Merry Christmas!

Kingswear Group of WIs held the Carol service today in the Methodist Church here in Brixham. It was a lovely service with plenty of members singing the traditional carols. The minister, Doug Rix, asked us to think of Mary as a role model, especially during the Christmas period. He enlisted the help of some of Brixham WI Drama group to illustrate his points. It was very entertaining and memorable, a good Christmas message.

The collection and proceeds from the tea and delicious mince pies (with clotted cream!) went towards the 'toilet twinning' project currently being supported by the church. They have already helped to provide toilets in several poor communities across the world as well as in a school. The benefits are not simply in improved sanitation, but also, very importantly, in helping to ensure the safety of women. We raised over £120!

Here are some of our beaded Christmas baubles in action:

I'm hoping that other members of the craft group who spent a very enjoyable September day with Sandy, creating the baubles, will send me their photos, too.

Would you look at this! We are truly ahead of the craft game at Brixham WI! 

This photo has just been posted on Facebook by Denman College: 

What a way to round off our year of meetings!

Brixham WI welcomed plenty of guests from neighbouring WIs as well as our members to a rather spectacular Christmas party! How lovely to see friends and to be able to chat and have a few laughs! As always the food was delicious and plentiful! The drama group put on a splendid show and the craft group created a wonderful snowman for each guest to take home.... with a number of spares! 

Our collection of gifts for the Women's Refuge is amazing! Thank you everyone! If you would like to donate, please bring your wrapped gift to our Carol service on Wednesday. This is what we have collected so far! 

A message from Julie Ayres

Chairman's Message Board - December 2016

New WIs

Great news, Exminster WI will be having a formation meeting at 7.30pm at the Victory Hall Exminster on 24 January 2017. This follows a preliminary meeting at the end of October, to determine if there was enough interest in setting up the WI when 89 ladies turned up! Exminster WI will meet on the 4th Monday of every month at 7.30pm.

Cranbrook WI. A preliminary meeting for this new WI is scheduled for 7 December at 7.30pm at the Education Campus at Cranbrook (Tilehouse Road, Cranbrook, EX5 7EE) and if there is sufficient interest a formation meeting will take place on 4 January 2017.

There are also discussions underway for another new WI and I will let you know more details when they are available. Our thanks go to the Advisers;  setting up new WIs takes a lot of time and effort. Well done all of you!

Devon County Show Remembers 18 - 20 May 2017

As the centenary of the First World War continues, the Craft and Garden Marquee at Devon County Show 2017 is creating a carpet of handmade poppies as a tribute to the 11,000 Devon men and women who lost their lives in the First World War. We have been approached by Deborah Custance Baker, the Chief Steward of the Marquee, where we also have our stand every year, to ask if members would like to participate in making a poppy and adding it to the carpet. There will also be an opportunity to include a dedication in their Dedication Book with your poppy. This sounds like a lovely idea and something I am sure you would like to take part in. Look out for more details/ patterns, etc. in the New Year.

A Message from your County Treasurer

A little reminder that no one should be out of pocket when doing things for your WI. Make sure everyone knows they are entitled to claim expenses. Wherever possible try to support these claims with receipts so that you can keep your accounts straight.

Corrections : For your information:   

• In the Devon Federation Denman Break enclosure, the dates should read FRIDAY 29 September – SUNDAY 1 October 2017
• For the Portsmouth trip on 29-30 June 2017 there WILL also be a coach pick up point at Newton Abbot. 

Merry Christmas and Thanks. 

A shorter Message Board this month, but I don’t want to miss this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and  a Happy New Year.  The Federation continues to thrive and new WIs are opening around the County and it is all due to your continuing support and enthusiasm.  

A big thank you to the Board of Trustees, Subcommittee members,  Advisers and Office staff for all your hard work this year  and a special thank you to Joyce Ridgwell, our Newsletter Editor and the members who come into The Firs and package up the newsletters and enclosures ready for mailing out to you every month. We do appreciate you all, but don’t perhaps say it often enough.

With my very best wishes

julie.ayre@devonwi.org.uk

Photos of the latest Dart Bay craft event!

We made jewelled biscuits, a mosaic candle holder and a delicate paper lantern.

A sociable time at this morning's coffee morning!

Halfway through and the cake table was almost empty! 

Barbara spent the morning slaving over a hot dishwasher!

Mary and Val having an enjoyable time! 

WI coffee morning at the Community Centre tomorrow!

The national grid will have noticed a surge in Brixham today from all of those WI kitchens, where cakes and biscuits have been carefully prepared! 

Don't miss out on the delicious milky coffee, revitalising tea and biscuits and a great opportunity to have a lovely social time with friends. 

