We had a good turnout for the first meeting of 2017 and Fiona welcomed 81 members and one new member. Membership fees were due this month and we will be collecting them again next month. If, for some reason, you will not be renewing your membership please let us know and we will not chase you for payment!
Forthcoming events

Fiona drew our attention to a few events coming up. On Saturday, 25th March we will be having a Quiz Evening at St. Mary’s Church Hall, Merton Park. Tickets will be £12.50 which includes a ploughman’s supper and all proceeds will go to our charity of the year, St. Raphael’s Hospice. Don’t feel you have to make up a table, just come along and make up the numbers on another table.
Also there is a chance to see “La Cage Aux Folles” at Wimbledon Theatre on Tuesday, 14th March (£31). There are only a few places left for Grumpy Mole Afternoon Tea on Saturday, 18th March (£14.95) and Longleat on Wednesday 26th April (£45). Please contact Gillian as soon as possible if you would like to go to any of these.

Surrey WI News
Lys mentioned a few notices in this month’s Surrey WI News:
Birthday Card for the Queen Competition – entries must be sent to SFWI HQ Guildford by Monday, 14th March
Surrey Country Show, Monday 29th May – Various competitions. Contact SFWI HQ Guildford for more details.
Art for the Terrified – 8th March (Drawing), 29th March (Watercolours) and 26th April (Oil Pastels). Applications to SFWI HQ Guildford.

Resolutions
After having some in depth and thoughtful group discussions on the six, shortlisted resolutions, we then had to vote for the one we would most like to go forward for further discussion and final voting at the AGM in June. The result of the voting is:
1. Alleviating loneliness 21
2. FGM: More Awareness for More Action 7
3. Equal Access for specialised maternal mental health services 17
4. Provision of appropriate welfare for women and children in refugee camps 0
5. Supporting women’s refuges 11
6. Plastic soup: Keep microplastic fibres out of our oceans 24
(One of our members went home after Monday’s meeting to do a bit of research to find out a bit more about Resolution 6 as she hadn’t heard about the issue of plastic fibres. She found the following link very interesting, as well as worrying, and would like to share it.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/27/washing-clothes-releases-water-polluting-fibres-study-finds )

Bring and Buy Sale
Thank you to everyone who brought in items and bought from the Bring and Buy Sale. We made £202.50 for St. Raphael’s – well done everyone.

Knit for Peace
As an alternative to knitted blankets, Knit for Peace suggested making dressing gowns and here is Madeleine modelling the wonderful one she has made. This will now be sent to Knit for Peace to go towards their “Keep Britain Warm” campaign. Well done Madeleine.

Fiona welcomed 66 members and 1 guest. She went on to read an email received from Jenny about her recent weekend to Denman.

“The reason I wasn’t at the November meeting was because I was at Denman College reaping the benefits of my bursary from Wimbledon WI!

It was interesting to visit Denman. I met friendly like-minded women doing a range of different courses. I admired the work of the women making silver clay jewellery and Faberge-type eggs as well as the smells of Indian cookery emanating from the Denman kitchen classroom. The accommodation was comfortable and the food excellent. All in all, a most enjoyable two days. Thank you to Wimbledon WI for making it possible. I do hope it will be possible to continue the bursary raffle in future years to give other members the opportunity to attend.”

WI Fair: Lys mentioned The WI Fair at Alexandra Palace from 29th March to 1st April. Tickets are £12.50 in advance or £14 on the door. For more information go to http://www.thewifair.co.uk/about/ She also mentioned that on Valentine’s Day it will be “Show the Love 2017” when we have the chance to wear our green hearts to show how much we care about how climate change threatens the things we love.

Entertainer for the evening John Styles: John gave us a very entertaining and funny evening with a mixture of magic, comedy and chat. John is a very cheeky chappie, with years of experience. We all enjoyed his magic tricks and jokes which seemed original, dry and unexpected and he had us all laughing, which was a lovely start to Christmas week.

Denman Bursary Draw: There were two Denman Bursary draws on offer at the December meeting each worth £350. Congratulations to the two lucky winners.

