Coffee morning on 4th March

At Stoke Gabriel village hall.

Details

Linda: "As you may be aware, I am raising money for Torbay Breast Care Unit as they are trying to create a garden that will be a peaceful place for people to start to come to terms with their diagnosis. 

I was treated very well at Torbay Hospital and feel I want to give something back. 

We are also raising money for Cancer Reserch UK on a 50/50 basis. Both of these charities are very close to my heart so I hope you can support me by coming to the Coffee Morning. 

The entrance fee will be £1 which will include a cup of coffee or tea and a biscuit. There will also be a cake stall, a book stall and a draw. Hope to see you there."

The Monthly message from Julie Ayre

 2017

Spring Council Meeting (SCM) April 12 2017

I’m looking forward to meeting many of you at the Spring Council meeting, make your bookings as soon as possible, but even if you don’t get this Message Board until after the closing date do enquire at the office for spare seats. Don’t miss Mandy Hickson!

Reminder - ‘Save Denman’ Fundraising - Don’t forget those laundered Scarves for sale at the SCM.

2018 Calendars. We are trying something new this year.

In the past the Delegate who attends the SCM is asked to take a preview calendar back to their WI and the remainder are mailed out to WIs. Each WI is normally asked to purchase at least one calendar. In response to your comments, we will be providing a A3 preview sheet only as an example and asking WIs to order calendars once their members have had chance to see the preview sheet.

Join Devon’s email programme 

Sheena McDonald, our web editor, has informed me that she has had a good response to last month’s invitation to join our email programme. In case you missed it, the enclosure has been repeated this month.

Be part of this great project!

Making Devon Federation Dementia Friendly

A number of WIs in Devon have been embracing the Dementia Friendly concept by inviting Heather Penwarden or one of the other Dementia Champions to speak to your WI and then some of you have become Dementia Friends. Others, such as Silverton WI have gone a step further and have opened their own Memory  Café.  

The Board of Trustees would now like to determine if the Devon Federation as a whole would like to become a Dementia Friendly organisation.

Heather has agreed to be Chairman of a small steering committee and we are to inviting members who are interested in joining this committee to contact Heather at  heather.penwarden@devonwi.org.uk.

We anticipate the committee would only meet every few months over the next couple of years and would look at what is happening already in the Federation, and share ideas via the Devon newsletter, website and Facebook. In addition the committee will investigate other ideas that the Federation or WIs  could use to help their members who have memory problems and even set up a dementia resource area on our website.  

DFWI 2020 Questionnaire

We had a nearly 70% response rate to our questionnaire, thank you to all the WIs who took part.

There was an overwhelming preference for the large event in 2020 to take place in June, but the preferences for weekday versus weekend were much closer but with the majority happy to attend either, so the final choice will have to be determined by availability of a large enough venue.

Media Support Group

Are you interested in social media, computers, websites, development of the newsletter? This new group might be just for you. Help us to take the Federation forward. Check out the full details in the March Devon Newsletter.

Lots to get your teeth into this month, don't miss out!

WI Lunch

Twenty of us gathered for pre lunch drinks and chat before settling down to a gorgeous meal. Those of us who chose the melon starter were presented with a tumbler full of sparkling, multi coloured melon balls! It looked and tasted amazing! Everything was beautifully presented and it all tasted good, too! 

As always, the company was excellent, and we ended the meal with coffee and delightful hand made chocolates in the lounge. It was a very civilised and lovely way to spend the day! 

Thank you everyone! 

It's craft group today!

We made some poppies for the field of poppies to be created at the Devon County show this year. One each for a Devon life lost during the First World War. 

There was a great deal of counting stitches, chatting and tea drinking! Some people brought poppies they had made earlier; some of the results are very delicate and beautiful, some a little more....folk art! All lovely and will serve the purpose admirably. 

Barbara had done some research beforehand and discovered that more than 800 people from Brixham lost their life during the First World War. An astounding number of people from a small community. 

Devon FWI - Bollywood Day

As mentioned yesterday at our meeting, the Bollywood day organised by county has been hugely oversubscribed! So, there will be another, similar event! There will be Indian cookery, a session on how to put on a sari and some Bollywood dancing! Of course the dance teacher will be our own Kate Jackson! 

Keep an eye on the Devon WI Facebook page, County News or ask Elly for details of the second date!

It looks like a really fun and informative day.

Excellent meeting today!

Our speaker was Angela Sanders who demonstrated willow weaving and gave us a really interesting insight into the history of basket making. She made a beautiful garden support for our raffle!

With some help....from Annie and then both of our Barbaras! 

Our members have been fantastically generous once again, and I had a boot full of items brought for the Torbay Women's Refuge. Thank you very much everyone. 

#show the love for all things affected by climate change