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

HOT TOPICS – Meeting 16th May 2016
Fiona, our president, opened the meeting and before introducing Eunice who later created some beautiful flower arrangements, she welcomed 79 members and 3 guests.

Clubs
Fiona spoke about our many successful clubs and who members should speak to if they wanted to join any. As the wine club was full, she asked if people would be interested in setting up another one. If so Katharine had kindly offered to give advice on activities etc. Please contact a member of the committee if you are interested.

Morden Hall Park
Fiona also mentioned the Open Air Theatre at Morden Hall Park where they are showing “Much Ado About Nothing” on Friday, 12th August, at 7.30pm. For more details visit their website.

Plant Sale and Flower Arranging
Monday night’s plant sale raised £96 and the wonderful flower arrangements created by Eunice were raffled off making another £25.50 for our charity of the year, Home-Start, Merton. Thank you to everyone who brought in plants and seeds.

Craft
Eileen reminded people about the patchwork and collage workshop we will be holding at St. Lawrence Church Hall, Morden, on Saturday, 21st May between 10.00 and 2.00. We still have places so if you decide you would like to come, please contact Dulcie by email
Julia showed some of the lovely little “fish and chip jumpers and hats” which she will be taking out to Kenya in October and encouraged members to have a go as the patterns are very simple and easy to follow. Here is the link to the “fish and chip” baby jumper pattern as shown on Monday

Walk
Liz is offering to lead any willing participants on a walk which starts at New Malden station and finishes at Putney Bridge. Link to Beverly Brook PDF
The total walk is 8 miles but there are several drop out points along the way. These include Wimbledon Common leading up to the village.
There is a cafe at Roehampton Gate – so we could have a break en route!

The dates she has in mind are Friday 10th June or Friday 1st July (favourite date so far after Monday’s meeting) starting at 10.00am from New Malden station. If anyone is interested in coming, please let her know by email or at the next meeting. She looks forward to seeing you.

Wimbledon Fair
Veronica mentioned the Wimbledon Village Fair on Saturday, 18th June as this is the last meeting before the event. She asked for members to sign up for supplying produce and/or for helping on the day. A recent email was sent out with all the information needed for the day but if you have any queries please contact Veronica.

Our next meeting is on Monday, 20th June when we will have a talk and demonstration from Tasha Marks on “Conceptual Confectionery and Edible Art”. So we look forward to seeing you either at the Fair on the 18th or on the Monday.
The Committee

Before introducing, Tim Mann, the speaker for the evening, Fiona, our president, opened the meeting by welcoming 66 members and 2 new members. She then went on to say how guests are welcome and we are always pleased to see them. She reminded us that guests can attend free for their first visit and then twice more at £4 per visit and then they are expected to join.

Resolutions
Lys, our secretary, gave us some information about the two resolutions we were about to vote on, the result of which would go forward to the final vote at the Annual Meeting in Brighton on 11th June. The outcome of the votes is:
Avoid food waste, address food poverty
‘The WI calls on all supermarkets to sign up to a voluntary agreement to avoid food waste, thereby passing surplus food on to charities thus helping to address the issue of increasing food poverty in the UK.’ – 39 votes

Appropriate care in hospitals for people with dementia
‘We call upon HM Government and the NHS to provide facilities to enable carers to stay with people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia that have been admitted into hospital.’ – 29 votes

March and May Meetings
Fiona mentioned that the Quiz in March was a great evening and we had made £653 for our chosen charity, Home Start Merton. She congratulated everybody who had helped to make it a success. Fiona reminded us that next month will be a Plant Sale and everyone is invited to bring seedlings, cuttings, plants, shrubs to sell to raise money for our chosen charity.

Wimbledon Fair
Veronica gave a short talk on Wimbledon Fair and asked people to sign up for both making produce to sell and for helping on the day. She went on to say Wimbledon Fair is our main fundraiser paying for the hire of the hall, speakers, Denman bursaries etc. She also reminded us that we can’t sell produce with cream or meat in, or anything that may deteriorate in the heat.

