How one WI spread a little warmth
If you are a delegate for the NFWI annual meeting or presenting Resolutions at your own WI , please book and come along.
If you are a delegate for the NFWI annual meeting or presenting Resolutions at your own WI , please book and come along.
If you are a delegate for the NFWI annual meeting or presenting Resolutions at your own WI , please book and come along.
WHY DO WE NEED OFFICE 365
THE switch to Office 365 is happening! Last year 62 members from 27 Surrey WIs took part in Office 365 Training, either at the Federation’s headquarters in Guildford, or in situ at various WIs around the county.
Ruth Bolton, our Digital Editor, is now running at least one training session a month* — which can be in Guildford or, if you’re in a WI with at least three members who’d like training, Ruth can come to you.
Many WIs are hesitant about the switch — they may already have a Google mail address for their WI and a Google drive to organise their WI business, so why change?
Others may be reluctant to learn another digital system and may have been out of a work environment for some time and lost confidence in their computer skills.
The advantages of Office 365 are:
- Each WI is given four email addresses (info, Secretary, Treasurer and President). These stay with your WI regardless of the changes of personnel.
- Many WIs use the info@ address in place of their gmail address as the central point of contact. Secretaries, Treasurers and Presidents can then use their unique email address if they wish to keep the info@ box uncluttered.
- Your WI’s email contacts list in your info@ email account can also be your up-to-date members list — you can add addresses, phone numbers etc as members join or leave. (You can import/export it as a spreadsheet any time).
- Office 365 allows you to set up your WI’s own document storage area that only your four email addresses have access to. You can file away your minutes, flyers, planning notes and photos all in one place and never have to worry about losing them or passing them on to your successors!
- Any forms that you may have previously downloaded from the SFWI website can also be downloaded from the SFWI area in Office 365.
If you would like to discuss training, please email Ruth at officerb@surreyfedwi.org.uk or ring 01483 238291 on Mondays and Tuesdays. The cost of training is £9 per person, or £27 per WI for up to six members and usually runs between 10.30am and 2.30pm with a coffee/tea and short lunch break.
*See Pages 3 and 6 of the February magazine for the latest training dates.
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SHOW THE LOVE
FEBRUARY is traditionally the month of love, and WI members show their love for the planet by making and displaying green hearts in their towns and villages.
Our cover picture this month shows one Surrey member who went on the march to highlight the need for action on climate change.
Lesley Andrews (she’s the one on the left), runs Great Bookham Belles’ Environment Group and joined the Climate Justice Coalition march in London, which ran at the same time as COP27 was being held in Egypt.
She walked with other WI Climate Ambassadors from the Shell Building to Trafalgar Square, to highlight the fact that energy companies are making record breaking profits whilst global temperatures and energy bills are rising and people are being forced to choose between heating and eating.
Lesley told SWIN: “It was so lovely meeting up with other WI Climate Ambassadors, Jill Bruce and Andrea Cooper from Essex Federation and Annie Palmer from Bedfordshire Federation, who are far more knowledgeable than myself. I learnt a lot and look forward to meeting up with many more Climate Ambassadors in the future.”
Please do what you can to show your love for Mother Earth this month. Make and display green hearts in your neighbourhood to get people talking and thinking about climate change; send or give a green heart to your MP to make sure he or she keeps up the momentum on climate change. You will find plenty of ideas on MyWI on the NFWI website — just search for Show the Love.
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February’s Surrey WI News is now available for you to read online. It is available to view on your phone, tablet or computer via Flipsnack@ February’s Surrey WI News.
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WHAT’S NEW FROM HQ
The mailing sent to WI secretaries at the end of January/early February should have included the following:
- Presidents and Secretaries List 2022 (only if you have opted to receive a hard copy); *
- Annual Review 2022;
- Membership Fees Form;
- Two copies of 2023 Yearbook, please use this to book speakers;
- Letter to secretaries about the Council Meeting together with Standing Orders for Council Meetings
- Minutes of the Annual Council Meeting 2022.
We will continue to post non data protected information on the Surrey Federation web site, www.surreyfed.wi.org.uk To find these documents, click on the menu at the top right, then resources and then document library, which opens up to show five tabs. These are organised into general docs, forms, groups, speakers, WI treasurers.
Most items can be emailed on request. If any items are missing, please let the office know as soon as possible via email info@surreyfedwi.org.uk and a replacement can be emailed or posted.
Please note that this is written before Christmas, so please check the letter sent with the mailing for full information on the contents.
*For WIs using the Office 365 cloud-based system all mailed items are filed under General in the corresponding year then the months in which they were sent out.
Karen Whitehead
Federation Secretary
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