13th May
Every two years at the beginning of May, the members of the various sub-committees in BFWI are appointed to serve for another two years. Every year in May they give themselves a shake and change officers or responsibilities.So today Education and Current Affairs met to sort itself out for another year.Unfortunately we are losing our Chairman and the sub-committee is below strength anyway at the moment and we are running up to a very active summer with big events planned. This will mean us calling in promises from helpers outside. I wish we could get some more volunteers to join us but we seem to suffer from an unfortunate image. People think we are a load of blue stockings and therefore either dull or forbidding. And we are not at all like that. Our meetings are lively and the events we plan are popular but still this idea persists. So go on prove me wrong and make enquiries: it is only six meetings a year!
Great was the rejoicing that we have won a grant to buy a laptop to go with our recent purchase of the projector which many of you saw in use at the Celebration Lunch at Newton Longville. The trip to Paris had gone well and there was talk of a follow-up to another European attraction. There are events planned for this year and next at Denman College. However the bulk of the meeting was taken up with arrangements for our Tudor Day, Henry VIII and All That which is over-subscribed. If you missed a ticket, think if you had been on the committee you would have been able to attend!
12th May
The local WI held its second Discussion Group evening and although we had come ready to talk about packaging and labelling as per this year's resolution, the subjects discussed were far-ranging. We have decided to try to bring to every meeting to start us off some item either in the media or in real life that has amused us. This practice can torpedo the whole evening but it is a good way to make people relax, along with the wine of course.We did discuss packaging but also the lack of parity in payments in for leave and allowances to natural parents and adopting parents. And of course keeping party politics out of it, we reviewed the TV coverage of the election and reminisced on elections of former years without the media coverage.
11th May
The County Library had come up trumps this time with enough copies of "The View from Castle Rock" by Alice Munro for us all to read at the same time and an audio version too. The majority enjoyed this very different way of approaching one's own family history---turn most of it into short stories. This method brought home the privations of the early Scottish settlers in Canada. Life was tough in those days; the women were amazingly strong physically and mentally just to cope with the everyday struggle against the elements, the frequent childbirths and the early loss of life. We have the Angela Huth "Once a Landgirl " in hand for next time and "Lighthousekeeping" which sounds intriguing.Our group is comfortably sized at ten members which means that even when folks are away on holiday there is a good number present. Also of course, we need time to discuss the travel as well, so we should call absentees fieldworkers.
10th May
The local WI craft group spent the afternoon pooling resources for the BFWI competition "Celebration". We have decided on our theme, now it is what to include and what to leave out, what accessories will be allowed. We didn't have time to actually do anything with a needle and thread this afternoon.
5th May
Resolution evening tonight at the monthly meeting. Members are a bit disappointed that there is only the one going up to the NFWI AGM at Cardiff next month. We entertained a member from a neighbouring WI who is to represent us this year as our delegate. Our Vice-Chairman took us through the resolution and we did agree with it in the main, although some members would have preferred it if the one about flood management had been chosen. One of our members brought up an issue about allowances for adopting parents and it was decided to write to our MP as soon as we knew who he/she was to be, to seek for support when the social welfare scheme is next reviewed. As there are only 4000 adoptions in UK per year, it was thought too small a subject to go up as a resolution for next year.
We were disappointed that our nominee for the community award in the town had not won so in true WI fashion we made enquiries about the system of choosing the winner so that we wouldn't risk being unsuccessful another year! Our new venue is proving comfortable and we will probably benefit from its garden space if we stage a barbeque-type meeting in August to replace our missed meeting because of the snow in January.
Disappointingly no one would mastermind the WI tent at the Winslow Show so for the first time for more than 20 years there will be no WI presence on August Bank Holiday Monday. The trouble is that the people who do things are also doing them for other town organisations and we shouldn't grumble at that but wouldn't it be wonderful if someone who had never done anything like that before suddenly volunteered...and pigs might fly!
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Monday, 26 April 2010
April in Paris
21st April
Today the local WI entertained itself with another session of playreading. We read two short plays which were quite enjoyable and not too dated in spite of being sets which were physically pretty old. We are now going to explore the idea of using the Bucks County Library playsets (if they still exist) as it would be expensive to buy sets unless we were seriously thinking of putting on a production.Our WI used to be very strong on drama but besides winning the South East Region WI competition about 10 years ago we have avoided the stage since.Most of that original cast are still members but they are all short of spare time for the commitment to rehearsals and evening presentations.
