News

One of the relatively few joys of being chairman during these covid times has been to write my monthly column. It has been an opportunity for me to introduce myself to you and to share with you some thoughts about the world as I see it, its issues and challenges, and the part that the WI has and can play in making it a better place for our fellow members, families, friends and communities. What I am very aware of however is the lack of opportunity that I have had, in the words of Hammerstein in the song from the iconic musical ‘The King and I’, of ‘Getting to know you, getting to know all about you.’

In recent days, despite the month’s long extension to the final lifting of lockdown restrictions announced last night, but hopefully gone forever by the time you read this, the opportunity to get to know you now seems possible. It has been good to meet many of you at your own Zoom WI meetings and to share in your enjoyment of the online events put on by the federation and ‘Denman at Home’. It has been wonderful to be able to accept an invitation from Ockford Godalming WI to judge some classes in their Craft and Produce show in October, with a packed schedule that tells me that their WI is, in the words of Lynne Stubbings ‘Open for Business’. It was a truly heart-warming experience recently to join the Federation’s camera group for coffee, a walk around Effingham Ponds and an outdoor lunch in a café, a first for me to share in the joy of relative normality, and to meet a trustee face-to-face, only the second since March last year. It was even better to see Betty looking so well, and as full of wacky ideas for federation events as ever, many of which we will act upon! Tomorrow I will meet my own WI, Deepcut and Frimley, for what will be our first meeting, a BBQ in the park. I cannot wait. I do sense a real and lasting return to the fellowship and fun that the WI offers us all, and that we have so missed, despite all your wonderful and imaginative ways that you have devised to offer an alternative experience. To meet in person once more will be very special!

Autumn 2021 will be a critical period for the federation as we set about the serious business of electing the Board of Trustees that will lead it for the period March 2022 to 2024. We were recently inspired at the NFWI Annual Meeting, by HRH Sophie, Countess of Wessex, a member of my other WI, Bagshot, who described women as ‘strong, brave and capable’, by Dame Cressida Dick, the first woman to lead the Metropolitan Police, who exhorted us to ‘do good, make a difference, empower, help, encourage and to give courage to women’ and Lady Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, whose motto for her coat of arms is ‘Women are equal to everything’. Do you share in these aspirations? Do these words inspire you to do more?

As you, the SFWI members, elects the board that will lead your federation well into this decade, it will also be your opportunity to shape the future of your federation, your chance to participate in the election of your representatives and even to step up and let you voice be heard. Have you read the articles in the July and August editions of Surrey WI News about what the federation does for its members? Can you see a role for yourself in shaping the federation to meet the needs and interests of its every changing membership profile and the challenges all women face? I have always believed that opportunities only arise once in life, so one must take them. This philosophy has served me well, and has taken me on many unexpected journeys, including becoming the chairman of your federation. This is your opportunity now, so please take it.

I could not resist ending this column with the final words of Lynne Stubbings, in her parting speech as Chair of the NFWI. What an extraordinary job she has done, and in such difficult circumstances. Thank you, Lynne, we are in awe. Well done and good luck! ‘We as WI members should be loud and proud, and not keep the WI as a best kept secret’ and that we should do this in such a way that others are inspired to say, in those immortal words of the mother of director Rob Reiner in, ‘When Harry met Sally’, ‘I’ll have what she’s having!’

Carol A. Gartrell
Federation Chairman

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NFWI publishes bus survey report

THE NFWI has published a report entitled A New Route for Bus Services, based on information submitted by WI members.

The report aims to help build an understanding of the impact of cuts to bus services on women and people living in rural areas. In particular, the report explores a significant reduction in local bus services impacts on mental health, isolation and social exclusion, and sets out recommendations for  future action.

The report is part of the WI’s Get on Board campaign. Launched in 2019, the campaign calls on the Government and local authorities to increase subsidies and work in partnership with bus companies and community transport operators to enable an adequate provision of services.