There will be cakes to buy and take home to share as well as our usual bric a brac stall, with plenty of bargains to be snapped up! 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Some County events which look interesting....

What a brilliant meeting!

Here we are, getting ready for the meeting.

Checking out the sales table, reading the latest County News and catching up with everyone.

 

Then Marilyn, Beryl and Mavis demonstrated their expert flower arranging skills. Marilyn explained what she was doing, answered plenty of questions and gave us lots of tips. 

Look at those gorgeous little robins! 

The competition entries were judged, the raffle prizes won and Kate T shared her inspiring thought of the month. Then Mary auctioned the lovely flower arrangements so that numerous Brixham homes are now beautifully adorned.

We are meeting this week!

At this month's meeting we will learn how to make some beautiful flower arrangements for Christmas!  

Also! The competition to win the Kingswear Cup is to make an A5 Christmas card (that is the usual size for a card!)  surely lots of us can have a go? Let's overwhelm the judges with choice! Let's make their task really difficult! Come on Everybody! 

If you have won a prize or cup, proudly displayed at home, please bring it back on Thursday, polished and shining ready to be presented for the efforts of 2016.

It's coffee time!

Are you free on Thursday morning? Come along to my coffee morning in aid of our fabulous Denman College. Entry £1.50 for a drink and a biscuit. Delicious cakes will cost extra..... there will be a raffle and a bring and buy.

Time for a chat and for the Drama club to eat some cake to give themselves energy for their rehearsal in the afternoon! 

I'm looking forward to seeing you all! I will email everyone as well! 

Which resolution will you choose?

Now is the moment for us to start thinking about which one of the selected resolutions we will choose - individually. At this stage it is a personal choice for each one of us to make. More details are in the next issue of WI Life magazine and on the WI website.

2016/17 Resolutions Shortlist 1. Alleviating loneliness

This meeting calls on every WI and the NFWI to work alongside health and social care providers and their local community to raise awareness of the causes and impacts of loneliness, thus ensuring better identification of lonely people in order to be able to offer them the appropriate assistance and support.

2. FGM: More Awareness for More Action

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been illegal in the UK for over 30 years and the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 made it illegal to aid, abet or procure the carrying out of FGM abroad. However, there have been no successful prosecutions of those involved. The NFWI calls on the government to improve efforts to measure and disclose the prevalence of FGM in the UK and to take further action to help secure more successful prosecutions of those involved in this abusive practice and thereby advance the health of women who have suffered or may be at risk of suffering FGM. 

3. Equal access for all who need specialised maternal mental health services 

There is presently an acute shortage of quality specialised maternal mental health services, meaning that many vulnerable women, their babies, and families face a postcode lottery of perinatal mental health support. The NFWI calls on NHS commissioners to prioritise the development of specialised perinatal mental health support services so that pregnant and postnatal women, their babies, and families are able to access the support they need. 

4. Provision of appropriate welfare and safe spaces for women and children in refugee camps 

Millions of women and children are fleeing conflict and disaster around the world, finding themselves at risk of violence, abuse and exploitation in refugee camps. This meeting calls on all WI members and the NFWI to raise awareness of the risks facing women and children refugees and push for action to ensure they have access to safe places to eat and sleep, to get the care they need and space to learn and play.

5. Supporting women’s refuges

Many women and children rely on refuges to escape violence and abusive relationships, but in recent years refuges have faced significant cuts to their services. The NFWI calls upon the Government to safeguard refuges and increase service provision in areas without adequate support.

6. Plastic Soup: Keep microplastic fibres out of our oceans

Microplastic fibres are shed from synthetic clothing with every wash and are the main contributors to microplastic contamination of the oceans. The NFWI calls on Government and industry to research and develop innovative solutions to this problem in order to stop the accumulation of microplastic fibres in our oceans. 

A wonderful day out with Brixham WI!

Off we went on the coach to Wells, for a wander through the town to meet up at the entrance to the beautiful Bishop's Palace.

Some of our group took a fascinating guided tour of the gardens, visiting the pools where the wells of Wells begin. Some went straight away into the craft fair, and some of us....

...... and then, after we had wandered around the craft fair, made some purchases and been intrigued and impressed by the skill and variety of the items on sale. It was very special being able to walk around inside the Bishop's Palace. 

Thank you to Barbara and Mary for organising it all. We had a great day! 

October meeting

We were given a fascinating insight into life at the time of HMS Venerable; especially surprising to learn was the number of women who lived on board ship. We discovered how the phrases 'son of a gun' and 'loose cannon' originated and were amazed to learn just how many people were employed by the navy at that time. Most interesting.

Here are the pictures of the competition entries: 

Autumn Council Meeting in Barnstaple...