16th-19th April in Paris
We will all remember the date of the volcanic ash alert because that was the weekend Bucks WI members travelled to Paris by Eurostar to celebrate in style the 90th anniversary of the Bucks Federation of WIs.Thirty of us left St Pancras International on the Friday morning, arrived in Paris at 2.30pm local time and stopped the traffic as we crossed to our coach outside the Gare du Nord. Our guide said it had never been done before but we explained we always did that at the Albert Hall! We enjoyed a three hour tour of the city in gorgeous sunshine with our lovely guide. We checked in to the hotel and then walked to a nearby restaurant for a celebratory dinner. You can imagine the level of noise and chatter in there but we did stop for a few minutes to drink a toast to BFWI.We got lost on the way home ---the wine may have had something to do with that! It certainly seemed farther and we had to ask for directions quite often.
Next morning 14 of us went with Elizabeth, our guide to Versailles. We travelled on the RER public transport system and our fare seemed to get smaller by the minute as Elizabeth did deals with the ticket office. We had great adventures with the closing doors on the train but all arrived safely if slightly bruised at the palace. And the sunshine was wonderful, lighting up all the gold on the gates and in the rooms inside. After a lunch sitting outside on the pavement of a good restaurant, we explored the palace gardens and wandered about in the sunshine. Our guide took some members back to the hotel while two of us attempted to go up the Eifel Tower. Actually we just looked at the queue and found out it would be a 2 hour wait for a lift, so decided to find another cafe outside in the sun instead.
While we were away the others had explored museums, art galleries and visited the Galeries Lafayette for le shopping.
Next day sun still shining, 20 of us boarded a bateau mouche and glided down the Seine listening to a commentary in 7 different languages. After that everyone went off in different directions to view the Louvre collection, the gardens or the Impressionist paintings at the Musee d'Orsay.
The travellers tended to gather together in the hotel garden in the evening to plan further forays or to talk over what they had done. People were sitting out until 10pm like starlings gathering before bedtime.Other guests were stranded trying to get coaches and trains home. One party from Finland left to endure a 30 hour coach journey; we never found out how some girls from the Balkans were going to make it.
Next day we had until 3.30pm before joining the coach to return to the station which was packed with people trying to board trains as their flights had been cancelled.People were queuing to get in to the station never mind get a ticket. Thank Goodness BFWI didn't decide to go by air! A young Irish couple helped us with our luggage on and off the train and several of the party thought they were Eurostar staff.I overheard one of the party doing a grand job promoting the WI. What an easy way it is to travel to Europe by Eurostar! I don't think I shall fly again.We arrived home tired but happy to find our local coach waiting to deliver us across the county.
From messages received on our return everyone seems well content with her short break: the hotel was good and the travel firm that took us had thought of everything to ensure that we enjoyed ourselves---even the weather.
Today the local WI entertained itself with another session of playreading. We read two short plays which were quite enjoyable and not too dated in spite of being sets which were physically pretty old. We are now going to explore the idea of using the Bucks County Library playsets (if they still exist) as it would be expensive to buy sets unless we were seriously thinking of putting on a production.Our WI used to be very strong on drama but besides winning the South East Region WI competition about 10 years ago we have avoided the stage since.Most of that original cast are still members but they are all short of spare time for the commitment to rehearsals and evening presentations.
16th-19th April in Paris
We will all remember the date of the volcanic ash alert because that was the weekend Bucks WI members travelled to Paris by Eurostar to celebrate in style the 90th anniversary of the Bucks Federation of WIs.Thirty of us left St Pancras International on the Friday morning, arrived in Paris at 2.30pm local time and stopped the traffic as we crossed to our coach outside the Gare du Nord. Our guide said it had never been done before but we explained we always did that at the Albert Hall! We enjoyed a three hour tour of the city in gorgeous sunshine with our lovely guide. We checked in to the hotel and then walked to a nearby restaurant for a celebratory dinner. You can imagine the level of noise and chatter in there but we did stop for a few minutes to drink a toast to BFWI.We got lost on the way home ---the wine may have had something to do with that! It certainly seemed farther and we had to ask for directions quite often.
Next morning 14 of us went with Elizabeth, our guide to Versailles. We travelled on the RER public transport system and our fare seemed to get smaller by the minute as Elizabeth did deals with the ticket office. We had great adventures with the closing doors on the train but all arrived safely if slightly bruised at the palace. And the sunshine was wonderful, lighting up all the gold on the gates and in the rooms inside. After a lunch sitting outside on the pavement of a good restaurant, we explored the palace gardens and wandered about in the sunshine. Our guide took some members back to the hotel while two of us attempted to go up the Eifel Tower. Actually we just looked at the queue and found out it would be a 2 hour wait for a lift, so decided to find another cafe outside in the sun instead.
