Wonder Women

Thanks to a member of Rodborough WI who spotted this in her morning paper recently:

"The WI's values have not changed. But society's attitudes to it have. What was once seen as a rather staid and conservative institution is now beginning to be recognised as one of the most progressive campaigning forces around. "

The full article can be read here

Shurdington WI are 75!

Shurdington WI celebrated their 75th birthday with a delicious supper last night. It was such a fun evening and the presence of Cicely,a founder member now aged 94, made the occasion very special indeed. Each guest was presented with a commemorative gift in the form of a specially designed china trinket dish - such a lovely idea which was appreciated by everyone!

Wonderful afternoon!

Had a wonderful afternoon with David Ball, farm manager of Kemble Farms, today. A group of ten Avening WI members went along to find out exactly what happens on a modern dairy farm and how a herd of 700 Holstein-Friesian cattle are managed. What an interesting time we had - David was happy to answer all our questions and explain all the details of his work to a fascinated audience. If we needed any convincing that our dairy farmers need our support, here it was, plain to see, and how useful to have the opportunity to get first hand answers to our questions.

By the time we left, the herd was larger by one as this calf made her entrance in a quiet corner of the shed. We watched, delighted, as she took her first steps.

What a privilege - thank you David (and thank you, secretary Doreen for arranging it!)

(David is happy to accommodate further WI groups of no more than a dozen. Email me for details)

Action Women - the travelling exhibition

Yesterday, my good friend Diana sent me a leaflet advertising the travelling "Action Women" exhibition, currently on at the Newport Museum. I had heard of the exhibition of course, but hadn't really thought of going along, especially when at last year's National Council we were warned that it was small and, to be truthful, not really worthy of a special journey or day out. However, we had no plans for today, Saturday, and I felt interested enough to suggest we go along and take a look for ourselves and make up our own minds about it. Not only that, but I had a long-felt need to go and have a closer look at the Transporter Bridge!

Hmmm. What can I say? I realise, of course, that I am not a "typical member", being so closely involved in the organisation, so perhaps I'm not the best person to view the exhibition objectively. It was certainly very interesting to see exhibits and read information relating to events and activities of which I have only sketchy knowledge, but I found the exhibition as a whole to be rather lifeless. We'd arrived fairly early on a Saturday morning and appeared to be the only visitors in the whole museum - maybe a few more souls browsing would have enlivened our experience.

A series of these beautifully produced information banners, together with some interesting displays from the Gwent and Glamorgan Federations formed the basis of the exhibition and though we thought the whole thing was well put together, we could understand why some comments have been made.

I don't know what could have been done differently in such a travelling exhibition where the security of our real treasures just can't be risked. Perhaps having a couple of WI members around, able to explain and clarify things to visitors would have added a little life to the show? Surely it wouldn't have been too difficult to include a looped video or slideshow? All I can say is that, for me, the buzz and magic I feel when I see some of our archive material on show or read the stories of the early days simply wasn't there.

I don't want to discourage you from visiting the exhibition at all. Far from it. What didn't work for me might well fascinate you and anyway, I encourage you to see for yourself so that you can form your own opinion! Entry to the exhibition is free, there is a (admittedly, rather grim) multistorey car park adjacent to the Museum and some lively shopping nearby.

And just down the road, there is this fantastic piece of Edwardian engineering!

Warm Hands from Warm Hearts

(Picture from BBC website)

Wasn't it exciting to have our letter in the first issue of the new WI Life?

Another exciting thing is that members are reading it and the response has been very encouraging. Not only have we had phone calls giving encouragement to our ongoing project, but also many enquiries regarding joining in. In due course, we will notify members of contact managers in their own widespread areas. Incidentally, Bob James, who is our Shoebox manager has just informed us that this year, a total of 91,500 boxes were sent from our area. Our area covers Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Oxfordshire and thanks to you, many had gloves, mitts, scarves and hats tucked inside. Jumpers, toys and blankets were sent along under separate cover. This represents a lot of work done by our members.

Well done and good luck and knitting this year!

Pat Wilson, Winchcombe WI