......was a fabulous day! Everything ran very smoothly, Sheila and I had excellent seats, right in the middle with nothing to mar our view of the stage! There was a most interesting talk from the chairman of Crime Stoppers UK who are doing fantastically successful work, collecting information and passing it on to the police or relevant agency. Anyone can call to report something they aren't happy about without giving a name or any contact details at all. 

Our afternoon speaker is the top man in UK flower arranging, designing, training and judging. He gave a most enjoyable demonstration accompanied by his very funny anecdotes and some beautiful music.

I took some photographs, but I'm afraid the quality is poor - but I think you need to see his creations which were breath taking:

This one was bursting with rich Autumn colours, and reminded us of a firework display.

This was my favourite - green and white. He explained how the different flowers gave varied textures to a design.

Michael is standing in front of the green and white display, but it appears to be merging into his shirt! Even though it is such a poor photo, I think you can grasp the drama and majesty of his arrangements.

The day finished with two of the St George's Day rap prize winners performing their rap for us! They were spectacular, very clever and funny! Sheila and I whooped and cheered Kate and she gave a marvellous performance - with most of the audience joining in with the 'Yo' at the end of each chorus! Even the Devon trustee who thanked them both began with 'Yo!' 

Here is the monthly message from Julie Ayres, our County Chair

Chairman's Message Board - October 2016

Autumn Council Meeting
I’m looking forward to meeting many of you at the Autumn Council meeting in Barnstaple.  It should be a great day.  If you haven’t ordered tickets yet there still may be some spare seats, contact the Office and check!  Please note that the Park & Ride at Barnstaple is now closed.

Congratulations to Sylvia Crocker, Lewtrenchard WI.  You may recall in May that I mentioned Sylvia's campaign to encourage supermarkets to stock milk in a more prominent place, which was successful in a number of Tesco stores in Devon. An article in the September WI Life hopefully will encourage other WIs around the country to use a little 'pester power' to urge their local supermarkets to follow suit.

Hand-made Poppies.  I have been contacted by Jenny Liggins who has been making poppies for the British Legion since 2011 and to date has raised over £10,000 for the Legion.  She is contacting us now as she would like to prepare for 2018 which will be a very special year and wonders whether the WI would like to join her in this project in the Exeter area.  The poppies are varied with knitted, crocheted, felted and polyester organza examples.  If any WIs are interested in joining her group to make poppies, please contact Jenny directly for more details at jenny@gordonhurden.co.uk

WI Fair at Alexandra Palace  29-30 March 2017.  In response to your requests the Federation has organised a coach trip to attend the WI Fair in Alexandra Palace in March 2017.  The flyer is with your Secretaries now.  To make the most of the trip we have included a visit to Kew Gardens on the way up to London and an overnight stay so we will have a full day at the WI Fair before coming home.  This should be a great trip so don't miss out!

NFWI Mailings. Your Secretary should have received the latest mailings from National, which includes a couple of questionnaires on one of this year's Resolutions 'Avoid food waste, address food poverty' and a campaign action pack for the other Resolution 'Carers welcome'.  Let's all get behind these Resolutions!

Talking of Resolutions  I am pleased to be able to announce that 4 WIs from Devon have put forward Resolutions for consideration in 2017.  Well done to Stoke Gabriel, Down St Mary, Down Thomas & Heybrook Bay and Plymouth Hartley WIs.  Their proposals will all be discussed on 29th September in London and I will let you know if they get selected to go forwards.

Annual National Council Meeting. Sally Wilson, the Federation Treasurer and myself will be attending the ANC meeting on 7-9 October in Bedfordshire along with the other 68 Federations.  I will be able to provide a brief report on the meeting at the Autumn Council meeting and in the next Message board.  The topics included are federation success stories, the role of key federation contacts, the Resolution process review and WI membership.  Plenty of scope for some lively discussion by the sounds of it.  

julie.ayre@devonwi.org.uk

Click here if you would like to print or download a pdf version of this message board

This looks like a lot of FUN! Shall we do it?

To watch the video of the flash dance, copy and paste the link into the URL bar at the top of your page. It's worth it! 

Christmas beaded baubles workshop

What a successful, sociable and altogether rather marvellous day we spent at the Lytehouse learning how to decorate golden baubles for the Christmas tree. How patiently Sandy described and explained what to do, and so many times! We had a very clear hand out with diagrams and written instructions (which we had to be reminded once or twice to follow!), which made it very clear. 

A huge thank you to Sandy who did a marvellous job, preparing an excellent bag of kit for each of us, not to mention the cake and biscuits.

I don't want to bother you, Sandy, but......

Very important part of the day:

Thank you to Annie, Val, Elly and everyone else who made tea and washed up.