The report found that:

* There is a need for a higher frequency of bus services in rural areas. Whilst the funding pledged by Government to overhaul bus services is welcomed, we need to ensure funding for local authorities is ring-fenced, sustainable and long-term to guarantee a minimum frequency of bus services for towns and rural areas and to enable local authorities to start planning for the future.

* Rural areas should receive an adequate share of the £3 billion investment proposed to ensure they receive the support they need. Considerations made to modernise the Bus Services Operator Grant must include additional amounts given to rural areas as well as new incentives for demand responsive transport.

* Bus services must be responsive to the needs of women. The Government, local authorities and transport operators must consider the needs and travelling patterns of women in all future transport policy and developments, including Bus Service Improvement Plans, which will need to be published by Local Transport Authorities by October 2021. The Government must also do more to ensure women are represented at decision making levels for transport planning, including on forums such as Bus Advisory Boards and through the Transport for Wales Advisory Panels.

* Bus services need to be better integrated with other transport networks. The Government must ensure that Bus Service Improvement Plans prioritise the integration of bus services with rail and other transport networks in order to increase the appeal of buses as an alternative to car usage.

* Investment in more regular bus services is necessary to create a modal shift away from dependency on cars for environmental reasons.

The Government’s announcement to invest a further £120 million in zero emission buses is welcome. However, the Government must ensure that this investment is not limited to buses for towns and cities, but also supports services in rural areas that suit the needs of these residents. Plans to modernise the Bus Services Operator Grant must include incentives for the take up of zero emission vehicles suitable for meeting the needs of all communities.

WI members’ responses to the survey showed that:

46 per cent said access to basic services had been negatively impacted by a reduction in bus services.

37 per cent said access to health services had been negatively impacted by cuts to bus services.

19 per cent of respondents in rural areas said reduction in bus services had negatively impacted their mental health

72 per cent of all respondents said cuts to bus services had increased their dependency on car use and relying on friends and family

50 per cent of all respondents said they would use the car less if they had access to a frequent, reliable bus service.

The NFWI is asking members to use a template letter, which can be downloaded from MyWI, and email local councillors asking them to support these recommendations and implement them in Bus Service Improvement Plans, which will need to be published by Local Transport Authorities by October 2021.

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Black gold — but at what price?

by Rosemary Horton, Climate Ambassador

LET’S face it, tackling the climate emergency means reducing carbon emissions drastically. When I sat down to write this article I checked my messages, as you do. I was encouraged to read that the International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that reducing carbon emissions involves ending investment in new coal, oil and gas today to reach zero by 2050. This is the first time the IEA has aligned with the Paris Agreement goals.

So why is this significant? Oil and gas drilling is nothing new in Surrey. Most of it happens quietly behind unobtrusive gates and little is known of what happens there. Stringent regulations have to be adhered to, planning permissions sought and environmental regulations met. Sites such as Albury have continued to produce a steady supply of gas for many years now. So, what is the problem?

The Government’s Geological Survey produced a report (The Weald Basin Jurassic Shale Study) in 2014. It concluded that yes, there is oil and gas in the Weald but it is hard to access and very  localised, in ‘sweet spots’.

Take Brockham for example: BP drilled for oil there from 1987 using nodding donkeys. However, they found the yields were lower than hoped, with excessive water, and sold the site. Since then it has had several owners, the most recent of whom are Angus Energy. They have bored more wells but failed to discover significant yields despite going far deeper. Right now they are applying for permission from the Environment Agency to convert one of their wells into a water-disposal facility.

Why is this needed? Waste water from oil drilling is extremely ‘dirty’, containing pollutants from deep in the earth plus any chemicals that might have been used to help extract the oil. When oil is hard to get at, they need to break down the rock around it to bring oil droplets together to aid extraction. Called ‘acidisation’, a complex solution of chemicals is pumped into the well, strong enough to dissolve rock. This solution of acids, water, lubricants and oil is pumped out of the ground and the oil extracted. The remaining waste water has to be disposed of and the cheapest way is to pump it back into the ground.