Christmas Gifts/Toy Collection: An update on last month’s toy collection. “Merton Police’s borough commander Theresa Breen said: “I am very proud and humbled to see how many of Merton’s residents have pledged gifts for this year’s Christmas Tree Appeal. We are very happy to be able to help vulnerable and deprived young people over the festive period.” Visit this link for more information https://news.merton.gov.uk/2016/12/09/hundreds-of-donated-gifts-will-make-christmas-merry-for-looked-after-children/

WI Questionnaire: The NFWI want to know about your experience of WI membership, so this is your chance to tell them what you like, dislike etc., by completing the online questionnaire found on this link https://www.thewi.org.uk/media-centre/news-and-events/current-news-and-events/our-wi,-our-future
Quiz night: It is planned to have our Quiz Night on Saturday, 25th March, so make a note in your diary.

Longleat: There are still spaces available for the Longleat trip on Wednesday, 26th April – £45. Please let Gillian know if you are interested in going.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists RoadSmart and the WI: The NFWI are working closely with the Institute of Advanced Motorists to plan three, one-day events for WI members in 2017. If you would like to be kept up to date with our progress and be the first to know of new events and activities, please email your full contact details (including address and telephone number), WI and federation to NFWI. Your details will then be kept on their database.

JANUARY MEETING: This is one of the important meetings of the year, so please try to attend if at all possible. Amongst other things will be:
Subscriptions: Collecting your subscriptions for 2017 which are due in January for everyone and will be £39 for full membership and £19 for dual member (to their second WI). Please make cheques payable to Wimbledon WI and put in an envelope with your name, (please also make a note of any change of address, telephone numbers or email details on envelope so we can keep our database up to date). If you are not renewing for any reason, please let us know and we will not chase you for payment! If for any reason you cannot attend this meeting and you know someone who is, ask them if they would mind bringing your subscription in an envelope as well.
Bring and Buy Sale: We will be having a Bring & Buy Sale to support our 2017 Charity of the Year – St. Raphael’s Hospice. Please bring all your unwanted presents and any new, unused items and of course some money to buy something so we can start this year off with a good donation to this worthwhile Charity.
Resolutions and WI Life: Please keep your November issue of WI Life which gives you information on the resolutions which might be considered at the 2017 NFWI AGM in Liverpool. We will be discussing these at our January meeting. So don’t throw away your copy, study it and bring the AM 2017 resolution selection form with you to complete at our January meeting.

Dates for diaries
January meeting – Monday, 16th
February meeting – Monday, 20th
March Meeting – Monday, 20th
Quiz Night – Saturday, 25th March
The WI Fair – 29th March – 1st April

We wish you all the very best for 2017 and look forward to seeing you in January.
The Committee

Dear Member of Wimbledon WI
HOT TOPICS NOVEMBER 2016
Fiona welcomed 69 members and 2 guests. Before the AGM and our two guest speakers, the following notices were read out.
Christmas Meal: Gillian asked members to be aware of the following details regarding the Christmas Meal at Taste on 6th December:
PARKING: Although there are quite a lot of parking spaces they do share them with the college which has night classes so it is a case of first come first served.
BAR BILLS: It would greatly help if people buying drinks could pay by cash as they have only one card machine, which could cause a bit of a back log.
ON ARRIVAL: 6:30 for 7:00 please collect your place setting which has on it your name and choice of menu.

Julia’s Kenya Trip: Eileen read out the following report from Julia. “Excellent visit to Mbaraka Chembe Health Centre, the teddies, knitted clothes and blankets were a great hit here and at the Kenya Coast Maternity Hospital, Tumaini Orphanage and the Baby Life Rescue Centre at Mombasa rubbish tip.
Items needed for December and for next year: more knitted items, teddies and blankets, ALSO BOOTIES.
When we visited the schools the Primary loved the tennis balls (thank you Caroline) and the Secondary loved the small amount of stationery we provided. They need A4 lined paper pads, document wallets (manila folders) and scientific calculators. CAN YOU HELP? Thank you so much for your support”.
Booties patterns link http://www.allfreeknitting.com/Baby-Booties

Poppies: Eileen went on to thank Dulcie and her posse of poppy makers for all their hard work and as a result this year £523.75 has been raised for the British Legion making a total of £1,904.25 raised over the last 4 years.

St. Lawrence Christmas Fair: Fiona mentioned that this will be next Saturday, 26th November, at Morden Parish Hall from 11.00 – 3.00 and that Wimbledon WI will be having a stall. So it would be lovely to see some of our members and their families.

