Agnes, our President welcomed 80 members (including 1 new one) and 1 guest to the meeting. During our normal WI business, 2 members were successful in the draw for our 2014/15 Bursary for Denman College. We hope they enjoy their time at Denman. Members chose as our Charities of the Year 2015: Linden Lodge’s Acorn Family Centre Appeal and Macmillan Cancer Support (Merton). Members were very generous with donations to the Wimbledon Food Bank http://wimbledon.foodbank.org.uk, and with Christmas gifts, as well as blankets knitted by members of our Craft Club, to be delivered to our Charity of the Year 2014 Merton & Morden Guild http://mandmguild.org/WordPress/. A member who had recently been at Denman (courtesy of a Surrey Federation Bursary) was wearing examples of some of the jewelry she had made and recommended Denman http://www.denmancollege.org.uk to members. Congratulations to our Craft ladies had raised £535 to donate to the British Legion from the splendid poppies they had created. The Pottery Workshop had been a successful and fun event. We hope to see examples of the creations at our December meeting. Members expressed concern about the future of adult education in Merton and decided to sign a petition expressing their concerns.

Annual Meeting

At our Annual Meeting members ratified our new Wimbledon WI Constitution & Rules: the President and the Secretary subsequently signed these. Chris, our Treasurer presented our WI Financial Statement for the year to end September 2014, which was adopted by members. Ann, our Secretary presented the Committee’s Report for 2013/14, which was adopted by members. Agnes, our President, addressed the meeting for the final time before she stood down from that post and the Committee. She thanked named individuals on the Committee for all the work and planning that goes into providing such a varied programme of events. Agnes also thanked by name members who helped organize our various WI clubs/groups, as well as the organizer of our stall at Wimbledon Village Fair and the member who had found us premises to use for the Fair preparations. We gave Agnes a rose called “Happy Retirement” and Jennifer (who was also standing down) a bunch of flowers and thanked them for their work.

Agnes, our President, welcomed 84 members (including 3 new ones) and 3 guests to our 6^th Birthday meeting.  The main event was a magnificent display of predominantly British cheeses and some delicious tasting organized by Rupert & Mario of the London Cheese Board company.  By participating in an informative fun quiz, we learnt about cheddar aging, that there were well over 700 (some say over a 1,000) different British cheeses, and which country consumes the most cheese/person/year.  In addition, the book sale raised £71 for our WI – thanks to our Book Club members for organising this.  We could apply for a Wimbledon WI Bursary for Denman College (draw at our November meeting).  Charity of the Year 2015 – explanations about the nominations were given by Louise (Acorn Family Centre Appeal – Linden Lodge Charitable Trust), Diana (First Touch supporting babies at St George’s), and Ann (Macmillan Cancer Support Merton) – members voted for their preference.  After the voting figures have been double-checked, the final results of the vote will be announced at our November meeting.

Agnes, our President, welcomed 76 members and 8 guests to the meeting at which the main event was Jan Young on Art Appreciation.  We were asked to focus on two questions – What do I see and what do I make of what I see?  Using these two questions as a guide, Jan enthused us with an extremely interesting session that encouraged much audience participation.  We studied some of London’s National Gallery paintings:

Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-fighting-temeraire, Van Dyck’s Equestrian Portrait of Charles I http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/anthony-van-dyck-equestrian-portrait-of-charles-i, Drouais’ Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/francois-hubert-drouais-madame-de-pompadour-at-her-tambour-frame, Van Gogh’s Chair http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-van-goghs-chair, Rubens’ The Judgement of Paris http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/peter-paul-rubens-the-judgement-of-paris/26781, Cuyp’s River Landscape with Horseman and Peasants http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/aelbert-cuyp-river-landscape-with-horseman-and-peasants, and Van Huysum’s Flowers in a Terracotta Vase http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-van-huysum-flowers-in-a-terracotta-vase.
Amongst other things, we looked at and discussed the symbolism in some of the paintings, the messages the artist was intending to convey and how these were embodied in the works.  We were encouraged to visit the National Gallery and look at the paintings using our newfound knowledge.

