Middlesex Federation of Women’s Institutes
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Middlesex Federation of Women's Institutes

MFWI Updates

A note from Emma Watson, Middlesex News editor

Emma wearing a grey t-shirt sitting at a pub table with a hamburger and chips,

As most of you are aware, I’ve been editing the MFWI newsletter for over four years, having taken on the role in April 2019. This edition is my fiftieth edition (yes, 50!), and marks a handover to our Federation Secretary Georgina Glynn (George), who will be taking over newsletter production. As we make this transition, I’ll be here to give a helping hand as the process is bedded in, but from this issue on, George is in charge!

Both George and I have access to the Newsletter email account and there is no change to how you will submit information, or to deadlines. To make George’s life easier, please try to keep your submissions to 150 words, and send photos at their original size, as separate attachments wherever possible. I’m sure you’ll welcome George to this role and we both thank you for your patience as she gets to grips with the newsletter.

Whilst the workload of the newsletter is not something I will miss (my friends are frankly sick of hearing, “Sorry, I have a newsletter to finish!”), I have very much enjoyed the interaction I have with all of you, and I do feel I’ve got to know so many members, many of whom I’ve still not met in person. It continues to be a wonderful way to keep up with the goings-on in the Federation. Thank you all for your ongoing support of our Federation and the newsletter in particular.

George already has some fresh new ideas for future newsletters and I certainly look forward to seeing them!

Finally, I’m still on the Board of Trustees, and available at emmawatson@mfwi.org.uk, and continue to provide support via digitalteam@mfwi.org.uk for all tech queries.

Very warm wishes

– Emma

Reflections on Cardiff 2023

The Annual meeting at Cardiff was the first National event I had attended.

I was excited to be part of such a large gathering of WI members, and to be voting for a Resolution that really spoke to me personally. As a year-round swimmer and lover of wildlife, I feel passionate about the Environment, and our responsibility towards it.

The weather was perfect, and once arrived in Cardiff, I travelled with Debbie, Chris and Caroline to Penarth, to swim in the sea and sample local Welsh ice-cream on the beautiful Victorian pier. Walking back into Cardiff across the Barrage, with views of the freshwater lake and sea, we were reminded how important it is to look to the future and put plans in place to support wildlife and outdoor leisure pursuits. (Scroll down for info on Teddington’s river event in support of the resolution)

It was inspiring to see how Mermaid Quay (Cardiff’s waterfront precinct) supports this, with the Bay trail for cycles and walking, sailing, paddle boarding and swimming on offer, as well as a variety of wildlife, including the amazing Swift Nesting Tower, with its eerie calls ringing across the bay.

The Conference day itself was overwhelming, exciting and definitely inspirational. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled as thousands of voices sang Jerusalem together. I loved hearing the speakers talk about their personal journeys through life, following their dreams with passion and resilience.

I felt privileged to be part of such a huge group of women, working together to bring about change through education, campaigning and never giving up. I would go again in a heartbeat and am already looking forward to the event in London next year!

—Sian Cooley, President, Teddington WI

MFWI Annual Council Meeting 2023

What a fabulous day we had at The Questors Theatre in Ealing for our 2023 Annual Council Meeting on Monday 20 March.

It was amazing to get back together in person for the first time since 2019 in a lovely venue, only made even better by two truly fabulous speakers. Presenters stood at the front of a thrust stage with the set of Death on the Nile behind, adding an exotic atmosphere to the proceedings!

To echo Angela’s comments, members who were not there really did miss out on a lovely time. We’ve had much lovely feedback from so many of our members, which is very reassuring.

Enjoy these photos of the day!

Scroll down for our Federation Archivist Liz Alcock’s take on the day.

Liz Alcock’s ACM Reflections

Boss: So, the ACM… Would you introduce and thank the morning Speaker?

Me: No probs… after all I was President of Finchley WI for a few years AND faced classes of boys for 19+ years!

Boss: Oh! And can you give a report on archiving?

Me: Sure thing!