Toy Collection: Fiona thanked everyone who had generously brought in toys for Merton Police Foundation to hand out to the needy children in the borough.

AGM: Following a show of hands, indicating WI members’ approval, the existing committee will continue as before with the addition of Sheila.
Wendy – Treasurer
Chris – Assistant to Treasurer
Lys – Secretary
Lesley – Assistant Secretary
Linda – Committee meeting minutes
Gillian – Vice chair and outings/entertainments organiser
Margaret – Crafts
Dulcie – MCS Preview Notes/Hot Topics and Crafts
Daphne – Catering
Sheila – Charity Liaison

Following a further show of hands, indicating WI members’ approval, Fiona will continue in her role as President.
Chris presented her Financial Statement for the past year. The Financial Statement was audited and passed by The Surrey Federation Treasurer – Jane Randell. Fiona proposed the adoption of the Financial Statement. The proposal was seconded by Jill and members indicated by a show of hands that the Financial Statement was accepted by all present.
Lys gave a review of the speakers, outings and events that we have enjoyed over the past year. Fiona thanked Gillian and her team for all their hard work of planning and organising the programme. Members indicated by a show of hands that the report is accepted.
Fiona spoke about happy and sad events this past year. In particular Fiona spoke about the loss of our much loved and missed president Joanna. Fiona said how much she enjoys being part of our WI and she said she is happy to continue in her role as President. Fiona thanked the committee and all members who have supported her so well over the year.

David Cowling, Head of Political Research for the BBC and our first speaker for the evening, gave us an insight into the proposed new constituency boundaries released by the Boundary Commission. Their goal is to reduce the number of MPs by 50, and make the number of people living in each constituency more equal. Their proposals for Wimbledon and Merton would bring big changes and in some respects the Boundary Commission’s own guidelines on community interest and cohesion seem not to have been followed.

Wimbledon is split up, with Wimbledon Park and Village joining the Putney constituency. The remainder of the current Wimbledon constituency is joined by Colliers Wood, Lavender Fields, Ravensbury and Cricket Green from the current Mitcham and Morden constituency, which will be abolished, to form a new ‘Merton and Wimbledon Central’ constituency. Lower Morden and St. Helier wards would be absorbed into the existing Sutton and Cheam constituency and Graveney ward into existing Tooting constituency. Several wards in Mitcham will be part of a new Streatham and Mitcham constituency.
Under these proposals the London Borough of Merton goes from having two Members of Parliament to five.

The Boundary Commission are interested in hearing from affected residents about the local ties that are impacted by these proposals, so if you feel that they do not respect Wimbledon’s community links, please get in touch with them on this link https://www.bce2018.org.uk/ or by emailing
information@boundarycommissionengland.gov.uk by the 5th December.

Lucia, Fundraiser from St. Raphael’s Hospice, was our second speaker and she told us a little about this charity and how they have to raise £4.4million a year which is 80% of their funding, only 20% coming from the NHS. This works out to £15 per hour if patient is a resident in the hospice: £107 per hour if patient has home visits or £571 per hour to run whole hospice. They have 14 beds and care for 1,000 patients a year from the Sutton and Merton areas either as in patients or day patients. They provide specialist palliative care for patients and their families who are affected either by cancer or another life-limiting illness. All the care and support provided by St Raphael’s Hospice is provided free of charge to patients and families. They also help families of the patients through a very difficult and distressing time. More information about St. Raphael’s and details of events can be found on this link
http://www.straphaels.org.uk/ After thanking Lucia for her very informative talk, Fiona then took a vote, which was unanimous, that St. Raphael’s Hospice will be our Chosen Charity of the year.

Knit and Natter: Please note the next session of I Knit at Lower Marsh, Waterloo will be on Wednesday, 30th November and not 7th December.
WI Life : Please keep your November issue of WI Life which gives you information on the resolutions which might be considered at the 2017 NFWI AGM in Liverpool. We will be discussing these at our January meeting. So don’t throw away your copy, study it and bring the AM 2017 resolution selection form with you to complete at our January meeting.

Dates for your diary:
Tuesday, 6th December, Christmas Dinner
Next Meeting, Monday, 19th December

The Committee

Fiona welcomed 68 members, 4 new members and 2 guests. Before starting the Christmas Craft evening, the following notices were read out.