Denman
Rosey shared her concern about the future of Denman and mentioned the fundraising appeal to save Denman in the March edition of WI Life. The appeal is that if all WI members give £10 over the next 2 years it would make a huge difference. The money would be added to the budget for ongoing maintenance of the buildings and grounds and help to keep Denman afloat. Rosey will be sending the money she collected from members on Monday to the “Saving Denman Appeal”. Denman is a wonderful facility and enjoyed by so many and if members wish to donate to this worthy cause or need more information, please contact Rosey.

Craft
Eileen thanked members for all the wonderful knitted and sewn items that were recently taken to Kenya. She then went on to mention the sign-up sheet for the patchwork and collage workshop we will be holding at St. Lawrence Church Hall, Morden, on Saturday, 21st May between 10.00 and 2.00. We still have places so if you decide you would like to come, please contact Dulcie by email.

Merton Voluntary Police Cadets
Tim Mann from Merton Voluntary Police Cadets started off his talk by thanking the WI for their generous Christmas Gifts and to say that these were really appreciated when they were distributed across the borough.

Tim then went on to give us a very uplifting talk about the Merton Voluntary Police Cadets. He said it is a voluntary, uniformed, youth organisation run by the Metropolitan Police Service for young, local people aged from 13 upwards and recently they have started a junior section for 10+. There are over 95 units across the 32 boroughs with 4000 cadets and these cadets come from various backgrounds. He said 45% are from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups; 35% from vulnerable backgrounds and that there is a 50/50 male/female ratio.

Tim introduced us to some of his cadets who told us their name, age and what they liked about being a cadet. Not only do they do a lot of work with schools and in the community, they have also been involved in many key events such as the Olympics, Golden Jubilee, Marathon, Notting Hill Carnival, Remembrance Sunday, Trooping the Colour, and various other Royal events. They also take part in “test purchasing operations” and various crime scenarios where their opinions and suggestions are listened to and taken seriously.

A lot of the new recruits come with low self-esteem and little confidence and Tim said it was great to see them make new friends, gain in confidence and develop personally within such a short time of joining the cadets. He is obviously very proud of his cadets and deservedly so as they are a credit to the youth of today, who often get such bad press, and they make great ambassadors.

We welcomed 82 members and 3 guests to the meeting.

We enjoyed a slide show of the recent visit by the Wine Club to the Rioja region of Spain. It looked as though a good time was had by all on the food and the wine front. During the evening, we also heard about the Surrey London WIs Centenary celebrations in Hyde Park, the results of a very successful Plant Sale and our preparations for our stall at Wimbledon Village Fair.

Our main event was a highly interesting and enjoyable talk from Sheila Willis, a former member of the Surrey Police. She gave us an insight into some of the early policewomen, including Edith Smith the first woman on the beat and first to be paid. Sheila also told us about her own experiences in the police force with a bike for transport on her rounds and the need to use public phone boxes to communicate with her station.

18 May 2015

Joanna Cardwell (our President) welcomed 86 members, two guests and two new members to the meeting.

Our main event was Ardella Jones from Chalk the Sun who spoke to us about creative writing. She gave us top tips on starting our own novel and examples of motivation from other writers.

Amongst the other things at the meeting we held a successful fundraising Plant Sale, heard about the forthcoming Centenary Celebrations for Surrey’s London WIs in Hyde Park and the arrangements for our fundraising stall at the Wimbledon Village Fair on 27^th June where we would be selling cakes, preserves etc made by our members. In addition, we voted on matters for the NFWI Centenary Annual Meeting in the Royal Albert Hall on 4^th June.

MEETING – 20^th April 2015

Joanna Cardwell (our President) welcomed 91 members and 4 guests to the meeting.

