decide on a book to all read and discuss.

Education, flora and fauna

17 January
It was the day for the final meeting of a series of four when the Bucks WI members are gathered to select the resolutions which they think are worthy to go forward to the Annual General Meeting of NFWI in June 2008.There must have been about 100 people present to hear the resolutions outlined by the members of the Member Services Committee.No one represents her WI at these meetings: she makes her own decision. We had six resolutions to choose from which all mirrored some aspect of the interests and campaigns of the WI movement.We thought about artificial additives in children's medicines, the dangers of Group B Streptococcus infection in infants and inappropriate imprisonment of the severely mentally ill. For education we discussed fairer funding for schools and for the environment we considered safer routes for pedestrians and a ban on sea bottom trawling. The last topic was presented by a local WI member whose WI had sent up this resolution.
It will be interesting to discover whether our choice as a county federation is the same as the one from the country as a whole.
30 January
Our local WI committee tonight was very busy as not only our WI but the County Federation and National gird up their loins for the new year activities after the Christmas break.There is always so much forward planning to do, scrabbling for dates which do not clash with other events and weighing up ideas for fundraising. We think we know what we will suggest to the meeting next week but one never knows what the reaction will be. Sometimes one wishes one didn't need to be democratic--it would certainly speed things up!
4th February-8th February
At home I have been without my computer so this blog has been in limbo for weeks, stored somewhere in the ether because my machine decided to break off communications with my provider.What a palaver! Why on earth would a machine suddenly think of that? And the helplines talk pure jargon so that in the end it is better to hand the whole thing over to a professional and hope he isn't losing your life's work in some black hole.It is also rather unsettling to realise how dependent one has become on a computer. This little room seemed quite heart-less!
Anyway I went off on the WI winter break to Cricket St Thomas where I didn't need to think of electronics at all.
Forty two of us joined the holiday. We visited Lyme Regis, the Donkey Sanctuary and Sidmouth. The seas were impressive as it was very windy. Even so some brave souls were speeding among the waves on sailboards.During the showers we were able to take coffee before walking along the Cobb and remembering Jane Austen's heroine being blown off the top.
The sun shone while we talked to the donkeys.It is an amazing story how that enterprise developed from one woman's vocation into a national concern which will provide speakers all over the country. The work done for special needs children on the site is impressive too. Sidmouth is a lovely little town with lots of old fashioned shops which are a delight and proved a mecca for our party.(Actually that isn't a good word to use as the members didn't remove their shoes but came out with more pairs than they had when they went in!)
Next day we explored the little safari park and went for walks and on the last day we visited Exeter.The embroideries in the cathedral are magnificent and it is heartwarming to hear of a group carrying on the traditions of hundreds of years in making beautiful objects for their church just for the joy of their creation.On the way home we spent some time at the Butterfly Farm at Studley Grange so we studied flora and fauna during our travels in the West Country.
These holidays do us all good providing a chance to meet and talk to others and speed us through the dark months of winter.
While we were away the BBC did another showing of Calendar Girls. Thank Goodness it did, as it proved a great antidote to that ghastly Jam and Jerusalem series which people have had to endure during the past weeks.

Welcome to the WI in Bucks 2008

2008
Why wasn't I surprised at the thundering e-silence that followed my request for advice on whether to continue with this blog or to let it sink into oblivion? Not one comment received on site, but I was told not to stop by various people in conversation because it is about the only thing that moves on the informal area of the BFWI website. I learn that there are WI husbands out there who read my column in order to see what their wives are involved in at the moment! Welcome--perhaps I will receive messages from you.
Another New Year, a new WI diary in breath-taking pink, a new WI calendar to fill up beside the phone, new ideas to put on top of the old ones? Everyone is busy making resolutions or drawing up "mind maps" for the coming year.I shall try and tart my blogsite up a bit to include the odd picture perhaps and I may be able to manage to alter my leapfrog style of making additions which will no doubt confuse me but make things more comprehensible to the reader.
2nd January
I travelled down to Stuart Lodge, the BFWI office at High Wycombe, with loads of paperwork which contained cheques. I needed to be sure they had arrived rather than trust the vagaries of the Post Office after the extended holiday.The forecast of snow the following day also speeded me on. It was lovely to see the decorating work in progress and the new fittings in the upstairs bathroom. The place looks 100% better already after the damage from floods and burglary.The staff deserve the improvement after putting up with the devastation for many months.
In the evening the local WI met in committee to plan the January meeting.It looks as if we are in for another busy year. Subscriptions are due next week: £27 of which each WI keeps almost half and the rest is divided between the county federation and the National Federation.Did you know a season ticket to watch a football team costs around £500? Our programme looks entertaining, finances are secure and we have volunteers for every job to be done. We also have various dates on the calendar when we will playing our part in the life of the community.
5th January
I spotted an article in a colour supplement about the national marmalade making championships. No, I didn't know there was such a thing either! Apparently it is being held this year beside Ullswater. There are hundreds of entries coming from all over the world and of course, who are the judges? WI trained craft and produce judges.
7th January
A bit of excitement today at our WI Book Group meeting. Not only have we a new member but we had to have our photograph taken because we are about to appear in print in WI Life. Just before Christmas two of the group wrote a piece about the readers and enclosed a written book review. We sent it up to the County Library Reading Group Newsletter and that appeared in late December. Then we sent it to WI Life and the editor said he liked it but wanted a photo! The review was of A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon but at the January meeting we were discussing The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. This is well worth reading as it gives an insight into events in the Congo which is poignantly topical today for what is happening in poor Zaire at the moment.There was so much to talk about in the book that we were ready for a cup of tea to wet our whistles by 4 o'clock.
9th January
Wow! Our first meeting of the year and seven potential new members showed up! We knew to expect some but not seven, so everyone had to work together to ensure that the visitors felt welcome and would come again.It was certainly a full house and Thank Goodness the speaker was very entertaining.She also managed to talk very positively about the process of vetting and consultation which the BFWI puts speakers through before they are included in the Speakers' Yearbook. We have set up a working group to liaise with the Town in Bloom event in June, have 3 people going to mastermind our entry for the NFWI Healthy Lifestyle Competition but have had to scrub our entry for the BFWI Quiz in March as it clashes with our own meeting and no one wants to miss that.
We are going to join in with Westbury and District WI which is filling boxes with items for the military personnel in Afghanistan. This is not just for Christmas but an on-going activity. It cannot be termed as political as it is not about judging whether the forces should be there or not, but supporting those who have been sent there.We will try to fill 6 boxes over the year.
10th January
Today the Education & Current Affairs Sub-committee met and we spent the time putting the final touches to plans for the Health Day It's a Woman's Thing, pre-planning a Polish Day and dreaming of a huge undertaking for 2010, the BFWI anniversary year. I'm not going to tell you what that may be!
We need volunteers for this committee because when our term ends in April this year some members are calling it a day.BFWI needs more people on Executive too. Dear Reader, please think about enquiring into what is involved, remember what pleasure you have taken in WI events and consider what time you could spare to put something back into the organisation.
Guess what? NFWI Public Affairs are going to have a blogsite--copycats!