Linden Lodge Family Centre Appeal: Fiona mentioned the forthcoming Swing Dancing event in support of the Family Centre Appeal. The dance takes place at 7.30 on Friday, 11th November at Apogee Centre, Linden Lodge School, 61 Princes Way, SW19 6JB – tickets are £15 and include dinner.

Suggestion Box: Fiona reminded members of our suggestion box which is next to noticeboard. So if you have any suggestions pop them into the box.

SFWI Annual Meeting: Eileen gave us a quick review of the Surry Federation Autumn meeting in Dorking on Monday which a few of our members attended. She said all the speeches were very good. Adrian Bell, CEO of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Service gave an interesting talk of how they operate and that they are an independent charitable healthcare provider working with the Ambulance Service. He said they are not part of the NHS and are funded almost entirely by voluntary donations. St. George’s Hospital has a helipad and Kingston Hospital is planned to have one soon. Sally Kettle gave a very inspiring talk of how she has rowed the Atlantic twice and how, at the age of 26 and having left home at 16, she rowed with her mother which really cemented the mother and daughter relationship. Anne Diamond, was the main speaker of the day. Although well known for her television and radio career, Anne has been very powerful in the cot death awareness campaign. She said that a national study in New Zealand had found that the babies who were dying of cot death were those lying on their tummies and mothers were advised to put babies on their back to sleep. Despite this breakthrough the Department of Health wanted more data and decided not to tell parents about the findings. So to get this information across Anne campaigned tirelessly to influence people and eventually, Government listened and the Back to Sleep Campaign was formed.

SFWI Trustees’ Meeting: Fiona mentioned that she and Lys recently went to a Surrey Federation Trustees Meeting at the Worcester Park WI. The impression that came across is that they are keen to update and improve the Surrey Federation and said more information will now be appearing on the website, twitter and facebook. They are also keen to hear from members and happy to arrange more local events if there are halls available in the area. On this matter, several of the London WI’s voiced their opinion that a lot of events still happen in Surrey despite more members living in London. For more information about events etc., the SFWI’s webpage is https://www.thewi.org.uk/become-a-member/structure-of-the-wi/england/surrey/about-us and their facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/SurreyFedWI/

Streatham WI: Angela from Streatham WI arranged a get together of other London WI’s to share information etc., and was attended by 5 of our members It does seem that technology is the way forward and Becky, from the soon to be running Tooting WI, is very knowledgeable and willing to help with Twitter etc. A member from Wandsworth WI has been successful in having her campaign against Female Genital Mutilation accepted for nomination by the NFWI. One disturbing point she did mention is that although FGM has been illegal in this country for 40 years, there have been only 2 prosecutions. So this will be a campaign to look out for next year. It was mentioned that, as there are now more members in the London area, it would good if a London Federation of WI’s could be formed but this would take a lot of organising and probably not possible in the foreseeable future.
The Wimbledon Society: Veronica asked for a volunteer to become Chairman of The Wimbledon Society. They are looking for a volunteer who lives in or near Wimbledon and is an experienced chairperson, team player and able to run a friendly and knowledgeable committee.

The 300 Club is a lottery which raises funds for the SFWI. There is an annual subscription of £15, for 10months there are two £25 prizes and twice a year prizes of £500, £100 and £50. If any member would like to be part of the 300 Club or for more information please contact SFWI. BUT no later than Friday, 4th November.

Remembrance Sunday: Members are invited to join the Remembrance Sunday Parade on Sunday, 13th November at 10.00 at Belvedere Grove, Wimbledon Village, SW19 when we will be laying a joint, handmade wreath with SW19 WI.

2017 Charity: We will need to be thinking about our new charity for next year and Fiona mentioned that it would be rather nice to nominate St. Raphael’s in support of their care for Joanna in her last weeks but if members have other nominations for our charity of the year, please let one of the committee members know. Please note, the charity has to be a local one.

Christmas Dinner: There are only a few remaining places for Christmas Dinner which, this year, is being held at the Taste Restaurant, South Thames College, Morden, on Tuesday, 6th December, at 6.30 for 7.00. Please contact Gillian if you would like a place.

