September’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@ September Surrey WI News.
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During my chairmanship Deepcut, the village in which I have lived for over 30 years, has changed beyond all recognition. Gone is the army, who were stationed here for over 100 years, and in place of the barracks we have the first tranche of 1,200 new houses.
The marketing of this huge development describes “a rural location…in the heart of the Surrey Countryside”, and yet it has been responsible for the felling of hundreds of mature oaks, beech and chestnut trees, and the occasional contamination of the nearby Basingstoke Canal, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, as water pours off the stripped landscape.
The land is now covered with bricks, mortar and tarmac. The result, hectares of mature Surrey woodland and rare heathland have been destroyed. Its only saving grace is that the estate formed a fire break in the recent substantial heath fires that laid waste to a large area of Chobham Ridges and displaced its wildlife — evidence of global warming?
Surrey is experiencing a significant loss of green space as it is replaced by gated developments, private roads, houses with miniscule gardens and enumerable trees felled. The only acknowledgement of the village’s military past is in its name, Mindenhurst. Ironically, other names used in the area, i.e. Wildflower Meadow indicate what has also been destroyed.
During June very many of you celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, with stalls and street parties, postbox toppers, knitted corgis and even knitted Queens. I was struck however by the lack of community celebrations in our village. With parents at work, children at school and an often negative social media commentary this is not surprising.
Sadly, developers pay little heed to what constitutes and creates community. In Deepcut there is no general store or inside social space. The church is closed and has only a congregation of bats and a newly built school stands empty for the foreseeable future. But this is our opportunity to recruit, to wave the WI banner, to make the WI name known to all women, to ensure its future.
In recent years, although the WI has been successful in recruiting new members, it is a sad fact that overall membership has fallen. What is the position in your WI? Numbers at Bagshot WI have remained steady, but only because we have benefited from the arrival of members from Windlesham WI which sadly closed on its 50th birthday. Retention is therefore key!
The identity of WIs depends subtly on the demographic of their locality. The age of housing developments significantly shapes the nature of the population and consequently poses differing recruitment issues.
At the NFWI Annual Meeting Ann Jones reminded us of the 2020 vision for the organisation. It promised a ‘bright and limitless future’. It expounded four vision statements: ‘Bold and Inspiring’, ‘Growing and Relevant’, ‘Inclusive’ and ‘Flexible’.
Two years on, and we are challenged as to how to realise this vision within our own communities. Again I dipped into the WI objects to remind myself of the parameters that define our ethos as a charity and endeavoured to identify activities and initiatives which can be realised by both the Federation and WIs, and that will meet the expectations of new members. It can be difficult to widen the demographic of our WIs, although there are many ways we can be inclusive. Try broadening your choice of speakers, address challenging issues and look beyond your WI’s skill set for crafts.
The biggest challenge that I see in a village such as mine is the impact of developments that encourage ghettoism rather than community. Our Surrey Heath Borough Council local plan confirms this. On the surface it is forward thinking, but it fails to focus on residents, people, community. This is a serious challenge for us all.
What I miss most in Deepcut as new housing has replaced the army is military music. Formerly this drifted across the village, accompanying Passing-out Parades, Remembrance Sunday and other formal occasions. I recall one such event. I was playing in a paddling pool in the garden with my young family when we heard a band.
We quickly donned our sandals, swimwear being our only other clothing, ran up the road to the garrison church, and sat on the wall outside. A band played as men marched at the salute past a small female figure. We watched intently. On enquiring its significance we were informed that this was the Normandy Veterans Parade and that the woman was in fact the Queen!
Developers are excellent at selling a lifestyle. Can we not learn from this? How can we market our organisation? Ann Jones so eloquently asked us in her speech to wave the WI flag. We were invited to ask any women we know who isn’t in the WI why? and then to reflect on their answer. Change can be difficult, challenging, but it is vital if we are to be as successful in the 21st century as in the 20th.
In the words of the author Mimi Novic: “Sometimes we can only find our true [new] direction when we let the wind of change carry us.”
We are inspiring women. The word ‘inspire’ means to breathe in. Let us all gain energy and impetus from this action to make change happen
Carol A. Gartrell
Federation Chairman
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The day we met the Queen
To read our members’ story, please go to PAGE 18 of August’s SWIN
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How you celebrated the Platinum Jubilee
To view the pictures, please go to PAGE 12 and 13 of August’s SWIN
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COULD YOU JOIN OUR TEAM OF ADVISERS?
IS THERE a member of your WI who would like a new challenge? We are looking for members who might like to train and join our team of WI Advisers.
Advisers are trained by the NFWI and sit on the Membership committee which meets eight times a year. This is a voluntary position with expenses paid and generally each Adviser looks after two or three groups of WIs.
What do we do? We help and support WI committees, help set up new WIs, run workshops on committee work and programme planning.
We may have to suspend or enlarge WIs by joining two together when difficulties over forming committees occur.
We also run Zoom chat meetings, attend Presidents’ meetings and are sometimes invited to a WI social events which is lovely.
If you have been a WI officer or committee member and have a car it is a great way of making new friends. Contact the office or aleach@surreyfedwi.org.uk to find out more about becoming an Adviser.
Observers are always welcome to attend our Membership committee meetings at SFWI HQ or sometimes on Zoom to find out more. To help with a bit more interaction, the Board of Trustees and Advisers are keen to visit every WI in Surrey, especially as we are coming out of Covid.
You may be contacted by an Adviser in the coming months who would like to introduce herself and tell you a little about the role and what goes on at Federation level. It will just be a five to ten-minute talk with questions and answers.
