Is anyone feeling sporty? Our tribute to the Olympic Games?

This may be of interest to some members...

The digital photography course organised by County was such a success....

..... they have organised two more sessions!

Julie Ayre's July message to us all!

Chairman's Message Board - July 2016

Resolution Results – Correction 
If you attended the Annual Meeting at Brighton, you may have been a little confused by the results of the Resolution voting. I have been sent a correction and apology for the mistake from NFWI. With respect of the resolution entitled ‘Appropriate care in hospitals for people with dementia’ the resolution was passed with 79.4% as announced at the Annual Meeting, however  the correct numbers of votes cast for the above resolution were as follows: 
Votes cast in favour:  4,920   (not 3,305 as announced at the meeting) 
Votes cast against: 1,274  (not 856 as announced at the meeting)

NFWI Resolution Submissions 2016/17
Is there a really burning issue you would like to take forward for the WI to campaign on? This is your opportunity to submit a resolution for consideration. For more details please contact me as soon as possible as the closing date is 14th September 2016.

Autumn Council Meeting – Barnstaple, Wednesday 12th October 2016
Look out for the enclosure in this month’s mailout. Our main speaker Michael Bowyer, I am sure will be familiar to many of you. He was the principal organiser of the Flower festival in Salisbury Cathedral held in September last year and has entertained us before with his flamboyant style of flower arranging and floral design. We also have a speaker from Crimestoppers, an item on Emergency Planning as well as the Jubilee singers and to finish off the day, some of the Radio Devon competition winners performing their own Raps!  Don’t miss out on another great day.

We will be presenting the Chairman’s Rose Bowl at the Autumn Council Meeting for that member who has ‘gone that extra mile’ for the WI or the wider community. A letter detailing your reasons for nominating the member should be sent to the Federation Office (The Firs) to arrive no later than 2nd September 2016. 
We will also be awarding the Florence Maisie Smith Music Bursary and the Dorothy Riding Bursary (see Denman enclosure).  Contact the Office as soon as possible to find out more details and how to apply for both of these.

Sub-committee vacancies
Are you interested in getting more involved with Federation activities? The best way to start is by joining one of our subcommittees. The Foods, Crafts and Skills Subcommittee and the Sport and Leisure Subcommittee are both looking for more members. Their newsletter columns will give you an idea of what events they organize but if you think you might be interested in joining them contact the relevant Chairman, Janet Connolly (FCS) and Rita Nebbett (S&L) to find out more. Give it a go you have nothing to lose and so much to gain!

Associated Country Women of the World – Pennies (Coins) for Friendship 
We received a lovely letter from Helena Alty, ACWW, thanking us for the donation of £5,448.19 from the Pennies (Coins) for Friendship collections. She asked me to pass on their thanks to the members of the Devon WIs for their wonderful generosity and support of the work of ACWW which connects and supports women and communities worldwide.  So, well done ladies, keep up the good work!

Adult colouring
Have you or your WI tried adult colouring or taken it up as a regular hobby? If you have, Hattie Parrish from WI Life at h.parish@nfwi.org.uk would like to hear from you. She would like to know about your experiences – whether or not you enjoyed it, what you get out of it , why you do it, etc  for a feature in WI Life on this new craze.

Stewards for Council Meetings and other events
Thank you to all the ladies who have expressed interest in being part of our Steward Scheme. We haven’t forgotten you, and will be in touch shortly to let you know when we hope to run a training day at The Firs.

Volunteering during International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks
In September up to one thousand delegates will be coming to Torbay from all around the world to attend the above conference. The conference will take place over 4 days at the Riviera Centre in Torquay and the organisers thought that some of our members in the area might be interested in attending the conference as volunteers, for welcoming, registration, providing information etc.  For more information contact me in the first instance.

Julie Ayre, Federation Chairman

Do you like the idea of going on a Denman Course?

Are you one of the people who would love to go on a fabulous course at our very own WI college, Denman? Worried about the cost? Here is your chance! You could be lucky enough to win a bursary: 

This is a tad early, but a very good idea, all the same:

Here are some County events for the Autumn:

Elly has all of the information if you would like to know more.

Our County Trustees

Devon WI

1 hr · 

Our Board of Trustees, who took themselves to lunch after last week's meeting to join Valerie Styles who recently retired after 10 years as federation treasurer:
left to right (standing) Alexis Swain, Margaret Craig, Carmen Luscombe, Shirley May Saunders, Jenny Roberts, Catherine Williams, Angie Williams (sitting) Sheena McDonald, Pat Wyatt, Julie Ayre, Sally Wilson, Rita Nebbett

Six Brixham members joined the County trip to Hampton Court

As you can see the 6 of us had a really "miserable"  time on our Hampton Court trip............ 😄
It was an excellent two days. We stopped in Lacock for several hours on the way and Annie and I spent a good two hours in the abbey which was fascinating as we were able to talk to many of the volunteers, then tea in the gardens of the oldest pub where we joined two Galmpton members. The hotel was excellent and the 6 of us went for a quick swim before dinner. The food was first class,  served starter, excellent carvery, served desert then coffee and much laughter!
Really excellent brekkie before off to Hampton Court where we met these guys who hailed us with  " hello WI ladies" and decided to join our photo shoot sitting right infront of my carefully selected Welcome to Hampton Court Flower Show sign!!  We all had a great day and even the lengthy journey home went unnoticed as we had so many laughs,  Beryl said that she ached all the next day!