Record of our May meeting

Leigh on Mendip WI meeting:   Monday 13 May 2013      7.30 pm in the Memorial Hall

Welcome & apologies:  Sparks welcomed everyone.  Apologies received from Mary, Jan, Shelagh, Annie, Sandra. 

Minutes & matters arising: The minutes were signed as a true record.  The new banner was on display and unused material on the table for return.  The Women Walk the World walk had raised £22.50 for ACWW, thanks to cake makers, refreshment servers and walkers.  The May lunch had unfortunately been missed.

County News: Sparks mentioned Leigh on Mendip WI’s walk on page 3, a visit to Hinkley Point and the speakers’ preview.  A new yellow folder will be on a table at the back at each meeting for members to add their names for outings and events.

Forthcoming Events:  

§  Friday 7 June at the Garden Café in Mells, if fine.

§  Saturday 15 June Country Fair.  Val requested cakes, scones, biscuits, bread, pies, crumbles, preserves, herbs etc.  The cotton bags will be on sale at £3 each.

§  Monday 1 July outing to Milton Lodge garden, payment required tonight as for a minimum of 12 people.

§  Open meeting on 9 September – invitations at the Country Fair as well as to friends and neighbours.

§  Monday 16 September programme planning meeting, members asked to gather ideas.

 

Correspondence: Members were advised of the elections to SCFWI Board of Trustees, a short mat bowls competition and the NFWI cake for the 21^st century competition.

Birthdays:   Margaret 1, Hazel 9, Caroline 24 May, Mary and Jane 1, Liz 2 June.

Next meeting: Mercy Ships and a Bring & Buy stall for the charity, members reminded to bring items for the stall and money to make purchases.  VOT: Jeni  

AGM: In line with the NFWI guidance to have a financial period of longer than a year to allow for the AGM to change from November (up to 2012) to May (from 2013), the committee’s annual report and the president’s address would be deferred to the next AGM.

Committee: Kathy was thanked very much for doing a sterling job as Treasurer for a number of years and presented with a lavender plant.

Three members agreed to join the committee: Sue R, Margaret and Jean.

Written Nominations for President: Barbara handed out nomination papers for president. There was one nomination, Sparks.  Sparks agreed to stand for another year and received a round of applause.

Resolution: “Decline of our high streets and town centres”: Sue V spoke eloquently against the resolution explaining her reasons well; particularly that she did not want to change her own shopping habits in support of high streets, and asking if other members did.  A lively discussion ensued and the main response was that the wording of the resolution made making a decision difficult. 

Votes for the resolution: 7 Against: 8 Abstentions: 2.

Jean Colgrave from the Warminster and District Food Bank gave a fascinating talk on the background to the Food Bank and explained how people can receive help. We saw a sample box which would feed a family for three days and members again donated many items.

Buckland Dinham's Birthday Party

Four of us have just returned form a lovely afternoon celebrating the 95th birthday of Buckland Dinham WI. Our County Chair, Margaret Biggs, came too ( all the way from the Minehead area!). We had excellent conversation, lovely tempting sandwiches and cakes, all finished off with a glass of bubbly and some delicious birthday cake.
Apparently there is only one other Somerset WI of the same age! Congratulations, Buckland Dinham!

The Great Gatsby....

....is now showing in Wells! Marguerite and I have booked tickets for Thursday 23 May, leaving here at 2 o'clock.
Would you like to come with us? There are 2 (or 3, snug!) places in my car! Just ring Wells Film Centre on 01749 673195 to book your ticket and let me know you would like a lift!

This looks like a lot of fun!

Our AGM and Resolutions

The AGM ran very smoothly, thanks to Barbara's organisation and our three lovely volunteers to join the committee! We can look forward to a great year! Thank you all for your support in electing me as President for another term!

Discussing and making a decision on the resolution for the National  WI AGM was very difficult because of the wording of the resolution itself. As someone pointed out, this seems to be rather a pattern as we have had similar challenges in previous years. Perhaps we should come up with our own resolution - then, probably, we will understand the difficulties! Yes, the high street is changing and none of us would like to see it disappear, but we also agreed that we wouldn't really be prepared to change our shopping habits to any great extent. A difficult decision, and it will be very interesting to have feedback from those attending the NFWI AGM where we will be able to hear comments from  professionals.

Jean Colgrave from the Warminster and District Food Bank gave us a very good insight into what goes on and how it works. She brought a sample box which would feed a family for three days. It was fascinating; they are very keen to start some cooking sessions for their clients which would fit very well with our Let's Cook Local course. It makes more sense for them to connect with the Wiltshire Federation, so I think we will contact the Frome distributors to see whether we can run some sessions in Frome.  Members had really come up trumps because there was a table full of donations for Jean to take away. Thank you, again, to June B whose energy and enthusiasm has got us all involved.

And finally, thank you very much to the committee for providing some rather scrumptious refreshments!