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This is me and the Climate

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As we approach the festive season and maybe make plans to see the family, I think we all recall our parents and grandparents and the times we shared with them. They talked about their parents and grandparents, and we were intrigued with the stories of their Christmas celebrations. They are our ancestors. The Oxford dictionary defines an ancestor: a person from whom someone is descended (a progenitor) usually more remote in the lineage than a grandparent.

William Paul Young in The Shack says “Humans, who have been given the task to lovingly steer the world, instead plunder her, with no consideration other than their immediate needs. And they give little thought to their own children, who will inherit their lack of love.”

This extract from Amanda Gorman’s Earth Rise about the climate emergency is a reminder that we too, will one day be ancestors:

‘….Where despite disparities
We all care to protect this world,
This riddled blue marble, this little true marvel
To muster the verve and the nerve
To see how we can serve Our Planet.
You don’t need to be a politician
To make it your mission to conserve, to protect
To preserve the one and only home
That is ours,
To use your unique power
To give next generations the planet they deserve……..”
What is a good ancestor?
There’s a challenging question for the dinner table!

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NEW FOR 2024 – a new look SWIN!

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Our magazine known as SURREY WI NEWS, is to change. A new year offering to you.

We have found too many difficulties preventing the continuation in its present format. We have risen to the challenge of overcoming each problem as it has presented itself to us, and at every point we have consulted with interested members and volunteers. We have widely and repeatedly requested member help and input but eventually we have been defeated in maintaining the status quo. The staff and members who have been working on solutions have had to rethink and we are all very excited and pleased with our solution going forward. So, this encapsulates the future plans.

1. The magazine/newsletter will be produced in-house (at the Federation Office)
2. To be emailed to all members to read on-line in a scroll format rather than the flip. Please, check your email address is on the MCSsystem.
3. An A4 printed version will be available on request at 80p per month for a single copy, including postage. Multiple copies in same envelope will see a significant savings, full details of which will be available in due course.
4. The design team are working on the new design.
5. Articles, Events, OVER TO YOU, will be received in the usual way surreywinews@surreyfedwi.org.uk
6. We welcome regular contributions ie. On climate change, current affairs, gardening tips, life-style choices, crafting, cooking etc. We welcome new ideas by agreement with our Editors.
7. The Editors will liaise with the sub-committees Chairs re: the Events being planned.
8. Adverts from WIs and Members organising events will also be found in our very own New Style Magazine!!

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CO-CHAIRS COLUMN (January 2024)

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Happy New Year, Happy New Federation News format, Happy New WI Year.

2024 has started with some very sad news for us at the Federation. One of our Advisers, Helen Mayne King sadly died on Boxing Day. Helen had stepped back from ‘duties’ a few months ago to focus on her health and has been very much supported by members of her WIs (Pyrford WI and New Haw and Woodham WI) the other members of SFWI Member support team.
We are very much going to miss Helen’s sense of humour and fun and theway she was able to support us calmly and quietly, and the WIs she looked after. Helen had a lovely way of seeing the funny side to most situations, yet was always able to use her professional judgement and acquired knowledge to support WIs and members. She is missed as the President of Pyrford WI just as much as we miss her on the Members Support Team.
Please contact the Federation office if you would like details of Helen’s funeral arrangements and/or any donation opportunities in her name.
At the Annual Council Meeting in Dorking Halls on Monday 18th March, Jill and I will be ‘hanging out down by the stage’ during the lunch break. We would be delighted to meet you and for you to share thoughts, questions and ideas with us. If you haven’t booked a ticket yet, please do contact the Federation office to do so and come and tell us all about your WI. We look forward to seeing you there.

Angie Leach, Co-Chair, Surrey Federation

Well this is exciting! The first edition of our new-look Surrey Federations’ Surrey WI News. Angie and I hope you find the new format as exciting as we do. The editorial team are to be congratulated on their production, done so swiftly. We would love to hear your feedback.
We are hoping that you will let us know more about your WI’s activities in the “Over to you” section and more of you will be tempted to write articles about your particular interests for your magazine.
This has always been the time for new beginnings, wishes made and hope renewed. When did this urge to make wishes in the New Year come from? There are many theories but which one is your favourite and why? That would make an interesting series of articles!
Angie and I hope you have had a great Christmas and are able to make those
New Year Wishes with confidence.

Jill Mulryan, Co-Chair, Surrey Federation

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WI Resolutions 2024

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Full notes on next year’s Resolution will be in the November/December issue of WI Life – as usual we will be running Resolution Meetings in April to discuss the proposed four resolutions and the mechanics of voting.

The Resolutions at the 2024 vote will be:

  • Dental Health Matters
  • Impacts of Poor Housing Conditions
  • Say ‘no’ Gambling Advertising
  • Improving Outcomes for Women in the Criminal Justice System.