Earthquakes

If it is pumped into different strata it can cause stresses, even earthquakes, so it has to be undertaken very carefully, especially as huge amounts of fresh — potential drinking water — are used. A connection between the 2019 spate of minor earthquakes and the oilsite at Horse Hill near Horley was ruled out by an enquiry, but many consider it to be flawed. There is also the problem of drinking water. A significant number of wells degrade over time, within 15 years of being shut down. The ‘dirty’ water could leak out into the layers of rock that provide us with drinking water — a  potential time-bomb for the future. How dare we risk damaging such a precious resource?

Dunsfold is facing another application from United Kingdom Oil and Gas. In September 2019, Surrey County Council gave permission for four more production wells at Horse Hill with the go-ahead to drill for 20 years. A Redhill resident challenged SCC on this in court, claiming that the carbon emissions arising from the combustion of the oil were not in line with SCC Climate Emergency Status. The judge found that SCC were not required to consider greenhouse gas emissions when giving planning permission for massive expansion of oil drilling at the Horse Hill site.

Apparently, this judgement was in line with Government policy which hasn’t been updated since  before the net zero target was enacted and doesn’t reflect the fact that Parliament has declared a National Climate Emergency. How can we have a zero emissions target if we don’t count the carbon emissions?

Surely, because oil and gas are hard to extract and regulations hard to enforce, our time, money and energy could all be better spent working towards a renewable future.

I make no apologies for highlighting these important issues and am very grateful to Pat Smith, Dorking Climate Emergency, who ensured that I got the facts right. Pat helped raise money for the legal fees for the Horse Hill challenge by walking 100 miles between potential and active drilling sites in Surrey.

* For more information on oil drilling in Surrey:  wealdactiongroup.org.uk/2021/03

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Wildflower ‘highway’ on village verges

by Diane Poole of Bookham Bees WI

ACCORDING to the national charity Plantlife, over 700 species of wildflower grow on the UK’s road  verges —nearly 45% of our total flora. And where wild flowers lead, wildlife follows … a multitude of bees, butterflies, birds and bugs.

In April 2020, my husband Steve and I were delighted by the cowslips and other spring wildflowers on the local highway verges — and then horrified a week later to see these same verges scalped by the Surrey County Council mowers.

That was the start of our Bookham Blue Hearts Wildflower Verges project, working with the  residents’ association and county councillor to leave some verges unmown again until the autumn as a pilot.

The long-term aim is to create nectar-rich ‘highways’ that interconnect to form a national  ‘bloomband’ network.

The Blue Heart signs used on protected verges are beautifully decorated with bees, butterflies and  flowers with slogans like Bookham Bee Friendly to tell passers-by what it’s all about and spread the love.

Bookham Butterflies WI members Frances Fancourt and Angela Jones have been helping; Angela  being an excellent artist painted the hearts — this one was done for a verge with orchids.

The scheme was so successful, with the emergence of long suppressed flowers, that we have agreed  yet more Blue Heart verges this year with SCC and well over 50 residents have expressed interest in having their own Blue Heart verge outside their homes.

In one road, there will be multiple hearts in place soon, thanks to a past and a present Great  Bookham Belle member (not all our WIs are named after pollinators!).

We’ve used Facebook (@bookhambluehearts) and local print media for publicity and already the neighbouring villages of Fetcham and Effingham are joining in. We hope other Surrey WI members will be inspired to join in!

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Key to pictures: Left to right: Introductory page to Miss Sutherland’s album; pages contributed by Blindley Heath and West Clandon to Mrs Auerbach’s album; page contributed by Tongham to Miss Sutherland’s album.

TWO albums made by WI members featured as Surrey Heritage Centre’s Marvel of the Month in May. We are grateful to the Centre for giving us  permission to reproduce some of these beautiful illustrations and an accompanying article which appeared on the centre’s website. The words contained in the Blindley Heath and West Clandon pages are at the bottom of this article. To see your WI’s contribution go to www.surreyarchives.org.uk/ then type 3410/4/1 (1930 album) or 3410/4/2 (1945 album) in the search box.