While we were away the others had explored museums, art galleries and visited the Galeries Lafayette for le shopping.
Next day sun still shining, 20 of us boarded a bateau mouche and glided down the Seine listening to a commentary in 7 different languages. After that everyone went off in different directions to view the Louvre collection, the gardens or the Impressionist paintings at the Musee d'Orsay.
The travellers tended to gather together in the hotel garden in the evening to plan further forays or to talk over what they had done. People were sitting out until 10pm like starlings gathering before bedtime.Other guests were stranded trying to get coaches and trains home. One party from Finland left to endure a 30 hour coach journey; we never found out how some girls from the Balkans were going to make it.
Next day we had until 3.30pm before joining the coach to return to the station which was packed with people trying to board trains as their flights had been cancelled.People were queuing to get in to the station never mind get a ticket. Thank Goodness BFWI didn't decide to go by air! A young Irish couple helped us with our luggage on and off the train and several of the party thought they were Eurostar staff.I overheard one of the party doing a grand job promoting the WI. What an easy way it is to travel to Europe by Eurostar! I don't think I shall fly again.We arrived home tired but happy to find our local coach waiting to deliver us across the county.
From messages received on our return everyone seems well content with her short break: the hotel was good and the travel firm that took us had thought of everything to ensure that we enjoyed ourselves---even the weather.
Saturday, 3 April 2010
31st March
A busy WI day today because the 90th Anniversary of Bucks WI Federation Celebration Lunch took place in Newton Longville. The hall was full to capacity and everyone had been allocated to a table so that there was no scramble for places. The meal was excellent, good portions and well cooked and leisurely.After the official toast there was continual chatter and the projector was showing the celebratory samplers which the WIs had submitted last year. It was a good occasion to show them off. After lunch Lyndsey Haubner talked about her experiences as an extra for films and TV which was an interesting insight into behind the scenes life in the theatrical world.
In the evening it was down town to watch Winslow WI's Fashion Parade. Again the hall was full to overflowing and the set-up was highly professional with a catwalk, musical accompaniment and a spotlight. The models were from our own WI plus a couple of young daughters drafted in and I don't think they will mind me saying that they were of all shapes and sizes and ages, real life people not these twiglike creatures seen parading in the fashion houses.There were stalls around the hall and the wine flowed. The clothes were from GreenHouse and they looked good and felt good too as several of the models bought outfits but left some for the rest of us! The commentary was excellent and the models really entered into the swing of the thing. It was good fun and attracted a lot of non-members from the town which is what we aim to do when holding a fund-raising event. I am told that the rehearsal in the afternoon was dire which just goes to show the truth of the saying that that presages a successful event.It was a resounding success and I think Winslow WI should be proud of itself.
30th March
The Book Group met this afternoon. We were slightly reduced in numbers because of illness but a good turn out really.The novel under discussion was "The Alchemist's Daughter" by Katherine MacMahon which was considered better than "The Rose of Sebastopol" which we had read the month before. People preferred the more definite ending to this book and enjoyed the historical setting. We talked about the theme of nature v. nurture and whether one could possibly in these times bring up a child in such isolation from the outside world even if one went along with home education. Also we wondered whether the heroine, when she showed the baby round her laboratory, was going to repeat her father's experiment with her education with the new child or whether the "we" has meaning herself and the local priest. So maybe the ending wasn't as straightforward as we at first believed. We learned quite a bit of physics too with this book! We are going to give this author a rest for a while and our next book is Alice Munro's "View from Castle Rock" and probably "Once a Landgirl" by Angela Huth.
A busy WI day today because the 90th Anniversary of Bucks WI Federation Celebration Lunch took place in Newton Longville. The hall was full to capacity and everyone had been allocated to a table so that there was no scramble for places. The meal was excellent, good portions and well cooked and leisurely.After the official toast there was continual chatter and the projector was showing the celebratory samplers which the WIs had submitted last year. It was a good occasion to show them off. After lunch Lyndsey Haubner talked about her experiences as an extra for films and TV which was an interesting insight into behind the scenes life in the theatrical world.