Full notes on next year’s Resolution will be in the November/December issue of WI Life – as usual we will be running Resolution Meetings in April to discuss the proposed four resolutions and the mechanics of voting.

The Resolutions at the 2024 vote will be:

  • Dental Health Matters
  • Impacts of Poor Housing Conditions
  • Say ‘no’ Gambling Advertising
  • Improving Outcomes for Women in the Criminal Justice System.

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CO-CHAIRS COLUMN (December 2023)

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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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This is me and the Climate

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We have known the damage that we are doing to our world for more than 50 years. Books have been written – “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson – letters have gone to MPs, petitions have been signed, talks have been given, films made, views expressed, organisations formed, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, all to no avail until the frustration burst when Extinction Rebellion took NON-VIOLENT direct action to block London bridges in 2018.

You may think that those people behave badly, that they have no right to disrupt people trying to get to work, hospital, catch a train, attend a funeral or an interview. Those who undertake those actions are well aware of the trouble they cause and very much regret that they may have caused harm but know that unless they attract the attention of the press their concerns will not be aired. When Extinction Rebellion blocked the bridges in 2018 there were many people in this country who thought they were attention seeking ‘gloom mongers’ who were overreacting to damage to the Amazon Rainforest. Now there are very few people who are ‘climate deniers’; wildfires, flooding, drought, melting ice and increased migration have shown us the true picture of ‘global warming’. Of course, individual efforts to reduce our carbon footprint are to be commended but reducing the demand for fossil fuel energy is not enough, we are beyond the safe level of CO2 emissions already.

Our government must take legislative action instead of valuing growth above everything. We need to stop taking fossil fuels out of the ground, rapidly, entirely and forever. Business as usual is killing us, we need to decommission every combustion engine, insulate every house, replace every gas boiler with a heat pump, change our electricity entirely to renewables, walk, cycle, scoot, use public transport and only use electric cars as a last resort by 2025!

I’m speaking to myself here, I have a gas fired boiler, an open fire, an old petrol engine car, a reasonably insulated loft space, a bicycle that I only use in the Summer, and I still consume the occasional bit of beef and bacon. I can reach family members by train but usually drive because at the moment it’s easier to have my own transport.

I have taken part in demonstrations in London but not brave enough to be arrested. I have banged a drum, I have supported local actions, hung banners, provided cake, manned stalls, undertaken arrestee support at Police stations and, most importantly, I have got to know some brilliant people who are determined to make a difference. They are not aggressive people, they are well informed, gentle, kind, generous and good humoured.

There will be people near you who are equally committed, stop and talk to them, listen to what they have to say, perhaps join them on a walk, attend a film night, visit a repair shop……

Where I live in Surrey there are oil drilling sites to be challenged, Gatwick wanting a second runway, we have to stand together against these developments. TOGETHER being the operative word – don’t expect other people to do it for you.

Don’t be afraid on your own, it’s so much better to share your concerns, don’t in ten years’ time be saying “I should have joined Extinction Rebellion”

Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a do-it-together movement.

https://extinctionrebellion.uk

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What’s New from HQ (November 2023)

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WHAT’S NEW FROM HQ

Dear All,
At the end of August/Early September we sent a mailing to WI secretaries which included:

• Delegate and Observer ticket application forms for tickets to the 2024 NFWI Annual Meeting at Royal Albert Hall, London together
with a copy of the WI Linking List. Please complete and return your application for tickets to the Federation office as soon as possible.
• WI Annual Review and Information Forms. Please ensure all forms are completed accurately and clearly and returned to the  Federation office as soon as possible. This information is used to update the President and Secretary listings, and to send out mailings etc. Thank you very much for your help with this.

If your secretary has not received this information please contact the office as soon as possible.

Please also check the website (www.surreyfedwi.org.uk) or the Office 365 (SFWI sharepoint site) for downloadable documents and information.

Karen Whitehead
Federation Secretary

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What is your WI doing about White Ribbon Day?

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The NFWI have supported the reduction of violence against women since their 2008 ‘Not in My Name’ campaign – and sadly the incidents of acts of violence against women continues to rise.
The White Ribbon Campaign acknowledges the reality that most violence against women is committed by men.  The aim of the campaign is to educate boys and men about harmful gender norms and begin to change long-established attitudes, behaviours and everyday practice around masculinity that perpetuates gender inequality and men’s violence against women.

To read more, please go to PAGE 8 of October’s SWIN

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Icing on the Cake at the E&O Show

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The show is well and truly over and as I write this it all seems like a dream except my aching body and unfocused brain reminds me that it did all happen over 4 long days!!
The theme for the show was ‘Beautiful Britain’. With very few entries notified at the beginning of July it was looking as if we would have to cancel the show but then suddenly the entries started to arrive and arrive and arrive – over 160 entries – the most we have ever had.

To read more, please go to PAGE 12 & 13 of October’s SWIN

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