surreyfed

A Seasonal Greeting to you all, and I hope you all find many things that bring you joy from your WI membership.

At our WIs we are beginning to enjoy our Christmas Celebrations. Joining together for Christmas meals, trips to the theatre, trips to Christmas Markets, trips to see the lights. Did any of you manage to get tickets for the Glow at Wisley? All these become part of our friendship within the WI.

We will have contributed more than friendship by collecting for the refugees sheltering within our communities: for the Women’s refuges, the piles of blankets, hats and knitted and crocheted teddies for patients in hospitals, Special baby care units and the ambulance service (see page 3). We have visited Care Homes, taking afternoon tea to the residents. Run or helped at Luncheon Clubs for people who lunch together, picked sackfuls of litter. We do like to be involved in our communities, don’t we? I nearly forgot the post box tops, crafted to perfection!

As well as all the Fun things we engage in within our WIs – from Book clubs to Zumba classes, all these activities get a little more sparkle in the Season of Christmas, so let’s enjoy ourselves with our WI friends, as well as with our families.

Merry Christmas!!
Jill Mulryan, Co-Chair, Surrey Federation

I have recently attended an NFWI Climate conference. The wonders of technology meant that although I was unable to attend in person, I was able to listen to it ‘Live via MYWI’

Someone asked if ‘craftivism projects’ were worth doing? Did the recipients take any notice? Was the effort worth the outcome? Did they make the recipient change their ways? Are they too subtle? I listened with great interest because this was the very conversation we had recently at the Campaign group of one of my own WIs (Vixen’s Voices which is a subgroup at Surrey Vixen’s virtual WI).

The panel members that responded gave answers along the lines of: If it brings people together to talk about common interests and concerns, then yes it’s worth it. If it prompts conversation anywhere then yes it’s worth it. If the ‘creators’ enjoy creating then yes it’s worth it, and lastly, we can never know the impact actions have because some impacts are not immediate but take years to manifest, so yes it’s worth it.

As a crafter, these responses pleased me and I can’t help noticing how the same principals are so fundamental in all we do in the WI. As we come to the end of 2023 and look forward to all that 2024 will bring, I hope that all Surrey Federation of WIs members are looking forward to many varied and fun opportunities with their fellow WI members. It brings me great joy to hear of the fun you have in your own WIs and we encourage you to let us know what we can do to bring you together with other members from around the Federation.

Plans for our new look Surrey News will include an area for you to contact other members in the Federation that share interests with you, where you can ‘find’ members from other WIs with similar interests to you and advertise activities for other members to come and join in with you or your WI. The Trustees really want to see our members’ lives impacted by their WI membership, now and in the future and, as always, we welcome help and suggestions from members.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Angie Leach, Co-Chair, Surrey Federation

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