Dates for your diary:
Sunday, 13th November, Remembrance Sunday Parade
Next meeting, Monday, 21st November, AGM
Tuesday, 6th December, Christmas Dinner

Fiona welcomed 71 members and 8 guests.
Events: Fiona went on to say what a lovely occasion the summer party was and everyone enjoyed themselves. Fiona mentioned that there are still places for Nymans (29th September £30) and the Christmas Dinner this year is at the Taste Restaurant, South Thames College, Morden (6th December, 6.30 for 7.00 £29.95 only 15 places remaining). Please contact Gillian about either of these events. If you would like tickets for the Surrey Autumn Federation meeting (17th October £16) please contact Chris.

AGM: Fiona mentioned that in November we will be having our AGM and it would be really lovely to have some new people come forward to join the committee. Please contact Fiona for details etc., if you would like to come along to the October committee meeting on Monday, 10th October to see what it is all about.

FoodCycle: Fiona mentioned a new project starting at the New Horizons Centre in Mitcham who are asking for lead volunteers. FoodCycle is a national charity that unites volunteers with kitchen spaces and surplus food from supermarkets to make healthy fruit and vegetable based meals free to the community. Their aim is to reduce social isolation and food poverty and to build communities. They need a team of lead volunteers who are willing to help lead a session once a month. They will support volunteers to gain Food Safety level 2 qualifications.

Summer Fair: Wimbledon Guild have sent WI members a big thank you for all their work at the Wimbledon Summer Fair which they said has been the best year so far.

2017 Charity: We will need to be thinking about our new charity for next year soon and Fiona mentioned that it would be rather nice to nominate St. Raphael’s in support of their care for Joanna in her last weeks but if members have other nominations for our charity of the year, please let one of the committee members know.

Sports Week: Steph recognised our ladies at the Swing Session on Monday and made them feel very welcome. By all accounts everyone had a very enjoyable time and some are thinking of doing it again!!! Friday’s Hogsmill walk was less successful due to bad weather but the five members who did face the elements had a lovely walk (and talk) stopping half way for coffee and later for a pub lunch in Berrylands.

Television Programme: Liz mentioned that ITVs ‘Tonight’ programme is looking to speak to women who would like to share their stories about the menopause and how it has affected their quality of life.

Car maintenance: Kwik Fit are running free workshops at 70 centres nationwide. The workshops aim to improve knowledge in basic car maintenance and will take you through measuring tyre pressure and tread level, purchasing new tyres and other vehicle issues such as oil, coolant and washer fluid checks. For more information or to book a workshop contact Polly Cooper on ladiescarcarekwik-fit.com.

Food Waste: Liz mentioned that there was a large article in the Evening Standard about Food Waste which coincides nicely with communication we have had from NFWI encouraging all WI members to complete a questionnaire to support the 2016 resolution to ‘avoid food waste, address food poverty’. The following link is to the questionnaire which we would urge members to complete and support as it is our chosen resolution https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NFWIFoodWaste. For further information about this campaign, please see following link https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/current-campaigns-and-initiatives/avoid-food-waste,-address-food-poverty

Knit and Natter: Liz said that as she is the only one turning up for Knit and Natter on Friday afternoons, these meetings will now be cancelled. The 1st Wednesday of the month IKnit in Waterloo will still be happening and if anyone is interested please see Margaret. The next two sessions will be on 2nd November and 7th December.

Book Sale: At Monday’s meeting £52 was made from the book sale which was organised by the Book Club and the funds will go to Wimbledon WI.

Guest Speaker: Fiona went on to introduce our speaker for the evening, Siobhan Clarke who gave us an extremely interesting talk on “The Crown & the Cradle”. Royal babies have always excited interest because the health and survival of the child would shape history and Siobhan certainly knew her history giving us some interesting facts and graphic details about royal babies’ births. We usually only hear about royal babies who survived to adulthood. However, as Siobhan mentioned, there were a lot of fatalities, many babies dying at birth or shortly after and, of course, the mother too was often in danger of surviving childbirth. Siobhan mentioned how crucial it was for queens to deliver heirs as their own lives would be in jeopardy if they didn’t. As she went through the centuries, it became evident that more and more royal babies were surviving due to better health care and, in fact, Queen Elizabeth II was born by caesarean section – not long before that mothers would have died. Siobhan’s talk was very insightful and filled with lots of unknown facts about past and present royal babies.