Agnes, our President, welcomed 65 members and 9 guests to our meeting when the main event was a talk by David Evans about London in World War I.  He told us about air raids, food supplies, women at work and entertainment, followed by a question and answer session.  In conjunction with that talk, we had a display of some photographs and related material about women and World War I. 
We raised funds for Tweak a Twenty by selling Trench Cake (made by our Secretary Ann to a World War I recipe) as a dedication to the fallen of that War, and in remembrance of her Great Uncle Fergus who died from his wounds on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele.  Agnes raised funds for Tweak a Twenty by selling Verbena Bonariensis cuttings from her garden.  Thank you all for helping to raise these funds through your purchases on the night, and to Jenny for her excellent selling technique!

Ann read out some highlights from the NFWI Annual Meeting report sent to us by our delegate, Barbara from New Malden WI.  A copy of Barbara’s very full and interesting report was on the Notice Board. 

16 June 2014
Agnes, our President, welcomed 89 members and 8 gueststo our meeting when the main event was a talk by Pam Goodall.  She told us about her journey around the world on a bicycle, which led her to writing her book “Riding it Out”.  Pam started her journey one spring morning in 2000 from her home in West Sussex, and went on to pedal her way through 22 countries in Europe, Asia and America.  She was approaching her sixtieth birthday and travelled alone.  Pam entertained us with a lighthearted account of her journey, including the extraordinary kindness of strangers (both individuals and families) she met along the way.

19 May 2014
The meeting was presented by Vice Presidents Joanna and Fiona who welcomed 77 members, 3 new members and 10 guests. Our speaker was Kathryn Austin who demonstrated some fantastic flower arrangements on the themes of sugar and spice, oranges and lemons, cabbages and kings and apples and pears. Kathryn then drew raffle tickets so that members could take home one of her beautiful arrangements.

• We asked for ideas for the Surrey federation “Tweak a Twenty” – we had some good suggestions including buying a bottle of champagne and selling raffle tickets and buying ingredients to make flapjack to sell. If you have any more ideas please email us and we will try to make a decision at the next committee meeting.
• We asked if anyone is interested in Siobhain McDonagh tour of Houses of Parliament – a show of hands was almost unanimous, so watch this space for details! We will have sign up sheets at the next meeting.
• We also asked if anyone was interested in a Saturday event in August at the hall – again the response was positive.
• Thank you to everyone who bought and sold at the plant sale we made £125.

Voting
We voted on the organ donation resolution, the adoption of the NFWI Report and Accounts, and whether our members agree to give our delegate discretion on how to use our votes – they were all yes votes.

Agnes, the President, welcomed the 74 members and 9 guests to our meeting when the main event was a talk and discussion with Siobhain McDonagh MP for Mitcham and Morden about women in Parliament.  We had a lively and interesting question and answer session with points discussed including the role of an MP in the constituency and in Parliament, despite being active in local politics why women were less inclined to serve as MPs, engaging the interest of more young people in voting and becoming involved in politics.  This was followed by our annual Super Raffle in aid of our Chosen Charity of the Year, Merton and Morden Guild.  We were pleased that Anne Donaghy from the Guild was able to be present for the raffle, which raised over £315.  We are very grateful for the very generous donations of prizes both from members and local businesses.

Notices

Quiz Night 22 March 7pm we had a great evening.  Thank you to everyone who helped make this a success.  We raised £320 for Merton & Morden Guild with the balance going to our own WI funds.
Plant Sale –it is our plant sale at our May meeting.  Please remember to sow seeds and take cuttings and bring them to that meeting.
Wool voucher April WI Life page 59 – anyone not intending to use this voucher please bring it to our meeting so that it can be exchanged for a free ball of wool from Hobbycraft to use to knit blanket squares.
Easter egg cosies – these lovely cosies made by our craft ladies were available to purchase with the proceeds of £70 going to support Merton & Morden Guild.

