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.