Women’s Institutes across our Federation have been oh so busy with spring things – and lots of super colourful and fun Jubilee activity – which is great to read about!
See our stories in the July-August Newsletter here.
Hello everyone
Well, I hope you all enjoyed the Jubilee weekend. Wasn’t it great to see all of the banners and bunting – and I don’t think I have ever seen so many ‘Queen Elizabeths’ in so many different places!
And what about the street parties—for some people bringing back memories of the Silver Jubilee (!)—the number of road closures were testament to how much we all just wanted to celebrate!
I would love to know how many tea parties were held over the Jubilee weekend. Did you have one? Please send us your photos for Middlesex News so that we can enjoy the celebrations all over again!
It was good to see some of you at the Annual Meeting in Liverpool and it was also good to get together with members from all over the country.
Several of us travelled from Middlesex; thank you all for attending and for your company in the evening. It was great to meet up with so many Middlesex members and find out what was going on in your WIs.
I think the hybrid meeting was a great success, allowing members who couldn’t get to Liverpool to enjoy and take part in the proceedings—and I was right, Jerusalem really did send shivers down the spine!
It was interesting to hear from the President of the Scottish Women’s Institutes, Anne Kerr, and the Federation Chairman of the Federation of Women’s Institutes of Northern Ireland, Margaret Broome.
The Chair told us that she doesn’t cook, bake, do crafts or flower arranging so jokingly questioned whether she should be in the WI at all! Of course we all know that you don’t need to do these things to enjoy the WI and all it has to offer—the WI is what you want it to be.
This year’s resolution was passed with an overwhelming majority. The speakers ‘for’ the resolution made their points with real passion and even the ‘against’ speaker wasn’t against the actual Resolution, just possibly the specific wording.
My WI will have information on how you can support this resolution in your own WIs.
The first main speaker, Kate Garbers, gave a sobering talk on the modern slave trade and reminded us that victims of this dreadful trade are potentially all around us, hidden in plain sight.
The second speaker was Sarah Clarke OBE, the first female Black Rod in its 650-year history; she has also held several other ‘first woman’ posts and worked in senior roles in various sports organisations. Well done to National Office for securing such interesting guests. You can also read Trustee Julia Lewis’s report on page 3, and see a few of photos of our team in Liverpool!
Next year’s meeting will be in Cardiff; it would be good to see you there.
As a Federation, we are hoping in the future to start arranging some events for you to get involved in, so look out for your Middlesex News each month for more information.
As I am writing this, the sun is shing and the temperature is rising—let’s hope Summer is here!
Hope you all have an enjoyable month.
Angela
Here we are in late spring, and our WIs are back in full swing again with meetings, outings and special events. So much so we have a bumper ten-page Middlesex News this month!
Click here or on the image to read it.
As our WIs get back into the swing of in-person meetings and events, there’s so much more to read about in our monthly newsletter. Click here, or the image, to take a look.
It’s newsletter time again, and the first newsletter for our incoming Chair, Angela Chessman.
Our WIs are really getting back into their meeting vibes – lots of great speakers, crafts, food, ideas. read about some of them here!
Here’s our newsletter for March 2022, and its a special one. It’s Lorraine’s final newsletter as Chair, just ahead of our 2022 ACM. Lorraine and I (Emma) have worked on 33 newsletters together, and I’ll miss our monthly messages as the MXN is compiled, as well as Lorraine’s eagle eye—she’s a great Chair but also a very good proofreader!
Thank you for all your support with the newsletter, and best wishes Lorraine as you enjoy a bit more free time… or will that be crafting time, maybe…?
Welcome to the dawning of 2022. I do hope you have all had an enjoyable and restful festive break. At the time of writing, I have no idea what the future holds regarding Covid restrictions, but hope that anything that is required is only done out of necessity and it does not impact anyone too much.
There is a lot to think about in the first quarter of 2022: Subscriptions, Resolutions, Federation Board Nominations (see pages 4-5) and our Annual Council Meeting on 9 March 2022, all of which your WI Secretary will have information on. Not to forget a lot of programme planning still needed or finalised by your WIs: a committee’s work is never done, as we know. Please do support and help your Officers & Committee members to make your WI what you want it to be for the coming year.
Someone recently asked me why I do what I do…. The simple answer is because I can. I do what I can, when I can, for the benefit of others and I voice my opinion (which I know at times is unwanted!). I could sit back and let the world happen but then I would achieve nothing—it’s the same for you as members: be part of it, even if only giving your opinion as it all matters.
Let’s continue with 2022 being an inclusive, supportive and happy time for members across the Federation from the ground up. Have fun whatever you do.
I raise my glass to you all as myself and the Board of Trustees wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Happy New Year! Here, to welcome in the new year, is a January newsletter from Middlesex Federation. Click the image to read the PDF.
Update Middlesex News was re-published on 16 January 2022: refer page 2 of the revised newsletter for details.
Here’s our December 2021 newsletter as a PDF, for you to print or share (click the image!).