The aim is to foster more understanding between those running the Federation and our WI members.
Angie Leach
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WANTED: PICTURE FOR OUR CHRISTMAS COVER
THIS was our cover picture for the 2021 Christmas edition of our magazine, taken by Kelly Woods of Maple Village WI. Now it’s time to search your photo library and see if you have got a shot for the front cover of our December 2022 edition.
Photos need to be at least 250 or 300 dpi and can be of any subject so long as it has a Christmassy theme. The orientation should be square or portrait rather than landscape to fit the space available on the front cover.
They should be saved as JPEGs and attached to an email to surreywinews@surreyfedwi.org.uk to reach us by October 1.
June Green, Editor
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August’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@ August Surrey WI News.
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Many of you enjoyed the inspiring speakers at our March Annual Council Meeting and the similarly engaging speakers at the NFWI Annual Meeting in Liverpool in June. How fortunate we are, as WI members, to have the opportunity to hear so many excellent speakers, including those at our own WIs.
Communication in the form of public speaking can be daunting and is often a barrier to members’ participation in committee work both with their own WI and the Federation. Because of this they are missing out on an enriching experience. What a shame this is, and something that I wish to remedy.
You may well think that as a university lecturer, I learned my trade at work, but you would be wrong, because it was a result of both nurture and nature. My grandfather was a grocer. He could sell anything to anyone, and what’s more, his customers would be delighted with what they had bought, especially as there was always a little extra thrown in.
Another role model was my father, a headteacher. Whether it was addressing an audience or selling raffle tickets for charity outside the supermarket, he just ‘had it’, and I was inspired.
But where did I gain my experience? I attended Sunday School and regularly read in chapel. It became second nature. As a teenager, I was inspired by my English teacher Miss Smith, who lost the love of her life in WW2, and so dedicated her life to us. She read with great enthusiasm, vitality and drama. So much so that long before she reached a humorous episode she would be laughing helplessly . She too was inspiring.
But does this skill of public speaking come naturally to us? We might have that innate ability, but it can be learned. Whatever our experience we still have to make that first vital step, to speak to the meeting. Very many of you have already taken this step, but for some, this is a barrier to participation. Its time for us now to challenge and overcome this barrier. So how can we do this?
Prepare and practice
Nerves — well they are both a curse and a blessing. I was always nervous when I addressed a class of students for the first time. The adrenaline was both welcome and necessary, and I promised myself that if I ever didn’t feel nervous in that situation, then I should give up teaching. Fortunately, the ‘nerves’ stayed with me and I benefited from them, whether in the lecture room or at the Federation Centenary Service at Guildford Cathedral.
But are we all capable of this? I certainly didn’t think that I was. So how should we proceed?
The first step is to know your audience. Someone offered me a tip recently of imagining everyone in the hall naked!? I don’t think that we need to get that familiar with our audience! The next step is to prepare, prepare, prepare, and practice, practice, practice.
I have been told that my garden grows well because I practice my presentations by reading them aloud to it. Have a go. On the day, keep the microphone close to your mouth. Listen to yourself through the speaker and speak slowly and clearly. Master the technology.
Performance
If you are nervous about using PowerPoint (PP) then don’t use it. It can be a distraction rather than an aid if used poorly. Instead, use a few select images as a memory prompt rather than acres of potentially illegible text.
You are now in front of your audience. Be aware of them, make eye contact, ensure that you embrace everyone in the room with both gesture and eye, and also with your content — avoid acronyms and colloquial or cliquey speech.
It’s now time to speak. It’s all an act, a performance, you can be whoever you want to be. Picture yourself as that person — think shoes, clothes, makeup, hair. Did you have shoe envy when Alieda Moore walked onto the stage? I did, but I could never have walked in them, so choose carefully!
Your audience is your friend and they are there because they want to be there. They are keen to hear what you have to say. Be friendly, speak with honesty and smile when appropriate. If you mention an individual, make eye contact. A positive response from them will boost your confidence. Know what you want to say and keep it simple and concise.*
A recent article on the BBC news website included a fascinating composite image of Volodymyr Zelensky. In March 2022 he addressed ten parliaments across the world via social media, for which he received standing ovations. What fascinated me, beyond his brutal message, was that as an actor, he knew how to engage with his different audiences, not only in his content which recognised significant cultural differences and histories, but also through gesture. This was a fascinating insight into the value of communication.
This emphasises the fact that communication is not only through word but critically also through gesture. An emphasis on diverse modes of communication has been in the media recently because of deaf awareness week and the proposal to Parliament to give British Sign Language legal recognition.
Makaton bursaries
As a grandparent of a child with complex needs, I know at first hand the value of communication through gesture, and in our case through Makaton. Makaton is a form of sign language that is familiar to many children as it is integrated into many BBC children’s programmes. It is an international language and used by people with a wide range of communication challenges, and those for whom English is a second language.
It has a particular relevance currently as a vehicle through which to communicate with our Ukranian guests, who may have limited English. It is for these reasons that the Federation will be offering bursaries to members to undertake a level 1 and 2 Makaton training course. Watch this space.
Why am I telling you this? Because I have been told that one of the key reasons members are reluctant to take on WI roles is because they have a fear of speaking in public. So, I invite you to speak to your meeting, to welcome that adrenaline rush, to gain pleasure from doing it, and to open a gateway for yourself to new experiences with both your own WI and the Federation.
* Please let the office know if you would like us to put on some public speaking workshops.
Carol A. Gartrell
Federation Chairman
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