Our main event was a highly interesting and enjoyable talk from Tom Hart Dyke, plant hunter and renowned gardener from Lullingstone Castle, near Sevenoaks. Tom first shot to international prominence in 2000, when on a plant hunting expedition in the Colombian jungle that went dangerously wrong. Tom and his travelling companion, Paul Winder, were kidnapped while trekking through ‘The Darien Gap’ and held for nine months. During their time in captivity, they were subjected to numerous threats, including death. Faced with the latter, Tom spent what he thought would be his last day on earth designing plans for his dream garden containing plants he’d collected from across the globe, planted out in their respective countries of origin. Luckily for Tom, Paul and their families, the boys were not executed, but were released in time for Christmas 2000. Tom’s idea for a World Garden has now been translated into reality at his Lullingstone home. We were enthralled by his tremendous enthusiasm and the beautiful pictures of rare plants (including the most gorgeous orchids) he found on his expeditions, as well as ones from the World Garden he has created at Lullingstone.

We welcomed 89 members, 4 new members (1 dual) and 1 guest.

Our main event was a talk by Sarah Warren on the history of gin entitled “Drunk for 1 penny, Dead drunk for tuppence. Straw for nothing!!” – a familiar sign above gin shops and on the streets of London at the time. The “Gin Craze” saw it available to buy in ordinary shops, gin shops, from street sellers and people’s houses. In 1743, 2.2 gallons of gin were consumed per person annually. Those keen to see gin drinking curbed presented images of women being dragged down by gin (Mother’s Ruin) – their children neglected or murdered, gin given to babies to quieten them. Hogarth’s famous print, Gin Lane, reflected the evils of gin consumption, including poverty, infanticide, starvation, madness, decay and suicide. Concerns about the upsurge in gin drinking, particularly amongst the poorer classes, led to various Gin Acts being introduced during 1729-1751. Henry Fielding (author of Tom Jones) also campaigned against the “perpetual drunkenness of the Londoners”. Sarah’s talk ended with an interesting comment that life has not changed much in terms of portraying women being brought down by drink. In 2008 some media binge drinking stories were illustrated with photos of drunken young women in the street.

MEETING 16th FEBRUARY 2015

We welcomed members and guests to our main event of practising some Latin American steps under Claudio’s expert guidance. Those who braved the wet evening certainly seemed to learn quickly and left with a decided spring in their step.

Amongst our other business during the evening, we heard the Centenary Celebrations for Surrey’s London WIs is to be a picnic type event in Hyde Park on Saturday 23rd May.

Members present also completed a questionnaire to help improve our WI. Members agreed to some changes to our Charity fundraising for our two Charities this year, as well as to three donations from our WI funds in recognition of the WI Centenary. Signup sheets were available for various events and trips.

We were delighted to welcome over 100 people for this first meeting of the New Year when our main event was a talk on breast health awareness. In addition, our WI subscriptions were due.

We also heard presentations from both our 2015 Charities of the Year about their fundraising appeals:

• Linden Lodge Charitable Trust’s Family Centre Appeal to raise funds for a state of the art Family Centre. The Sensory Support Service provides education, care and support to almost 1,000 deaf, visually impaired and deaf blind children and their families from birth to 19 years. Families of children with sensory impairment are often isolated and in need of expert guidance. Through this Family Centre, specialist staff will provide information, support and advice to the families, and
• Macmillan Cancer Support (Merton) Appeal to raise money to fund two local Macmillan Nurses specializing in gastro-intestinal and gynaecological cancers based at the Royal Marsden. The fundraising work of Macmillan Merton is unusual in the Macmillan family in that all the funds they raise/receive are used for local projects at local hospitals.

We also held our annual Bring & Buy to raise funds for the 2 charities we are supporting this year. Thanks to the generosity of donors and those who purchased, so far we have raised over £200 to be split between our two Chosen Charities.

During our normal WI business, we heard about recent meetings on the future of adult education in Merton, which some members had attended. Members continued to express their great concern about this matter.

We had the opportunity to select the resolution we supported the most for possible consideration at the NFWI Annual Meeting 2015.

Our main event was a social with mulled wine and mince pies, with a very entertaining magical touch provided by Collin from Street Magic.

We admired the wonderful exhibits produced at the Pottery workshop and the Christmas tree decorations from the Christmas Craft making day.