Somerset County Federation of W.I. - Annual Meeting in Yeovil

Saturday 29th October saw Yvonne, Barbara and me in Yeovil for the Somerset County Federation Annual Meeting. It was an excellent day! Lots of stalls to browse, plenty of information to glean and I don't know how many WI members! We applauded and marvelled at the anniversaries to be celebrated next year by various Somerset WIs: from 60 years right up to 95 years! One of the ladies who went up to receive the certificate had joined when she was 14!

We heard about the work of our Somerset committees, including a very moving poem read out by Eileen Hurd (Public Affairs and International committee) about the lady who has to collect water every day for her family. The new project for ACWW being 'Water for All'. The focus for next year, in addition to the farming debate, is how to secure safety for children using the internet.

There will be plenty of craft workshops organised by Shelia Budd and her committee including felt making and sugarcraft as well as some more 'dabble days' which have been very popular. There will also be a national competition to create a WI heirloom.

Marie Masters from the Music and Drama committee encouraged us all to take part in the singing for fun day which will be for any ability and any age on 28th April at Chilthorne Domer. It will really be lots of fun!

How does the WI inspire women? Well, we listened to the cover model from a recent WI Life magazine - the woman who had attended a hat making session at her local WI, only to discover a talent and a passion for hat making, which otherwise would have remained hidden. She now works one day a week in London for a famous milliner and has begun her own very promising business.

Our guest speaker, Sarah Raven was fascinating! Her description of a career change from medicine to growing flowers commercially was inspiring! Anything is possible! She went on to show us beautiful slides of the favourite flowers she grows and then finished by demonstrating how to use a sieve, some fillers, a bride and some gatecrashers to create a gorgeous flower arrangement! Intruiging! It all looked so easy!  

Maggie Symonds, a former Somerset WI member who now lives in Wiltshire and is a member of the National Federation of WIs told us about some of the things in store for us: there are action packs for crafts we can hire (incidentally, I looked on the WI website to see that we could hire one on how to make paper beads.... and then when we visited Radstock museum last night I noticed a womens magazine from 1923 with an article on how to make paper beads!). There will be grants available for new gardening projects, training for 'Let's Cook' tutors, a 'Sing for Joy' initiative and a "Big Walk, Little Splash" which will take place from 1st April - 16th September and we will be required to cover 209 miles. (that figure was significant, 'though I'm afraid I can't remember quite why!) 

Margaret Bigg, from the membership Support committee, explained the plans to amalgamate the AGM and the Resolutions meetings into the May meeting for all Somerset WIs, with effect from May 2013 This means that whoever is elected on the committee in November 2012 will serve only until May 2013! 

It was most enjoyable, and in very pleasant company!

P.S. Wednesday, I read in a magazine, the following paragraph:

Singing brings a whole host of health and emotional benefits. Even in 10 minutes filling your lungs and singing along to a few Christmas songs in the car on the way to work can put you in a good mood for the day. Singing not only raises self-confidence, experts also believe it can boost the immune system by lowering stress levels, and all that deep breathing helps us take in more oxygen, which releases muscle tension. That has got to be a good thing....

WI leading the field again, then!