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.
Wednesday 25 June 2008
Thursday 5 June 2008
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.
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.
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