Dates for your diary:
Next meeting, Monday 17th October, Christmas Craft Evening
NFWI AGM at Echo Arena, Liverpool on Wednesday, 7th June, 2017
Denman weekend for Surrey Members on Thursday 13th – Sunday 16th July, 2017

The Committee

Fiona welcomed 78 members and 6 guests. She said how sorry she was to hear that our guest speaker, Tessa Dunlop, is unwell and cannot make tonight’s meeting and that we wish her a speedy recovery.

Resolution Submissions: Liz mentioned that any member can propose a resolution for consideration by the NFWI. So if you have been inspired, the NFWI are now accepting resolution submissions for the 2016/17 resolutions process. Please read the guidance notes that can be found on the link below that gives you advice on how to structure the wording for your resolution etc., and before submitting it, send a copy to secretary@wimbledonwi.org.uk. The closing date is 14th September 2016 so any proposed resolutions would need to be sent to committee before end of August.
https://www.thewi.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/177428/Guidance-Notes.pdf
https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/resolutions-and-mandates

Denman Bursary: Angela won the Denman bursary last November and gave us an account of her lovely weekend there recently when she attended a flower arranging course and learnt how to create some beautiful flower designs. She said everyone was so pleasant, the food was lovely and she had a wonderful time.

Wimbledon Windmill Museum: Veronica made a plea for volunteers for Wimbledon Windmill Museum. They need a few people to act as stewards at weekends when the windmill is open which is only between March and October. If you think you may be interested or would like more information, please contact Veronica.

Craft Evening: Fiona mentioned that at the Christmas Craft Evening in October it would lovely if members could bring along anything they have made to put on display to show their skill and talent.

Craft Workshop: Eileen talked about how successful our recent patchwork craft day was and said we would like to plan another day but need ideas from members what to make and that if one of us can’t help, we will try and find an expert who can. Eileen suggested maybe making lavender bags (even using lavender from your own gardens) or block printing.

The Surrey Federation Meeting is an all-day event on Monday, 17th October at Dorking Halls and the guest speaker is Anne Diamond. Please contact Dulcie if you are interested.

The 2017 WI Diary costs £4.50. If you would like one please email Chris with your order.

The Summer Party will be held on Saturday, 20th August at our monthly meeting’s venue (Ursuline High School) from 1.30. There will be a charge of £10 per person to help cover any costs. Guests and partners are welcome and there will be a buffet lunch available. Please bring your own drinks. Please let Gillian know if you want to come.

Christmas Meal: On a beautiful summer’s evening Fiona knew people wouldn’t want to be thinking about Christmas but said a date has been fixed for the Christmas meal and asked members to make a note in their diary. It will be 6.30 for 7.00 on Tuesday, 6th December at the Taste Restaurant, Merton College. The cost of the meal will be £29.95 excluding drinks.

National Trust’s Nymans : A visit to an intimate garden set around a romantic house and ruins near Haywards Heath. For this to go ahead, more people are needed to sign up. It is on Thursday, 29th September and costs £30. Please contact Gillian if you would like to go or have a friend who may be interested.

The WI Sports week 12th – 18th September: If we have enough members interested the following activities are planned.
Monday, 12th – Swing Dancing – 7.15-8.30 £10 Worple Road Wimbledon
Wednesday 14th – Ten Pin Bowling – 7.30 Approx £10 David Lloyd
Friday, 16th – Hogsmill walk – 10.00 Ewell Station
Please contact Dulcie if you would like your name added to list.

Women’s Refuge: Lesley said she was delighted with the amount of items she will be taking to the Women’s Refuge this month and thanks everyone for their donations.

Speakers: Fiona then introduced and thanked the two speakers for the evening who stepped in at very short notice, Julia and John Eastwood.