In the evening it was down town to watch Winslow WI's Fashion Parade. Again the hall was full to overflowing and the set-up was highly professional with a catwalk, musical accompaniment and a spotlight. The models were from our own WI plus a couple of young daughters drafted in and I don't think they will mind me saying that they were of all shapes and sizes and ages, real life people not these twiglike creatures seen parading in the fashion houses.There were stalls around the hall and the wine flowed. The clothes were from GreenHouse and they looked good and felt good too as several of the models bought outfits but left some for the rest of us! The commentary was excellent and the models really entered into the swing of the thing. It was good fun and attracted a lot of non-members from the town which is what we aim to do when holding a fund-raising event. I am told that the rehearsal in the afternoon was dire which just goes to show the truth of the saying that that presages a successful event.It was a resounding success and I think Winslow WI should be proud of itself.
30th March
The Book Group met this afternoon. We were slightly reduced in numbers because of illness but a good turn out really.The novel under discussion was "The Alchemist's Daughter" by Katherine MacMahon which was considered better than "The Rose of Sebastopol" which we had read the month before. People preferred the more definite ending to this book and enjoyed the historical setting. We talked about the theme of nature v. nurture and whether one could possibly in these times bring up a child in such isolation from the outside world even if one went along with home education. Also we wondered whether the heroine, when she showed the baby round her laboratory, was going to repeat her father's experiment with her education with the new child or whether the "we" has meaning herself and the local priest. So maybe the ending wasn't as straightforward as we at first believed. We learned quite a bit of physics too with this book! We are going to give this author a rest for a while and our next book is Alice Munro's "View from Castle Rock" and probably "Once a Landgirl" by Angela Huth.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
willing bodies
26 March
Two of us did our bit this afternoon serving teas etc to the blood donors. This is a pleasant chore which the local WI undertakes for the NHS van whenever it visits the town. The nurses reckon it is a great help and the donors certainly appreciate a cuppa while their bodies adjust to losing an armful of blood, as Tony Hancock would have said.Actually this is a promotional opportunity as quite a lot of chat goes on about who one is and why one is serving tea so what with the Calendar Girls in the current thinking, people were interested in the WI. I must admit that quite a few male donors were wondering whether their wives and partners ought to join. We may have got one new member this way . I'll keep you informed.
25 March
The northern round of the Intercounty Quiz was held tonight in Buckingham. This is an annual event when the brains of the WI members in Bucks, Herts and Bedfordshire are pitted against each other. Heats are held within the counties so that 6 teams may be selected to compete in the final in June. So not only do we have intense rivalry between the county federations but also between the north and south of each county too.Apparently our winning teams achieved lower marks than the winning teams down south which is a bit galling! I hope the southerners contested the loom answer too and as for Kingston -upon-Hull, I'm speechless! Only joking! It was a pleasant evening as usual and very well organised too.
23 March
Tonight we went to see the "Calendar Girls" at Milton Keynes Theatre. What a marvellous show it is! Usually when we go to the theatre, I meet at least one WI member from around the north of the county but last night surrounded by WI members from all over the place, I saw no one I knew.The theatre was packed and the humour of WI activities was much appreciated. The producer has been so clever at managing the nude scenes that no passing Lord Chamberlain could have raised a legal case, only an eyebrow perhaps! The WI organisation must be forever grateful to the real calendar girls for what they achieved for the WI image as well as for leukaemia research-- and the sofa, of course.
22 March
The Group Meeting this evening was very enjoyable. The speaker was Gill Fraser an exTV presenter on Heart of the Country who had worked with John Craven who has also come to talk in Bucks some time ago.Gill was entertaining as she described the hazards of moving into a former vicarage. The locals still associated the house with the responsibilities of the parish church so that her family became saddled with the annual church fete ,carol singers and the Sunday School productions. Several people bought copies of the book recording these events called "More tea less Vicar".The hostess WI then thought to address the problem of members insisting on sitting with members from their own WIs at group meetings by playing a game which muddled up everyone and forced them to talk outside their immediate circle. IT WORKED! And of course everyone said how nice it was to chat to someone different...so why didn't they do it before? We see many members from neighbouring WIs in the local butchers and shopping in the High Street so they are not so strange.
Two of us did our bit this afternoon serving teas etc to the blood donors. This is a pleasant chore which the local WI undertakes for the NHS van whenever it visits the town. The nurses reckon it is a great help and the donors certainly appreciate a cuppa while their bodies adjust to losing an armful of blood, as Tony Hancock would have said.Actually this is a promotional opportunity as quite a lot of chat goes on about who one is and why one is serving tea so what with the Calendar Girls in the current thinking, people were interested in the WI. I must admit that quite a few male donors were wondering whether their wives and partners ought to join. We may have got one new member this way . I'll keep you informed.
