This meeting was held on Zoom on Saturday 7
November 2020, owing to Government restrictions it was not possible to hold
this in a conference venue as usual. 240
ladies from Somerset and beyond joined in – it was a first to be able to take
part in this event from across the whole country.
Federation Secretary Casey Worral opened the
meeting and Sandra Ford, County Chair, gave her report on the year. It is with much sadness to many members that
Denman College will be closed and sold.
However, Somerset members will be offered the local option of being able
to use Dillington House near Ilminster for day and residential courses, when
this becomes safe to do so.
Ruth Andrews had sent the Accounts in advance
for members to read. A short presentation
was made and the Federation is in the fortunate position of having been prudent
in the past and is currently in a good financial position, despite the usual fundraising
events having been cancelled. The accounts were approved. Wilton Lodge has been sold and new premises
have been found in Bridgwater. There will be no need to order County News from
Feb 2021 as this will continue to be sent electronically, free of charge for
2021 and we will continue to receive paper copies as requested for members who
do not have access to the internet.
The two speakers were excellent and inspiring:
Mary-Jess Leaverland
started by talking about her early life.
Her parents divorced when she was very young and she and her baby sister
were brought up by their mum. They lived
in a council flat and had second-hand clothes.
Life was a struggle and she just wanted to "fit in" at
school. She is very proud of both her grandmother and
mother from whom she had 2 mottos:
Make the most of every opportunity
Have more than one string to your bow
and to which she added herself
I can, I will, Watch Me
Having been turned
down by her French teacher to take up Spanish, because she was considered not
good enough, she had the opportunity to learn Mandarin as an after-school class. Later, she chose to follow her two passions
of Music and Mandarin and found the only course at Sheffield University to
study her degree. In her second year she
went to Nanjing University and whilst in China had the chance opportunity to
enter and win China’s X factor in front of 70 million viewers, with the song
Time To Say Goodbye. As the only soprano in the UK who can sing in both Chinese
and English, this led to her singing at The Festival of Creativity in Shanghai, then she
was invited to take tea at 10 Downing Street where she was asked to become the
next representative of The Great Britain Campaign, and so she now represents UK
music in 144 countries around the world. An inspirational
young lady – and she is only 30. See https://www.mary-jess.com/mystory
Tom Heap of
Countryfile and other tv/radio fame, talked about the changes to his work and
the food industry during lockdown and the positives we have seen. In his early
career he had worked on Somerset Radio and had appeared in "Secret
World" at West Huntspill. They have
managed to carry on filming Countryfile in a scaled down way during this
difficult time, often having to do sound or camera himself and he felt it was
important for journalists to "bear witness" to the current
situation. Some Zoom Interviews were done
in his garden. He believed there would
continue to be a greater emphasis on local food and was pleased that the
countryside has been able to re-open as access to these spaces is good for our
well-being. He felt leisure travel would
return but believes travel for business will drop with other ways of
communication proving to be just as effective.
He is currently working on a Climate Change programme for Radio 4 to be
broadcast next year. These will be 40 x 15-minute
programmes called “40 ways to save the planet”. They will have a positive
outlook on what the future holds. Three
he mentioned were:
The use of robots to help maintain wind turbines –
which would be much more cost effective.
Being able to grow rice not in paddy fields – which
would reduce the amount of methane produced.
Improved education of women and girls, especially
in lower income countries, which would not only improve their own lives but
those they would in turn help in the future.
The morning finished
with Mary-Jess leading members in singing "Jerusalem" and "God
Save the Queen". Luckily for her we were all on mute!
A thoroughly
enjoyable, positive and useful meeting.
Well done to the Somerset team!