Julia gave us a very inspirational talk on the projects undertaken by the Merton Park Explorer Scout Unit in Mbaraka Chembe, Kenya over the last 20 years. They have been working side by side with the local people and during this time they have built a one storey building for a doctor, a clinic and dispensary. Then a water tower for clean running water, doctor’s house, maternity ward and toilet block. The government have subsequently piped clean water to the village and the primary school then doubled in size (1,500) mainly due to healthier children and mortality rates dropping. Even though the community is very poor and it could take some children 2 hours to get to school, they all wanted to do their bit and the children would bring a stick with them for the woodpile. A secondary school was built by the government which meant the children did not have to travel to Malindi, where they would have to stay all week and only returning home at weekends. Women found they had more time as children were healthier, so a women’s group was formed. Funds were raised and material, 3 Singer sewing machines and 2 interlockers were provided and it wasn’t long before the women were making clothes etc. to sell at market. To raise more funds the Explorer Scouts would do an annual sponsored swim on Christmas Day!! This money would go towards things like desks for the 70/90 children in a class or to mend the church roof. Wimbledon AFC also provided kit for the local football team. The “dress a girl” dresses have gone to women’s health clinics and orphanages and the “fish and chip” jumpers, teddies and hats have all been gratefully received. The next project to be undertaken is a second doctor’s house and a security wall. Another trip is planned in October when anything members make will be taken (items would have to be brought to September meeting as Julia goes before the October meeting). Baby blankets are also needed to wrap around babies at night so 24 to 30 inches would be fine and to remember to make any items in bright colours as they are seldom washed.
Link to Fish and Chip jumper/hat. http://glengatewools.co.uk/FishChipBabyJumperHat.pdf

John Eastwood gave us a potted history of his long and interesting career in renal medicine and dialysis work which started at St. George’s Hospital, Hyde Park and then Tooting in the 1960’s. Dialysis has come a long way since it was first introduced in England in 1963. Life expectancy then was not long but one of the earliest patients Robin Eady, is one of the longest-living kidney patients and has experienced over 50 years of renal replacement therapy – nearly 25 years of dialysis and 26 years following a transplant. Amongst John’s current research interests are kidney function and high blood pressure in West Africa, where he and Jenny lived for a while, and has links in Ghana to assist development of the speciality of renal medicine.

John went on to mention how high our daily intake of salt is and how it raises blood pressure. He said until 5000 years ago (before it was discovered salt could be used to preserve food) daily intake was only 0.1g. For a healthy diet we should only be having 5g a day but it is more like 10g to 12g (due to preserving and making food palatable etc.) There are South American tribes who have no access to salt and despite having very stressful lives their blood pressure is characteristically among the lowest of any demographic group. For this reason, the Yanomami Tribe have been the subject of studies seeking to link hypertension to sodium consumption. 80% of salt intake is hidden in food and to be able to change this, the cooperation of the whole food industry is needed. Too much salt in our diet can lead to stomach cancer, stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, osteoporosis, left ventricular hypertrophy.

Have a good summer everyone and we look forward to seeing those who can make the Summer Party in August and everybody in September when we resume on the 19th. We will be having a talk by Siobhan Clarke on “The Crown & the Cradle”. Royal babies have always excited interest because the health and survival of the child would shape history. This lecture explores the stories of some of these royal babies: the circumstances of their arrival, their nursery years and historical significance, from the Wars of the Roses to the present day.

The Committee

HOT TOPICS – Meeting 20th June 2016
Fiona opened the meeting by welcoming 71 members, 4 guests and 1 associate member.

2016 NFWI Annual Meeting at Brighton
Fiona then went on to read the report from Sally (SW19 WI) Link Delegate for SW19, Wimbledon, Maple Village and Ham & Petersham WIs. As follows:

After summarising the many high points of 2015, the NFWI Chair, Janice Langley, was obliged to return to the problem of funding for Denman, which is much treasured by the NFWI but actually used by only 3% of its members and which is running a large deficit. We were invited to contribute to the Save Denman Appeal. Bookings for courses are up, though, and new tutors have been taken on. Education and the sharing of skills are fundamental to the WI ethos. We are urged to use Denman more.

The NFWI will come to branches, groups of branches or federations to talk about the work of the WI, provided a large enough audience can be assembled. At last count there were 6,375 branches and 226,402 members. Membership has increased by 60,000 since January 2015!

The treasurer, Julia Roberts, said that subscriptions will not increase this year and that they will be sending out a census to ask members their opinions on the level, how it should be paid and how to use the reserves.

The resolutions were both passionately debated with much to be said for and some to be said against each one. There were no amendments. Sally used her four votes as instructed by the branches, feeling no need to use her discretion. In the end both were carried.

Appropriate care in hospitals for people with dementia: For 3,305. Against 856
Carried by 79.4%

Avoid food waste, address food poverty: For 5,146. Against 1,080
Carried by 82.7%. (This is the resolution that Wimbledon WI voted for).

And yes, it does appear that a lot more people voted on the second resolution.