25 March
The northern round of the Intercounty Quiz was held tonight in Buckingham. This is an annual event when the brains of the WI members in Bucks, Herts and Bedfordshire are pitted against each other. Heats are held within the counties so that 6 teams may be selected to compete in the final in June. So not only do we have intense rivalry between the county federations but also between the north and south of each county too.Apparently our winning teams achieved lower marks than the winning teams down south which is a bit galling! I hope the southerners contested the loom answer too and as for Kingston -upon-Hull, I'm speechless! Only joking! It was a pleasant evening as usual and very well organised too.
23 March
Tonight we went to see the "Calendar Girls" at Milton Keynes Theatre. What a marvellous show it is! Usually when we go to the theatre, I meet at least one WI member from around the north of the county but last night surrounded by WI members from all over the place, I saw no one I knew.The theatre was packed and the humour of WI activities was much appreciated. The producer has been so clever at managing the nude scenes that no passing Lord Chamberlain could have raised a legal case, only an eyebrow perhaps! The WI organisation must be forever grateful to the real calendar girls for what they achieved for the WI image as well as for leukaemia research-- and the sofa, of course.
22 March
The Group Meeting this evening was very enjoyable. The speaker was Gill Fraser an exTV presenter on Heart of the Country who had worked with John Craven who has also come to talk in Bucks some time ago.Gill was entertaining as she described the hazards of moving into a former vicarage. The locals still associated the house with the responsibilities of the parish church so that her family became saddled with the annual church fete ,carol singers and the Sunday School productions. Several people bought copies of the book recording these events called "More tea less Vicar".The hostess WI then thought to address the problem of members insisting on sitting with members from their own WIs at group meetings by playing a game which muddled up everyone and forced them to talk outside their immediate circle. IT WORKED! And of course everyone said how nice it was to chat to someone different...so why didn't they do it before? We see many members from neighbouring WIs in the local butchers and shopping in the High Street so they are not so strange.
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Talk of trees and bridges
14 and 15 March
With another BFWI member, I attended the Rainforest Conference run by Taylors of Harrogate (Yorkshire Tea) at Denman College. There were WI members from all over the country in spite of the fact that it was Mothers' Day.Ruth Bond our National Chair was there and three others from the WI National Executive.Jonathan Wild, who you remember spoke so well at the AGM in the Albert Hall, had organised the event.Speakers included Tony Juniper , Special Envoy for HRH The Prince of Wales from the Prince's Rainforest Project and Simon Counsell Director of Rainforest Foundation UK who all gave excellent presentations on work being done across the world. Erika Bjureby also from the Rainforest Foundation described her experiences in Peru but as far as I was concerned the most inspirational speaker was Cristina Talens, the Ethical Trading Manager at Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate who talked about her trip to the Selva Central region of Peru's Amazon rainforest. Cristina without the aid of graphs and charts brought home to us the problems of the farmers in the forest and how the women are protecting their rights to land and their means of survival against the advances of big business, such as the timber and oil companies.
Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch and it is obvious that Taylors want those who attended to cascade information down to the WI County Federations.After all we have passed mandates on these issues. WIs help by collecting the tokens off the tea and coffee packets in response to which the firm has planted over three million trees but more importantly it has been able to employ people like Cristina to go out and give practical help to the women.And it is mostly women as there are very few men over 40 or anyone for that matter left after liquidations by the Shining Path.She gives them advice on how to prevent the people being exploited in world markets.It was really impressive to listen to these slips of girls talking about living in Peru a year at a time and learning to eat grubs for the best of possible reasons ---not to glorify themselves for some television camera crew.
I hope BFWI will be able to hold some event to highlight these issues either under the umbrella of ACWW or at an International Day or perhaps at Group level.
11 March
Most of our time at the Education and Current Affairs meeting today was spent in organising our Tudor Day but we have also written a letter on your behalf to enquire into provision of services, especially in rural areas of Bucks, for women caught up in domestic violence and abuse. We then experimented with a conversation kit issued by NEF on the pros and cons of electronic patient records.This was an enjoyable exercise which stimulated debate and we think that discussion groups would like to use this kit.If there is anyone reading this who is still part of a discussion group, please make yourself known to Sara at BFWI's Stuart Lodge.