How we saw ourselves — 70+  years ago

THE Federation’s archives include two presentation albums made for Mrs Helena Auerbach as an appreciation of her term of office as County President, 1919-1929, and for Miss Mary Kate Sutherland, County Secretary, 1920-1945. Both  contain illustrated pages contributed by each Surrey WI — 109 in Mrs Auerbach’s album, made in 1930, and 130 in Miss Sutherland’s, made in 1946.

The volumes contain paintings, drawings, photographs and verses, and there are many beautiful and charming  scenes which present a view of a surprisingly rural Surrey in the first half of the 20th century.

At Betchworth in Mrs Auerbach’s album, rabbits frolic in a meadow beneath gnarled old trees. The Blindley Heath page is decorated in the borders with fruit, pine cones and ivy leaves, while a fox, owl and goose peer from the brambles at the bottom of the page. Rowledge celebrated Alice Holt Forest in verse and depicted woodland animals,  birds and plants including a hedgehog, frog, toadstools and bluebell.

There is humour too — at nearby Hale the WI provided a photograph of members dressed up as a pack of cards for ‘living whist’ at Farnham Castle in 1925.

Traditional

Other Institutes wrote verses or reports on their activities, such as the ladies of Blackheath who “sing top notes, sew cushions and found bobbed hair a help in acting Shakespeare”. At Hambledon “we have earned prizes for dancing, singing, bake new bread, spin yarn from sheep’s wool, cobble shoe or boot, cure colds, mend broken chair springs,

eat more fruit”, while at Haslemere “we’ve sung a lot of songs no angel dares”.

Fetcham highlighted traditional domestic expectations in a verse about the man of Fetcham who said “My supper’s cold mutton / My shirt lacks a button / For my wife has gone Institute mad”. The Shackleford page shows women cooking, knitting, tending chickens and babies, and playing a piano, but then, perhaps punning on their name (the branch banner drawn on the page shows a pair of shackles), a woman (is she breaking free?) drives off in a motor car.

Some WIs recalled entertaining visitors from deprived areas of London: verses on the Mickleham and Westhumble page, decorated with a snow-capped mountain and fantasy castle, recall “Parties we give for selves and others / Like Hoxton boys or Clapham mothers,” while Hurst Green had hosted 90 under-10s from a Bermondsey Council School and included the letter from one of the children, J. Fisher, who wrote that they liked the flowers, pigs, chickens, cows and lemonade.

Tableau

Miss Sutherland’s album was completed in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, but few of the pages refer to it, depicting instead familiar scenes such as the view from Box Hill or the church and cottages at Holmbury St Mary.

However, Hale WI added a photograph of their tableau of the Allied nations from 1942 and the illustrations on the page from Tongham 1941-1945 show a long queue winding down a village street to the Red Cross Bring and Buy sale, while below a woman adds to a pile of “over 4,000 pairs of socks” and a lorry groans along a road under the weight of “Tongham pies” in the Rural Pie Scheme.

Some express hopes in their verses for a new beginning, as at Bookham where the line “man’s crimes put out the lights and hushed the church bells’ chimes” is contrasted with the work of the WI “To link with others in a common band / And span dividing seas, dividing faiths / Till fear and hatred fade like mist-made wraiths / Into the radiance of a new world’s glow”.

Then as now, in the face of difficult times, it seems people found enjoyment and solace in the surroundings of  nature and the countryside, and Brockham WI hoped for “peace in this green and pleasant land”.

WORDS FROM THE ALBUMS

Blindley Heath’s contribution:

May we who long have known her kindly presidential care,

Render our grateful thanks to her and hope that she,

Where e’er she be, may sometimes look upon this book which we prepare.

And once upon a time, before Societies and Leagues

Under their rules forbade all warlike pastimes and intrigues,

Each woman of our village, which is Blindley Heath you know,

Round pugilistic contests stood and watched each mighty blow.