The Social & Theatre Committee have two trips lined up:
Globe Theatre  Sunday 15th June
Royal Albert Hall  Tuesday 22nd July,
as well as visits to the theatre:
One Man Two Guvnors
Miss Saigon
Twelve Angry Men

Food Bank – thank you for your continuing contributions.  There will be a concert to raise funds for the Food Bank on 9th May 2014 at St Luke’s Church, Ryfold Road, Wimbledon Park  Tickets were available for sale at the meeting.
Sign up Sheets – The following were available:
Wimbledon Village Fair Saturday 21st June – our stall is our main fund raising event to help run our WI.  More help needed on the stall and/or produce – thank you to those members who have already signed up.  Veronica, who is kindly acting as the Coordinator for our stall, gave a presentation covering amongst other things the types of suitable produce for the stall.  A separate note about this is being sent to members.
Surrey News – this meeting was the last chance to order and pay.
Chocolate making and Pottery Taster Courses – Do you fancy trying your hand at chocolate making or pottery?  We are considering providing subsidized taster courses probably on a Saturday at a local venue.  Expressions of interest required at this meeting.  Further details and date(s) will depend on numbers interested in attending.

On the NOTICE BOARD this month – lots of new information, including:

• As promised at our March meeting, Ann’s full report with photographs on the Surrey Federation’s Annual Council Meeting.
• National Federation of WIs Annual Meeting June 2014 Agenda
• National Federation of WIs Annual Review 2012-13
• 2014 Organ Donation Resolution Briefing. – at the June National Annual Meeting voting will take place on this Resolution.  We will be voting at our May meeting so we can tell the delegate from New Malden WI who is representing us whether or not our WI supports it.
• 2 Open Days at NFWI HQ on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th October – a chance for you to see our HQ.  Anyone wanting a booking form please contact Ann, the Secretary  (Tel No on your 2014 Programme card). Closing date for applications end July.
• Honey Bees – Following the success of SOS for Honey Bees campaign, National are asking WI members to call for a Bee Action Plan to ensure a sustainable future for bees  Information includes
  • SOS for Honey Bees Campaign Action Pack
  • Back our Bees Poster and Postcard

  Next Meeting – Monday 19th May We will be having a flower arranging demonstration (with arrangements available to purchase), plant sale, voting on the Organ Donation resolution and NFWI Raffle tickets available for sale.

Agnes, the President, welcomed the 64 members and 8 guests to our meeting in the Dining Hall at Ursuline High School (our usual venue of the 6^th Form Centre was being used for exams). We were delighted that 7 of the guests paid their 2014 membership subscriptions to our WI.

Main event

We had a lively dance session with Claudio from Start the Dance who showed us the steps for two Latin American dances – merengue and salsa. By the end of the evening, everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves very much. Congratulations to all of those of you who had a go even though it looked challenging and exhausting.

Notices

Agnes reminded members that the following signup sheets were available at the meeting and to pay at this meeting for any trips/events they had booked:

• Quiz Night 22 March 7pm St Mary’s Church Hall, Merton Park – details in reminder notice circulated on 18 March.
• Super Raffle 14th April – prizes already received listed on the signup sheet. Members to add any other prizes had obtained, together with details of the donors so we can thank them

• Wimbledon Village Fair 21st June –Agnes encouraged us all to do something to support our WIs main fund raising event and to put our names on the signup sheets.       You can bake something or make preserves.       We get an increasing demand for Gluten Free produce. Helpers also needed for the stall on the day. Ideas for what to bake/make were on the Notice Board and in a folder of recipes

Kosovan children – A thank you drawing from the Kosovan children was on the Notice Board for the monies Elizabeth Gowing had given them from the %age of the sales donated as a result of purchases made by our members at our February meeting.

Knitted Squares – Knit some more squares for blankets – see our website http://www.wimbledonwi.org.uk/category/arts-and-crafts/. We will be saving some for next year’s Get Your Knit On and some will be made into blankets for our charity Merton & Morden Guild. Some wool was available at the meeting.

Dress making Workshop 22nd February Fifteen members spent an enjoyable morning sewing, chatting and sampling homemade cake. Thank you to all who made the dresses either on the day or since and also to those who contributed material. 27 dresses have been sent off this week to the orphanage in Mombasa. More information and pictures will be on our website soon http://www.wimbledonwi.org.uk/dress-a-girl-around-the-world/. Julia will be going out to Kenya again in September so, if you would like to make a dress or two, they would be gratefully received. We may run another workshop if there is sufficient demand.