8 March
Well, the Join me on the Bridge campaign for International Women's Day got some good publicity although I don't know of anyone from Bucks who went down to the Millennium Bridge. We could have used Marlow Bridge, I suppose or one over a motorway. The most media interest seemed to come from the Humber Bridge where I am not sure what happened between the WI and the Hull Football Club but it did result in the WI being mentioned on Match of the Day which must be a first!.
With another BFWI member, I attended the Rainforest Conference run by Taylors of Harrogate (Yorkshire Tea) at Denman College. There were WI members from all over the country in spite of the fact that it was Mothers' Day.Ruth Bond our National Chair was there and three others from the WI National Executive.Jonathan Wild, who you remember spoke so well at the AGM in the Albert Hall, had organised the event.Speakers included Tony Juniper , Special Envoy for HRH The Prince of Wales from the Prince's Rainforest Project and Simon Counsell Director of Rainforest Foundation UK who all gave excellent presentations on work being done across the world. Erika Bjureby also from the Rainforest Foundation described her experiences in Peru but as far as I was concerned the most inspirational speaker was Cristina Talens, the Ethical Trading Manager at Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate who talked about her trip to the Selva Central region of Peru's Amazon rainforest. Cristina without the aid of graphs and charts brought home to us the problems of the farmers in the forest and how the women are protecting their rights to land and their means of survival against the advances of big business, such as the timber and oil companies.
Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch and it is obvious that Taylors want those who attended to cascade information down to the WI County Federations.After all we have passed mandates on these issues. WIs help by collecting the tokens off the tea and coffee packets in response to which the firm has planted over three million trees but more importantly it has been able to employ people like Cristina to go out and give practical help to the women.And it is mostly women as there are very few men over 40 or anyone for that matter left after liquidations by the Shining Path.She gives them advice on how to prevent the people being exploited in world markets.It was really impressive to listen to these slips of girls talking about living in Peru a year at a time and learning to eat grubs for the best of possible reasons ---not to glorify themselves for some television camera crew.
I hope BFWI will be able to hold some event to highlight these issues either under the umbrella of ACWW or at an International Day or perhaps at Group level.
11 March
Most of our time at the Education and Current Affairs meeting today was spent in organising our Tudor Day but we have also written a letter on your behalf to enquire into provision of services, especially in rural areas of Bucks, for women caught up in domestic violence and abuse. We then experimented with a conversation kit issued by NEF on the pros and cons of electronic patient records.This was an enjoyable exercise which stimulated debate and we think that discussion groups would like to use this kit.If there is anyone reading this who is still part of a discussion group, please make yourself known to Sara at BFWI's Stuart Lodge.
8 March
Well, the Join me on the Bridge campaign for International Women's Day got some good publicity although I don't know of anyone from Bucks who went down to the Millennium Bridge. We could have used Marlow Bridge, I suppose or one over a motorway. The most media interest seemed to come from the Humber Bridge where I am not sure what happened between the WI and the Hull Football Club but it did result in the WI being mentioned on Match of the Day which must be a first!.
Friday, 5 March 2010
Plus and minus
4th March
Now that's what I like to see! "Supermarkets will cut down on packaging after WI campaign" headline in today's Daily Telegraph. Apparently the supermarkets will cut down on needless packaging such as individual wrapping for vegetables and cardboard trays for fruit after a campaign led by the Women's Institute.They are also going to help consumers to waste less food by selling smaller loaves of bread and providing recipes for leftovers. Shops will offer more recycling facilities for plastic bags and other packaging. I know it has taken a while from the start of our campaign but it has been a success and just proves that we can make the difference which all the political jargon urges us to do.
3rd March
The local WI enjoyed a very lively talk about superstitions and it showed how many of us profess not to be superstitious but don't take any chances, either just in case...Our next meeting is going to be an open one because it is on a subject that will appeal to family members too. We spent a lot of time planning the coming fashion show and the Group Meeting which sounds fascinating because its title is More Tea, Less Vicar---should be fun.
The vexed topic of ballots for WI events which are over-subscribed came up again. The system of decision dates was explained because the county federation cannot work on a first come, first served basis. Places have to be allocated in ratio not only of applications per WI but also on how they have been allocated for recent events. For this reason an account is maintained of the allocations made and this is referred to each time and taken into consideration. Unfortunately, like criticism, it is the disappointment that is remembered more than the success so that people feel done wrong by, whenever they miss out. No one realises the heartache of having to turn members away even though it tells the organising committee that it is planning things that the members want to attend.