But now no longer is our heath the scene of many fights

And yet we have no time to spare, but sit up late o’nights

Cake making, seating worn out chairs, embroid’ring, bottling fruit,

Having gleaned such varied knowledge at the Women’s Institute.

December, 1929 M. R. Malleson

West Clandon’s Poem

We send a picture of our village hall

Enough to say “We helped to build it.”

So you may know the good hard work we did

To raise a hall where we had none before.

Cottage and mansion all worked hard together,

Long were the hours we spent upon our Fete,

And upon whist drives, socials, all to help the cause.

Now we can have our village functions there,

Dances and meetings — agricultural shows.

Our warmest greetings to you, and a hope

Not to forget us quite, is all we ask.

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Can we train you to become a WI Adviser?

Read on …

THE next round of WI Adviser training is due to start in September. The Federation needs more Advisers, so please ask yourself:

ARE YOU:

• Dynamic and inspirational;
• A good communicator;
• Well organised.

DO YOU

• Enjoy meeting people;
• Enjoy helping others.

If the answer is “yes” you are just the sort of person we need. The WI will train you in leadership skills covering communication, WI governance and finance and providing support for WIs.

The role is voluntary and the accredited training is done through the NFWI and is paid for by Surrey Federation.

If you would like to be part of a team of enthusiastic women taking the WI forward, here’s what to do:

• Go to https://witraining.thewi.org.uk/ and watch the So You Want To Be An Adviser video.
• Contact the office to discuss becoming an Adviser.
• Find further information on MyWI>Federation Team>Federation Roles>WI Advisers.

It’s a very worth while job and just the sort of post-lockdown challenge you might be looking for. We look forward to hearing from you.

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PROTECT OUR POLLINATORS – AND OUR RIGHT TO PROTEST

FOLLOWING on from April’s article about using peat free compost, I would like to draw your attention to a new scheme. The Kingfisher Farm Shop* at Abinger has introduced a Bag for Life Compost scheme to reduce single use plastic consumption. They are providing Melcourt Sylvia Grow Multi Purpose peat free compost and Melcourts Bag for Life which can take up to 40L of peat free compost. The refillable bag (pictured) costs £2.95 and the compost £7 for 40L. Sounds like a bargain to me!

A new Bill progressing through Parliament has caused concern and needs to be addressed. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has successfully received its second reading in the House of Commons.

Pressure

What has this to do with the climate? Members of the public who are increasingly concerned about the climate crisis feel it is their right to protest peacefully, to put pressure on the Government to bring in stronger powers to reduce carbon emissions and build a sustainable economy. The measures needed to fulfill the Paris agreement have not been met. The Environment Bill has been delayed again and the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill has yet to move from the first stage.

It was good to see the pictures of Surrey WI members holding placards in support of International Women’s Day. No doubt they were a little nervous, maybe excited even to express their feelings so publicly. It is important that we can stand up and express an opinion without getting a criminal record. Last Saturday I joined a group of friends spread out through the town with banners to ‘Protect Peaceful Protest’.  The Bill currently going through Parliament threatens to damage that right. Covid restrictions were adhered to and we had a lot of support. We have to remember that without protests, women would not have the vote and the UK Government would not have declared a Climate Emergency.

This month I want to focus on encouraging pollinators to your garden. When people say pollinators they usually mean honey bees but there are about 4,000 native pollinators in the UK. Bumble bees, solitary bees, honey bees, moths, flies, wasps, sawflies…

Different shapes and sizes are suited to different flowers eg. foxgloves and aquilegias have deep flowers which suit garden bumble bees, lavender and catmint are attractive to short tongued bumble bees and marjoram is visited by many different insects. Some plants can renew their nectar when an insect has enjoyed a feast, white dead nettle and borage are good at this and it ensures that they are pollinated.  Borage is also a pretty addition to Pimm’s!

What else can we do to encourage pollinators? Please don’t use insecticides. A Gardeners Question Time gardener was told as a lad: “If it moves slowly enough, step on it, if it doesn’t, leave it — it will probably kill something else”.