The ACM day arrived, and me—with a spare folding table and folder of Introduction & Report. But (you knew there’d be one, didn’t you?), after a brief chat with the awesome and very friendly Bonita Norris I took the spotlight at the podium… and started shaking! I really had no idea how I was progressing with my short contribution, but I assumed the delightfully kind audience laughed with me rather than at me, but laugh they did. To be honest, it was a relief after all the serious facts and figures of business! Bonita was fabulous, as were her magical slides.

Lunch break gave time to wander, reconnect with old friends and make new ones then it was onto the afternoon session. Shorter (no business except me again; I do hope everyone got the message to contact me with any queries) and extremely well entertained by the versatile actor, Eliza McClelland. Such professional skill, relaxed and fun. Could have listened (and laughed) with her for hours!

Then—all too soon—we were folding away tables, loading cars and wandering off with silly grins stuck to our faces.

If you attended, thank you for generous tolerance of a newbie. If you thought it wasn’t worth coming—you were wrong! You missed a treat, but don’t beat yourselves up—we’ll do it all over again next year and will welcome you with the open arms of WI sisterhood!

Welcome to our Federation Secretary

Middlesex Federation welcomed its new secretary Georgina Glynn in September 2022. Welcome, Georgina! We’re glad to have you as part of the team and also to have our federation office open again on a regular basis. The office is now open 9am-1pm Mondays and Wednesdays, plus for scheduled craft and training sessions.

Georgina in a black tshirt standing in front of the Federation banner

Hello!

My name is Georgina Glynn, but you can call me George (just don’t tell my mum) and I am the newly-appointed secretary for the Middlesex Federation of Women’s Institutes.

So who am I? I’m a recently graduated financial economics student who managed to mix my love for food sustainability with my economic knowledge to obtain a very expensive piece of paper (otherwise known as a degree).

My love for the environment extends far beyond just studying it as I try do my small part everyday to help protect our wonderful planet.

Another passion I have is cooking. I love to experiment with recipes from around the world, to try and find the ultimate dinner menu. If I’m not in the kitchen, I’ll probably be participating or watching sports, in particular rugby. I am a huge rugby fan and am very excited for the Women’s Rugby World Cup coming up very soon.

I look forward to interacting with many of you, be it via the phone or by email and potentially meeting some of you in person, too.

NFWI ACM 2022 – we went to Liverpool!

Another successful AGM with our NFWI Chair, Ann Jones hosting around 3,000 women; some at the Liverpool Conference and some on Zoom. As we know as she settles in to her role, she is always calm, excited and smiley and leads with a positive vibe and her lovely Welsh accent!

Our Honorary Treasurer Jeryl Stone reminded all to try to get Gift Aid from your subscriptions and also ‘please mention leaving a legacy for WI in wills’.

We then heard from the Federation Chairman of the Federation of Women’s Institutes of Northern Ireland, Margaret Broome, who told us about splitting their 90th birthday celebrations in to nine separate events across the region.

Anne Kerr, President of the Scottish Women’s Institutes, talked about having COP-26 coming there and highlighted the SWI’s own campaigns for change and transformation.

Kate Garbers, founder of the anti-slavery organisation Unseen gave an excellent talk on Modern Slavery and the fact that in UK nationals make up a large proportion of the victims. Safe houses, help-lines, professional counselling etc can all be offered once a victim is identified – we need to learn the signs of this happening and Public Affairs holds support materials for your own WI.  You can ring the Police (101) or Crime Stoppers too.  There are dedicated helplines – this is happening all over the UK in so many forms. Anti-Slavery Day is on 18 October.

Our Guest Speaker was Sarah Clarke OBE, Black Rod, the first female Black Rod in 650 years. Moving on from managing major events career as Championship Director Wimbledon gave Sarah all the leadership tools needed for her new role.

She said that she hardly ever gives talks but knowing WI members herself, she knew she would have to accept this request!

Again, enthusiasm for the role and calmness and dedication gave her huge success at Wimbledon and to work on many other major events which carries her forward in her role today.  She was most inspiring.

All of us will have considered and discussed and read our resolution on ASD/ADHD in women and girls. it was the alternative viewpoint that we maybe did not know about and an excellent talk was given discussing dependence on drugs/categorisation is not the key/remove diagnosis as a gatekeeper/lack of support services/long waiting lists and whether support is given to the right level of need of each individual.  It was a brave ‘against’ but the audience gave huge credence to the points raised and learnt about how Devon authorities are trying new ways of approaching the diagnosis and level of needs of girls.