1st March
A nice bright new federation newsletter arrived today. I took it away with me and compared it to the one from Avon Federation which was very like our old Green Letter but blue. The members from Avon thought ours very swish so take heart those on the editorial team when people criticise the change.
I told you the weather and the cancellation of the Resolution Selection Meetings would have a detrimental effect on the voting for the resolutions. We should be ashamed of ourselves at how few members put in a vote---just about a quarter of the Bucks membership. If in the general election this apathy is shown among the female votes we deserve to be tied to railings and have tomatoes thrown at us instead of forced feeding!
23rd February
Local meeting of the WI Book Group. The distribution of "set books" had been a bit chaotic so we finished up discussing "The Rose of Sebastopol" again and indulging in a book swap. We have now submitted a new list to the library and begun investigating prices of some recent titles to buy multiple copies.We all enjoy these meetings because we throw in travel reports of members' holidays as well but I will not embarrass anyone by mentioning some of those! Next time we should have read another Katherine MacMahon, "The Alchemist's Daughter".
A group of us had a little meeting to try to organise a better website entry for our local WI with a tie-in to the Town Council website as well as BFWI's new website. This was very interesting as we could gather round a couple of laptops and see what we were talking about. We need the Town Council mention for promotion so that needs to be aimed at the newcomer to the town but we also want to show off to other WIs in the County and advertise ourselves on the county federation for casual enquirers. Different horses for different courses. Luckily we have some IT whizzkids as members so I am sure something wonderful will emerge in the fullness of time.
Now that's what I like to see! "Supermarkets will cut down on packaging after WI campaign" headline in today's Daily Telegraph. Apparently the supermarkets will cut down on needless packaging such as individual wrapping for vegetables and cardboard trays for fruit after a campaign led by the Women's Institute.They are also going to help consumers to waste less food by selling smaller loaves of bread and providing recipes for leftovers. Shops will offer more recycling facilities for plastic bags and other packaging. I know it has taken a while from the start of our campaign but it has been a success and just proves that we can make the difference which all the political jargon urges us to do.
3rd March
The local WI enjoyed a very lively talk about superstitions and it showed how many of us profess not to be superstitious but don't take any chances, either just in case...Our next meeting is going to be an open one because it is on a subject that will appeal to family members too. We spent a lot of time planning the coming fashion show and the Group Meeting which sounds fascinating because its title is More Tea, Less Vicar---should be fun.
The vexed topic of ballots for WI events which are over-subscribed came up again. The system of decision dates was explained because the county federation cannot work on a first come, first served basis. Places have to be allocated in ratio not only of applications per WI but also on how they have been allocated for recent events. For this reason an account is maintained of the allocations made and this is referred to each time and taken into consideration. Unfortunately, like criticism, it is the disappointment that is remembered more than the success so that people feel done wrong by, whenever they miss out. No one realises the heartache of having to turn members away even though it tells the organising committee that it is planning things that the members want to attend.
1st March
A nice bright new federation newsletter arrived today. I took it away with me and compared it to the one from Avon Federation which was very like our old Green Letter but blue. The members from Avon thought ours very swish so take heart those on the editorial team when people criticise the change.
I told you the weather and the cancellation of the Resolution Selection Meetings would have a detrimental effect on the voting for the resolutions. We should be ashamed of ourselves at how few members put in a vote---just about a quarter of the Bucks membership. If in the general election this apathy is shown among the female votes we deserve to be tied to railings and have tomatoes thrown at us instead of forced feeding!
23rd February
Local meeting of the WI Book Group. The distribution of "set books" had been a bit chaotic so we finished up discussing "The Rose of Sebastopol" again and indulging in a book swap. We have now submitted a new list to the library and begun investigating prices of some recent titles to buy multiple copies.We all enjoy these meetings because we throw in travel reports of members' holidays as well but I will not embarrass anyone by mentioning some of those! Next time we should have read another Katherine MacMahon, "The Alchemist's Daughter".