Surrey Federation WI Annual Council Meeting – Ann, the Secretary, said she’d been to Dorking to represent our WI. She gave a brief rundown of the event. Copies of the Federation Chairman’s Address, Treasurer’s Report and the Budget for 2014-14 were on the Notice Board. A fuller report of the meeting would be on our April meeting Notice Board. Lynne Stubbings National Federation Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Training Committee gave a brief history of her involvement with the WI. and a glimpse of what the NFWI are planning for our Centenary Year. Lynne’s main message was that it was up to us as current WI members to make the most of our opportunities and help lay the foundations for current and future WI members to be the Inspiring Women of the next 100 years. During the return train journey Lynne asked Ann to send her greetings to Wimbledon WI and hoped we enjoyed our meeting that evening. Some of the forthcoming events in Surrey (details on Notice Board) mentioned at the Federation Annual Meeting were:

• Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) Awareness & Fundraising Walk 27 April 1pm Nonsuch Park
• Aspiring WI Speakers Auditions – A new venue for these events when afternoon and evening sessions were planned for 5 June in New Malden
• Croquet Taster day 11 July at Surbiton Croquet Club and
• Cranleigh Show on 2^nd August.

Notice Board – Ann reminded members to look at it. Among the other new material this month were:

• NFWI News extracts from April issue
• Extracts from Surrey News including, forthcoming events and results of the votes cast within Surrey Federation for the 4 resolutions we voted on at the end of last year
• Denman – A chance to attend The Real Downton Abbey: Literary Lunch Friday 2 May 2014 which coincidently follows on after our WI’s trip to Highclere on 24th April

·       Easter egg cosy knitting and socialget together -8pm Wednesday 2nd April – see end of this Hot Topics, and

• Different colours on member’s badges – Joanna had been issuing new labels for our members’ badges. We hope these will help members and visitors who have any queries to spot someone who might be able to tell them more about our WI. Click here for definitions

Signup sheets – The following were also available:

• Committee Taster – come and hear what we get up to on the Committee – it is your Committee for your WI, and
• Surrey WI News – Taking orders for this monthly magazine – price for 12 issues £3 for the year. Examples of previous issues were available. Final orders/payment (if not already paid) due at our April meeting.

Our Website – Joanna has given our Website a revamp and added some new material – do look at it regularly. Congratulations to Joanna for all her hard work on our Website which has been chosen to feature at WI’s Inspiring Women Working Together conferences around the country and described as “a great example of a WI website, linked to the NFWI site”.

HOT TOPICS MEETING FEBRUARY 17TH 2014

Agnes, the President, welcomed the 77 members and 3 guests to our meeting.

Speaker

We celebrated Kosovo’s Independence Day with Elizabeth Gowing.

Read more ›

Our Charity of the Year

99 members and 3 guests were present to hear and participate in a highly entertaining and interesting presentation by Anne Donaghy and Hamish Duncan from our Charity of the Year – Merton & Morden Guild http://www.mandmguild.org/(based in Morden).

Hamish explained the background to the setting up of the Charity for older people well over 50 years ago when the key concerns had been transport and heating.  Nothing much changes does it?  The Guild’s work includes lunches, shopping trips, bingo, dancing, exercises classes, as well as friendly get together e.g. over coffee.  Because of funding cuts, the Guild very much welcomes being our chosen Charity of the Year – whatever we could do to raise money would help them continue with their work.  Anne talked about the fitness classes started 15 years ago when there was increased evidence of older people not going out because they were afraid of falling.  The first session had 1 customer but this had increased by the last financial year to some 16,000 attendances at classes aimed at keeping older people fit and mobile.  Some now had sufficient mobility to brush their hair, do up buttons/zips, make cups of tea and put on socks/tights.  We joined her in a “gentle” seated group exercise session as an example of the sort of work done with frail people.  Even those who exercised regularly felt that we’d had a work out!  They left leaflets for us about the Guild (reference copies on the Notice Board during 2014).

Bring & Buy Sale

Clearly much inspired by what we’d heard, we’ve raised so far the massive total of £210.20p (including the monies from the chosen Charity voting in October) for the Merton & Morden Guild.  A big thank you all for your wonderful generosity with goods for the sale and for digging so deep into your pockets.  Thank you too to Jennifer and Fiona for coping with the stall and the rush of eager buyers!  Well done everyone – let’s keep at it for the rest of the year. Any items left over went with Hamish and Anne to use for their own charity raising events.