Photos from Brighton!

Here are some photos from the National WI annual meeting in Brighton - Barbara has told everyone about it at today's meeting.

Here are four County events which look very interesting!

Elly has all of the details, so ask her if you want to find out more and join in the fun! 

Our County Chair, Julie Ayre's message for June

Chairman's Message Board - June 2016

Follow up from Spring Council Meeting –Role of Holding Trustees
If you were at the Spring Council Meeting you may remember that we introduced members of the Board of Trustees, Subcommittee Chairmen and Holding Trustees, so that you can more easily put a face to a name. Several members said that they were unclear about the role of the Holding Trustees and so I would like to clarify this for you:  

The Devon Federation of Women’s Institutes is unincorporated ie it is not a corporate body and consequently the following apply:

• Members of the Board of Trustees are personally liable for what the Federation does.
• The Federation is not able to enter into contracts or control some investments in its own name.
• The 'Holding Trustees' have to 'hold' any land on our Federation's behalf, ie. they are owners of the legal title to the land, in this case, 'The Firs'.

New Federation Secretary
I am pleased to announce that Katharine Bailey, our new Federation Secretary, started work in the Office on 24th May.  I am hoping that she will put a photo and brief profile in next month’s newsletter, so that you can get to know her.  Please make her welcome and do be patient as she settles in.

Twinning with Powys Brecknock Federation
Rita Nebbett, Carmen Luscombe, Catherine Williams (all members of the Board of Trustees) and myself attended Powys Brecknock Federation Annual meeting on 17th May as part of our twinning project. They made us feel incredibly welcome and it was lovely to meet up with a number of the members from Powys Brecknock Federation and to start thinking about how we can work and arrange events together.   Walking trips in the Brecon Beacons immediately come to mind for our Federation and several ladies from Powys asked about trips to the seaside, something they don’t have there.  Of course we suggested they couldn’t go wrong with either the north or the south coast! A couple of ladies also asked if anyone was going to the Tea and Tent Festival later this year as they would like to meet up. Let me know if you are going and I will pass on your names. 

Resolution amendments announcement
We have been informed by NFWI that the 6 proposed amendments to the 2016 resolutions, which you may have heard about from a number of sources, HAVE NOT been accepted by the NFWI Board of Trustees so this year WIs do not need to discuss any amendments. The wordings of the resolutions under debate at this year’s Annual meeting in Brighton remain unchanged. 

Mapping Exeter’s ‘Tree Tales’
I have been contacted by a local charity that champions local distinctiveness, Common Ground, and they are gathering stories and memories about the trees of Exeter so that they can produce a book and create a map. If you think you might like to take part please let me know and I will forward you some additional information. The group will also give small presentations at WIs on request.

National Glaucoma Awareness week - June 6th – 12th 
Glaucoma is the most common cause of preventable blindness in the UK and in its early stages there are often few symptoms. Women not only outlive men but also outnumber men in glaucoma cases worldwide and glaucoma is much more common among older people. The International Glaucoma Association want to raise awareness of this condition and have sent me some information with details of a National Glaucoma Awareness week Pack which they will forward to you if you would like it.

If you are interested in any of the above and would like to put your name forward or would like more information please contact me in the first instance, unless specified otherwise.

Julie Ayre, Federation Chairman

julie.ayre@devonwi.org.uk

- See more at: https://www.thewi.org.uk/become-a-member/structure-of-the-wi/england/devon/chairmans-message-board#sthash.HtsUnrzF.dpuf

Here are some more photos of our birthday party!

Perhaps you can guess who? 

DFWI at the Devon County Show

A post from Devon WI Facebook page, inviting us to call in on their stand at the Devon County Show:

Ann Jones added a new photo to Devon WI's timeline — at Devon County Show Ground.

And here's a message from Tracy, who will be in the craft tent:

Tracy Johnson Look forward to seeing you tomorrow on the WI stand where I will be demonstrating needle felting.

Happy Birthday Brixham WI!

Well this was just the beginning of the fabulous spread today! Everyone brought lovely food to share, culminating in two simply gorgeous strawberry pavlovas! (Made by Margery). We welcomed guests from Galmpton and Kingswear, and Kate very kindly introduced the Gangsta Fairy for our entertainment. There were quizzes: one almost impossible where we had to guess which of our members had provided their baby photos! I was certain of three only, out of 13! ( and one of them was me!) Beryl had made some silhouettes for us to guess, and initially we all thought they were cryptic but luckily we just had to recognise what we saw! Finally our horticultural brains were taxed with finding the names of flowers from clues: prickly wine = ? 

A special thank you to Susan, whose debut tea making duties really threw her in at the deep end - she made a cracking cup of tea, as many people commented! 

Members are looking forward to printing on acetate at the craft group on Tuesday, and to a really special day on 30th June with Uffcombe WI at Seal Hayne. 

We had a really fun and very sociable afternoon - thank you to everyone for coming along, joining in and making it such a success. 

And finally - hollyhock! 

Another fabulous craft opportunity for WI members

Here is a post by Sally Ramsden on the Devon WI Facebook page:

N by NW Crafts have places on Decorated Capitals workshop in Holsworthy on Saturday 28 May. Ring Liz Gale 01409 259873 for more info