A group of us had a little meeting to try to organise a better website entry for our local WI with a tie-in to the Town Council website as well as BFWI's new website. This was very interesting as we could gather round a couple of laptops and see what we were talking about. We need the Town Council mention for promotion so that needs to be aimed at the newcomer to the town but we also want to show off to other WIs in the County and advertise ourselves on the county federation for casual enquirers. Different horses for different courses. Luckily we have some IT whizzkids as members so I am sure something wonderful will emerge in the fullness of time.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Positive thinking
3rd February
The local WI met for the first time at its new venue, welcomed a new President and two new members joined.I think everyone was glad to be back together after the cancellation of the January meeting because of snow.The new premises met with general approval but we have agreed to re-orientate ourselves in the room when we have a normal meeting because we got a little cold spread out in a huge circle so that all were on the outer colder areas of the space.This arrangement was requested by our speaker who demonstrated "Singing for All" and she got us all singing almost immediately.It was a fantastic evening and as one new member said "If someone this afternoon had told me I would be singing Oompah rounds that evening with a bunch of strangers I would not have believed them---in fact I would not have gone along at all!" BUT she joined, phoned to say what fun it had been and could she help at the next event.I think a lot of us suffered the same misgivings but ended up feeling really enthusiastic and cast away the winter blues.
The downside of the meeting was that it was reported that only a small percentage of our members had voted on the resolution selection which is very disappointing and I should imagine has been mirrored across the federations. Partly this has happened because of cancelled WI meetings and the selection meetings during the snowfalls but some of it is because of the apathy which some feel about the WI outside their own village hall.
At Christmastime the local paper ran a feature on the WI after one of the editorial team had visited a WI in Towcester. She wrote of failing numbers and the fact that the movement needed younger members (the usual cry but quite sympathetically written) and she headed the article with a picture of Winslow WI's Big Tidy Up.As a result of this Winslow WI President has written to invite the reporter to the Fashion Show which it is holding at the end of March. The President has also invited her to be a model! This week in the Advertiser there has appeared a letter of mild protest from Towcester saying that it had gained members just as the WI nationally was gaining members and telling everyone about the new "young" WIs springing up around the country.Then at the weekend one of the colour supplements featured the group formed at Shoreditch in London and there was an article about the possible collaboration of the NFWI with Mumsnet over shared concerns and interests such as the non-violence against women campaign.I am sure the readers (Does one call them readers?) of Mumsnet will be tempted to investigate our WI website and the WI could well gain younger members through this idea.
There was also in the local paper a very full report done by three WI members on a new bus route in the Stony Stratford area. They had experimented by using the service at different times of day to see whether it was a successful solution to the transport problems in that region. The inauguration was a response to the WI's action in reporting on rural isolation issues. Positive thinking and a practical approach which gets results so the WI can make a difference and act outside the village hall!
The local WI met for the first time at its new venue, welcomed a new President and two new members joined.I think everyone was glad to be back together after the cancellation of the January meeting because of snow.The new premises met with general approval but we have agreed to re-orientate ourselves in the room when we have a normal meeting because we got a little cold spread out in a huge circle so that all were on the outer colder areas of the space.This arrangement was requested by our speaker who demonstrated "Singing for All" and she got us all singing almost immediately.It was a fantastic evening and as one new member said "If someone this afternoon had told me I would be singing Oompah rounds that evening with a bunch of strangers I would not have believed them---in fact I would not have gone along at all!" BUT she joined, phoned to say what fun it had been and could she help at the next event.I think a lot of us suffered the same misgivings but ended up feeling really enthusiastic and cast away the winter blues.
The downside of the meeting was that it was reported that only a small percentage of our members had voted on the resolution selection which is very disappointing and I should imagine has been mirrored across the federations. Partly this has happened because of cancelled WI meetings and the selection meetings during the snowfalls but some of it is because of the apathy which some feel about the WI outside their own village hall.
At Christmastime the local paper ran a feature on the WI after one of the editorial team had visited a WI in Towcester. She wrote of failing numbers and the fact that the movement needed younger members (the usual cry but quite sympathetically written) and she headed the article with a picture of Winslow WI's Big Tidy Up.As a result of this Winslow WI President has written to invite the reporter to the Fashion Show which it is holding at the end of March. The President has also invited her to be a model! This week in the Advertiser there has appeared a letter of mild protest from Towcester saying that it had gained members just as the WI nationally was gaining members and telling everyone about the new "young" WIs springing up around the country.Then at the weekend one of the colour supplements featured the group formed at Shoreditch in London and there was an article about the possible collaboration of the NFWI with Mumsnet over shared concerns and interests such as the non-violence against women campaign.I am sure the readers (Does one call them readers?) of Mumsnet will be tempted to investigate our WI website and the WI could well gain younger members through this idea.
There was also in the local paper a very full report done by three WI members on a new bus route in the Stony Stratford area. They had experimented by using the service at different times of day to see whether it was a successful solution to the transport problems in that region. The inauguration was a response to the WI's action in reporting on rural isolation issues. Positive thinking and a practical approach which gets results so the WI can make a difference and act outside the village hall!
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