Experience

I am a fan of Dave Goulson. He was on Gardeners World recently showing us his garden. It wasn’t tidy, there was no bare soil but it was rich in plant life and insects. A parsnip left to go to seed was covered in blackfly, they obviously preferred it to the adjacent broad beans — a good example of letting nature take its course. Of course he knows what he’s doing and gives us the benefit of his experience. **

In 2016 he decided to do some research into bedding plants sold in garden centres and B&Q etc. Analysis showed that although the plants had the RHS logo and Perfect for Pollinators label they had been treated with insecticide and fungicide. These toxins were in the pollen of the majority of the plants on sale that were tested and could attract bees to poisonous nectar. Talk to the staff at the garden centre  about it next time you visit. Perhaps better to grow your flowers from seed and enjoy the buzz in your garden!

*www.kingfisherfarmshop/garden;

**The Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson.

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Surrey Federation is going more DIGITAL

Introducing Office 365

THE Federation’s Digital Working Group is addressing how confidential information can be shared by all who need access to it in a secure manner, quicker than Royal Mail and in a more environmentally  friendly way.

Surrey Federation will be implementing the Microsoft Office 365 System (the System), which uses the Cloud (meaning storage on the internet) to centrally store information. Many Federations are already using Office 365 successfully.

Research

We conducted extensive research into Office 365 and have employed a company used by other Federations to implement the System for us.

We started this project pre-COVID-19, and then at the start of the pandemic the project was put on hold until now as we embark on the route out of lockdown.

To summarise, each WI will be provided with four email addresses; three addresses to give to the WI officers (President, Secretary and Treasurer) access to the federation System, and an additional ‘info’ WI email address for potential members to make enquiries to the WI.

Email continuity

Confidential information which is usually sent to WIs in paper form can be accessed via the Federation System by the officers of every WI using their allocated email address and password.

Each WI President, Secretary and Treasurer will be issued with a password to use with their email address to gain access to the Federation System. When a new officer is appointed, the password will be changed but the position email address will remain and, therefore, the emails of the predecessor will still be accessible.

Setting up

The implementation of Office 365 across the Federation should be completed by this month (June) and will start to be rolled out to WIs in September.

We are planning a programme of training and supporting materials to help you familiarise yourself with the System and be confident with using it.

Feedback

We have received positive feedback from some WIs who are looking forward to having access to the System and having general email addresses and hope that in the future everyone will embrace the System.

Although we acknowledge that some WIs may not wish to use the System at this time, the office will continue to provide hard copies of information in these circumstances, as the federation is committed to  providing information in whatever form a WI requires. — The Digital Working Group

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THE DRAWING CLASSES THAT JUST KEPT ON GOING

SOPHIE Artemis’s three-week art sessions have been a great success, as you can see from some of the work produced below.

And by the time you read this, her students will have completed a fifth session!

Sessions began in November and continued into 2021 at the request of the ten attendees.

The group has certainly been on an incredible art journey during lockdown.

First, Sophie introduced them to the fundamentals of observation drawing, using tone, perspective, line and volume. All techniques have been demonstrated step by step, providing clear explanations and  answering various questions along the way.

Examples of the various techniques include: Using positive and negative space to view the subject; drawing on toned paper to show how to depict puppy fur, lips and teeth; urban and city — looking at the vertical and perspective; figures — seeing their line of action; landscapes with reflective water; trees; the Grisaille painting technique in which a monochromatic palette is used; tonal drawing — things you can see!

Sophie has led workshops at Watts Gallery, the Craft Council London, the V&A and in a high security prison. She teaches a regular drawing and illustration class and now delivers on Zoom. Her work is held at the Tate Library and the National Art Library at the V&A.

The respective group members have given permission for copies of their drawings to be exhibited over the coming months. — Marion Mitchell, Chair of the Events, Leisure & Fundraising Committee

The Illustrations on this page were done by Gillian Merrick

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