The two guest speakers were admirable in every respect. Rona Fairhead is the BBC Trust Chairman who was at pains to point out the similarities between the BBC and the WI, with our emphasis on issues that matter, our independence and how our work makes a huge difference to people and inspires them. We are both enablers of people and a trusted brand. Perhaps she was being overly generous to the WI! Her brief montage of BBC highlights brought a tear to the eye, though we were not sure if that was due to Tom Hiddleston’s torso, David Attenborough and the blind baby rhino or our general love for the BBC. Their mission is to inform, to educate and to entertain.

The second speaker was Baroness de Souza, Lord Speaker. She explained her role, the workings of and the importance of the House of Lords and also pointed out how badly it needs reform.

The NFWI Chair, in her closing remarks, emphasised the growing importance of technology to the WI. The WI website ( https://www.thewi.org.uk/ ) is now hugely significant, both as a first port of call for potential members and as a means of sharing information and skills. Technology and also increased flexibility should be used to enable more members to take part in the running of the branches and the federations. We are urged to fill in a census form which will be in WI Life and online to show what we want from the WI.

The proceedings finished with some joyful and tuneful singing with flag waving akin to the last night of the proms. It included ‘Happy Birthday’ to the Queen.

Website
Fiona mentioned that the website is now up to date and thanked Dulcie for all her hard work.

Talk on: “100 years of the WI: The acceptable face of feminism”
A few members of Wimbledon WI went to the above talk by Professor Maggie Andrews. Fiona said it was a moving talk and it made her very proud to be a WI member and hadn’t realised how radical the WI was in the past. Fiona is hoping that Maggie will be able to attend one of our future meetings.

Wimbledon Village Fair
Veronica profusely thanked everyone who helped towards the WI stall at the Wimbledon Village Fair – either helping on the Friday/Saturday or making all the delicious cakes, chutneys, preserves etc. She is particularly excited this year as we have surpassed the £1,000 goal she had set. And after selling off the remaining jam and marmalades at Monday’s meeting, the total figure is £1,127.02. A round of applause was given to Veronica for all her hard work and organisation.

Beverley Brook Walk, Friday, 1st July
There was a sign-up sheet for the above walk at the meeting. Should anyone else like to join us, please email Liz.

Summer Party, Saturday, 20th August
This will be held at our monthly meetings’ venue (Ursuline High School) from 1.30. There will be a charge of £10 per person to help cover any costs. Guests and partners are welcome and there will be a buffet lunch available. Please bring your own drinks.

2017 Diaries
These are £4.50 (and not £4.70 as mentioned in Preview Notices). There will be another chance to sign up for a diary at the July meeting or email Chris with your order.

Surrey News
Fiona mentioned the various activities in the Surrey WI News. If anyone is interested in receiving a copy, the cost works out to 50p per issue. Please let Dulcie know.

Tasha Marks – Conceptual Confectionery and Edible Art
And now on to our speaker for the evening, Tasha Marks, who “sweet talked” us about her very interesting and unusual catering company, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral Curiosities. Tasha took a special course in food history as an art-history undergraduate at university which included the history of ice-cream, sugar and salt which sparked her interest. With that came an exploration of medieval banquets and the start of a fascination with the craft of sugar sculpturing and the decadent dessert halls once created to entertain guests: packed with sugar forests, moving sugar installations and much more. She is now a food historian who explores the relationship between art and food through incredible edible installations such as a gold-dusted chocolate relief of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, an inhalable Victoria sponge cake and glow in the dark UV sweets. Some of her projects have included making sweets from ambergris (a rock-like substance made of squid beaks vomited by sperm whales, yet prized by perfumiers for its smell) or creating a one-metre-square Turkish carpet from sugar for the Istanbul Design Biennial – using a 17th century sugar-paste recipe and a 15th century technique of mould making. One of Tasha’s favourite pieces is the edible bubble installation for the opening of Savage Beauty at the V&A. To bring this to life, Tasha created a black pool of goo which was pumped with air to create edible bubbles. Tasha’s clients have also included The Royal Academy of Arts, the National Trust, Wedgwood, The London Festival of Architecture and Selfridges. Overall a thoroughly interesting talk and something out of the ordinary.

Next Meeting
Monday, 18th July, when our guest speaker is Tessa Dunlop – Author of Bletchley Girls.

The Committee