NFWI AGM in Cardiff 1 June

Six of us from Leigh on Mendip WI were lucky to get tickets for the National WI AGM (and EGM!) in Cardiff yesterday, and we had a great time! It certainly was a bonus to have the event held so close to us! We joined with about 4,000 others to participate in the rather lengthy Extraordinary General Meeting, where debate and voting took place on the amendments to the WI constitutions at national, federation and institute levels. You may recall our November meeting, 2012, when I announced that I had read the documents and noted that the only significant change for us was that use of electronic methods for communication and decision making are permitted and acceptable provided that every member agrees. We asked if you all agreed, and the members present at that meeting did! So, we'll carry on with the emailing and blogging! That section of the day was a little tedious! However, the legalities and the opportunities for members to put their point of view all had to take place.
The other change mentioned for National level was concerning the voting on resolutions at the AGM, which (if I have this right...) would mean that delegates will continue to participate in the debate on the day but the voting will take place later once they have had a chance to report back to their Institutes. That will be so much more relevant as each institute will be able to make a decision based on the full information and a better understanding of what is actually meant by the resolution.

The speakers were cleverly spaced throughout the day, and, in my opinion, were increasingly interesting! The head of the Charity Commission headed the list and gave a detailed talk about his work - I wondered if he might have looked at our history of responding to speakers we don't like, as he was excessively complimentary to the WI! Next came Griff Rhys-Jones, who spoke passionately about his work as President of Civic Voice which campaigns for the protection of ' our green and pleasant land'.
Our final speaker, John Humphreys, gave us a fascinating insight into his life as a journalist using a very clever device to engage with us all. Early in the day it was announced that he wanted questions to answer during his talk - so Ruth Bond had a pile of questions, some pretty feisty, too, for him. So, he told us about interviewing Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher (and how she made mincemeat
of him!), meeting the Queen and asking if he could interview her - to which she said 'No!', as well as numerous humorous incidents.

The debate on the High Street resolution was fascinating - almost every speaker from the floor echoed the debate we had held at our meeting! Parking and business rates being the main culprit. Including several references to the fact that the resolutions over recent years have been worded ambiguously, making it impossible to make a clear decision. People don't want to lose their high streets (with the possible exception of High Wycombe, where members there suggested they would be glad to see it disappear and that a bomb should be dropped on it!) and recognise that people will not alter their shopping habits. It was very interesting to note that the only practical  suggestions about how the decline could be prevented came from the speaker who opposed the resolution! He
suggested that local government agencies and offices could move back into high street premises. No one else had any ideas to put forward at all apart from expecting individual WI members to support local businesses. Several comments were made regarding the rural nature of the majority of Institutes,  and the response from the resolution  proposer, Marylin Haines-Evans, National Chair of the Public
Affairs Committee, was that those of us in villages should support our villages: pubs and shops if we have them.  The voting was overwhelmingly for the resolution: in excess of 5,000 for and 700 against.

Denman College is still in financial difficulties! However, things have begun to improve and they are still very keen to encourage us to use it. In the Denman survey results a number of members suggested making donations to Denman. If anyone would like to do that, their donation will be very gratefully received! Cheques should be sent direct to Denman College.

Arrangements for the centenary AGM in 2015 are that it will take place in the Royal Albert Hall and if there is sufficient interest, the meeting will be streamed live to Federations. This means that members across the country could travel a relatively short distance to a venue chosen by their county federation in order to watch the National AGM together on a big screen. There will also be a range of commemorative items on sale, and from January 2014 a baton will be passed from Federation to
Federation around the country. ( in the style of the Olympic torch - possibly without the white track suits and media circus in tow!)

The 2014 NFWI AGM will be in Leeds on Saturday 7 June.

Up-to-the-minute WI members photographing the fabulous display of quilts!

Here we all are, looking forward to our day!

How to post comments on this blog

Dear Leigh on Mendip WI,

I was just polishing up the blog, and I noticed that not many people were leaving comments. I asked Sparks about it and she said that people weren't too sure how to, so I thought I'd make a simple tutorial to show you how!

1) Here's the blog as it is when it opens. 

2) here's a single post, and here's the link that currently says ' 0 COMMENTS'
but will change as comments are left.
Click on this link. 

3) When you've clicked on that link, this screen  opens. I have written 'here's your comment' in the box.
where it says 'comment as: ' click on that box to select. 

4) select 'Anonymous'. This means that the website will not display who you are, or where you are  with your comment, and it means you don't need to 'log in' to post a comment. 

5) The finished article! As you can see, my comment has been posted, with no indication of who I am. You might, therefore, want to sign off your message with your name! 

I hope that helps! It's been so lovely to see you all enjoying the blog. 

Anna 

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!