The 2022 resolution was carried by 96% and your own votes were cast as you requested.

MFWI members standing in front of the coach which took them to Liverpool.
MFWI members in front of sculptures of The Beatles

200+ Club Winners – June 2022

Congratulations to the winners of our recent 200+ Club draw for June 2022

1st prize – £35
Linda Frise, Hampton Tudor Rose

2nd prize – £20
Lorraine Reed, Ruislip Evening

3rd prize – £15
Mary Jeffery, Stanwell

Happy Birthday – June 2022

Happy birthday to WIs in Middlesex celebrating birthdays this month:
Southbourne
03 June 1953

Greenford
11 June 1985

Hayes Town
17 June 1993

Stanmore
18 June 2018

Finchley
13 May 2009

Stanwell
15 May 1919

Ladies Of The Lock
26 May 2016

200+ Club Winners – April & May 2022

Congratulations to the winners of our recent 200+ Club daws.

April 2022

1st prize – £35
Elizabeth Owen, West Drayton

2nd prize – £20
Margaret Smith, Iver

3rd prize – £15
E Hutton, Manor Farm

May 2022

1st prize – £35
Linda Frise, Hampton Tudor Rose

2nd prize – £20
Lorraine Reed, Ruislip Evening

3rd prize – £15
Mary Jeffery, Stanwell

Trustees farewell outgoing Chair Lorraine Reed

In April 2022, the Board of Trustees said our own thank you to Lorraine Reed who stepped down from her role as Federation Chair in March. Lorraine did a brilliant job steering the Federation through the difficult Covid period, even staying on for an extra year in the hope of sharing our Centenary celebrations.

Seven trustees sitting around a restaurant table, about to start eating their desserts.
Pictured clockwise from left: Heather McIntyre, Emma Watson, Julia Lewis, Sarah Endersby, Lorraine Reed-Wenman, Angela Chessman, Liz Alcock, Alison Fremantle

Unfortunately, this was not to be, but we all just wanted to show our gratitude to Lorraine—so we treated her to a lovely lunch on the South Bank.

It was good to get together face to face, as the majority of our meetings are still via Zoom, and while Zoom is very convenient it’s not the same as actually meeting up. The meal was delicious (and so was the wine!) and a good time was had by all.

Thank you to all of my colleagues for a lovely meet-up—and especially to Sarah Endersby for making the arrangements.

Annual Council Meeting 2022

For the third year running, our Middlesex Federation Annual Council Meeting was held online, following a poll of our members. It was disappointing for us as we hoped to begin or end our centenary year in person, however we were pleased to have a healthy turnout online.

Outgoing Chair Lorraine Reed-Wenman, in her final ACM, welcomed Zoom attendees and spoke of the challenges of the past year and her period as Chair as a whole, while Treasurer Sarah Endersby presented the Financial Report.

We were very pleased to welcome an excellent speaker, Petra Wenham, a member of Cake and Revolution WI in Ipswich, Suffolk. Petra was the first openly transgender WI member to appear on the cover of WI Life magazine (July-Aug 2021). Petra shared her personal journey, of coming out to her wife Loraine in 2015, to living full-time as a woman in 2018, and joining the WI.

We hope you enjoyed the meeting if you were able to attend, but very much hope for a fabulous in-person meeting in 2023!

Congratulations, Angela!

Following the ACM, the Board of Trustees, without departing Chair Lorraine, continued the online meeting to elect a Chair to lead us through the next three years, assisted by Hertfordshire Federation Trustee Maggie Eccleston. We congratulate Angela Chessman on her appointment! Angela, a member of Stanwell WI, was co-opted onto the Board in 2016, enjoying her role as Denman Ambassador while Denman College was operating. More recently she ran the 200+ Club. Good luck Angela: we wish you well for your term as Chair!
Middlesex Federation Board of Trustees for 2022-23, with outgoing Chair Lorraine Reed-Wenman and Maggie Eccleston of Hertfordshire Federation.