An interactive look at ways to do more than a monthly meeting. Tips, ideas, financial considerations and so much more to encourage your WI to be everything you all want it to be.
Extra Activities for WIs sessions will be bookable from the What’s On page. Click Training Events to check if there is an upcoming one.
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Demonstrators offering to tutor craft courses are invited to attend a short interview with members of the Home Economics, Craft and Gardening Committee. They tell us about themselves, their expertise in their chosen field and examples of the craft they are able to offer members attending a course. This will include their fee for tuition (whether a half or full day), travel expenses and the cost of materials they will provide for the course.
The Federation also offers the NFWI Demonstrator Training Course. On successful application, members undertake a series of workshops where they acquire the skills necessary to demonstrate their chosen area of expertise. This could fall under the category of baking, preserves, craft and floral art. On completion of the training they present a demonstration which is assessed by an NFWI approved assessor.
Demonstrator training sessions will be bookable from the What’s On page. Click Training Events to check if there is an upcoming one.
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The Surrey Serenaders choir was started in 2013 by the then Federation chairman Elizabeth Fisher with the aim of entering Singing for Joy, the NFWI Centenary Choir Competition.
The NFWI commissioned Jonathan Willcocks to write a song, Singing for Joy, for all choirs to perform during the heats and the final of the competition and appointed him as a judge.
Surrey Serenaders, having found a pianist and music director, started to rehearse and enter local competitions. They won their heat at Dorking Halls and while they did not win the final, held in Birmingham, they came second – along with the other five choirs.
The ladies decided to continue with the choir because of the health benefits as well as the fun and friendship they got out of it. They are now available to entertain WIs and other groups by appointment; they also enter competitions and occasionally stage fund-raising events. Upcoming fund-raising events will be publicised in SWIN and on social media and can be viewed on the website at: Interest Group Events.
Rehearsals are held almost every other Saturday throughout the year in Albury Village Hall, GU5 9AD and anyone is welcome to join, WI member or not. All members pay a set charge per term to go towards the cost of hall hire, the music director and the accompanist.
Why not attend a rehearsal without commitment? A trial session is free.
Rehearsals start at 10am and end at 12.30pm.
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Crafty Ladies meet at the Federation headquarters, usually on the first Wednesday in January, March, May, July, September and November.
The object is for members to pursue and develop a wide range of craft activities in a friendly atmosphere with others of a like-mind – currently they have expertise in at least nine different crafts.
Occasionally workshops are set up so that members can learn a new skill or improve their expertise in a skill they already have and there is plenty of free help and advice available at meetings. Any member of a Surrey WI can join for an annual subscription or is welcome to attend as a visitor.
Please contact Sue Heeley on sue.heeley@tiscali.co.uk or telephone number 0208 7698352.
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Camera Group members take it in turns to arrange a visit to a suitable venue of interest where photographs can be taken. They also receive advice on how to achieve good photographs with I-Pads and mobile phones and are encouraged to enter photographic competitions. Their work appears in the Federation magazine and Year Book.
The specific dates of upcoming meetings can be viewed here: Interest Group Events.
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June is Toyota GB’s annual Green Month, in which the company runs a series of displays, talks and green initiatives at its Surrey headquarters.
They would like to make more dresses like the one shown at Cranleigh Show, but don’t have the supply of rings.
If you can help please get in touch with the Office who will arrange for delivery.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Here is a little background information into our new logo and how we arrived at it in more detail.
So, why the new look?
Our old logo was not actually a ‘logo’ – we used photos and a drawing of the badge. It was not easy to use on documents and branded merchandise, as we did not have any artwork. In addition, we’re working on our new website, and this highlighted the need for a proper logo. The old logo had served us well, but we were aware of something new and wanted something to represent Surrey Federation today.
Our new direction
We asked Karen Horan, a graphic designer and member of Battersea WI, to design our new logo. We wanted a logo which represented Surrey, which also would also work well with the NFWI logo (as they sometimes appear together).
Our previous logo was blue and showed King Edgar’s crown with some oak leaves. Extensive research into Surrey and logos showed that Surrey County Council dropped the crown in the 1970’s. When we researched what Surrey represented, we were struck by the leafy nature of our county and wanted to represent it as a whole, hence the variety of leaves and different shades of green.
As with any logo, we wanted our new logo to convey everything the federation and the WIs which made up Surrey stand for. It also had to be versatile and adaptable, and work in different contexts and still be recognisable, in both colour and black and white. After several weeks of development, we finally arrived at our final design!
We are really pleased with our new logo and hope that you like it too. The five different leaves represented are: oak, birch, beech, hawthorn and horse chestnut. The coming together of the different varieties of leaves from trees within Surrey represents the federation of the many WIs in Surrey and the positioning represents both ‘reaching out’ and ‘bursting forth’.
We believe that the logo stays true to our roots with an eye to the future, evoking sense of modern structure with full flexibility. We’re really excited about it and would like to hear any feedback you wish to share.
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Surrey Federation of Womens Institutes (SFWI) Company limited by guarantee number: 2836301 Registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales number: 1026988 Registered office: 6 Paris, Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 9JX
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