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CO-CHAIRS COLUMN (October 2023)

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I have had the pleasure to represent the Surrey Federation at two neighbouring Federations’ Annual Council Meetings – one with our Treasurer, Sheena, and the other with my Co-Chair Angie. Other Trustees have also been attending ACMs. Why do we do it and why do their representatives visit us? One reason is to learn from one another, to have a fresh look at the Annual Council Meetings. These are held at yearly intervals to update members on the financial viability of their Federation, recap on the previous year’s activities and learn more about future plans. The other is to deepen friendships with other women who are just as passionate about WI as Angie and I
are.
Most Federations are meeting in small venues as fewer of their members wish to travel as they managed to prior to Covid. They have  only a few traders than we have in Surrey as the foot fall is reduced. A shorter day, just speakers and the reports, all over by 1pm. These were all points our Board considered when organising our Autumn Federation Meeting 2024 (AFM 2024) along with the feedback we gained from you. One thing that was mentioned several times was, why do we always go to Dorking? There are many answers to this question, but the Board of Trustees have taken the decision to test the location question.
Earlier this year we asked for ideas for suitable venues, one of which was Bourne Hall in Ewell. Easy public transport and parking available. The style of the hall leads us to a new concept of presentation more in line with our campaigns. So for the AFM24, we will be meeting at Ewell on the 28 October under the broad heading, Surrey Federation Cares….. for the Climate.
The Board decided that we will retain the usual format for our Annual Council Meeting 2024, when we will be meeting at the Dorking Halls on 18 March 2024.
I hope you will enjoy the blend of previously enjoyed style of meeting with the new.

Jill Mulryan, Co-Chair, Surrey Federation

 

Thank you so much to all of you that have contacted us about attending a Sub Committee or Board of Trustee meeting. We want to use our time volunteering to run the Federation as efficiently and as effectively as possible, so hearing from members is crucial.
I have been told that the way we cascade information to WIs and Members is not always clear and helpful. To clarify, when the office or Advisers send emails with information to be cascaded to all members, this is to be done in the way that best suits your own WI and members. This may mean that you forward the emails straight to all members, or you give an outline of the email content to members via your own newsletter (with an invitation to see the full email) or it might be that at your next monthly meeting you inform members of correspondence received from NFWI and SFWI and allow them to see a copy of the full email if they wish. Please contact the
office if you are unable to print out a copy of the information we send, they will send you a printed copy so that any members without an email account will be able to see the relevant information, if they wish to.
Last month I said that the HE Sub committee was running a Chutney making class in the Autumn, I am wrong – it is next spring. I muddled up Chutney Making and Making the Most of your Autumn Harvest. I clearly need to spend more time on HE run courses to know my preserve options!
Meeting members is still very much my favourite part of being in the WI so please do let us know when we can come along and visit with you and your members.

Angie Leach, Co-Chair, Surrey Federation

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What’s New from HQ (September 2023)

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WHAT’S NEW FROM HQ

Dear All,
I hope you enjoyed the lovely summer and are looking forward to all the forthcoming meetings and events.
The next mailing will be in September, and will include:
• List of Advisers to WI AGMs
• Annual Review and Information Forms

Please visit the website document library or the Office 365 SFWI Sharepoint area for these and more information and downloads
www.surreyfedwi.org.uk/resources/document-library-2

Dates for Your Diary:
• Annual Council Meeting Monday 18 March 2024 Dorking Halls
• Annual Federation Meeting October 2024 – Date & Venue TBC

Karen Whitehead
Federation Secretary

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CO-CHAIRS COLUMN (September 2023)

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September came round quickly, didn’t it? No sooner was it March 20th and Jill and I became Co-Chairs for Surrey Federation and now we are half-way through our first year. You will have noticed that we have invited a member from every WI to come along to meet us at the Federation office and attend a Board of Trustee meeting or a sub-committee meeting. Please do encourage at least one member of your WI to take up this offer – the details of this are on page 8 of the August SWIN and on our Social Media channels.

I have had an incredible six months’ getting to grips with how the various aspects of the Federation slot together and complement each other. It is wonderful to see sub-committees working together to arrange events, and as we move forward you may notice a few changes. Public Affairs are going to take more of a leading role in the Resolution Briefing Meeting arrangements with support from the Membership Committee. The Membership Committee has Advisers and non-Advisers as full members of this sub-committee, and going forward you will be introduced to everyone. All sub-committees are working towards supporting a large scale AFM24 (Autumn Federation Meeting 2024) with a focus on raising awareness about Environmental and Climate Crisis issues and what we (as individuals and a Federation) can do to make positive changes. The HE (Home Economics) sub-committee are working towards supporting the AFM24 event by running a workshop to make the most of your autumn harvest in October, and how to make chutney next April. This will develop skills in members to make chutney which could be entered into a competition that will be judged late next summer. Please do consider booking onto the courses and look out on our social media for hints and tips about entering competitions and what the Judges are looking for. Our wonderful HE sub-committee members (led by Jill Arthur) are available to help you with any questions you may have. Please contact the office to be put in touch with them.

Our Events, Leisure and Fundraising sub-committee are busy arranging events for you all to get involved with and next year this is widening to include some more sport-based events. Please do contact us if you are able to offer us support in helping to arrange events you think our members would like to do together. We will be adding the NFWI partnership with England Rugby to our events calendar, in whatever way members would like, so please let us know if you want to play (walking rugby, sevens, tag, training), watch games or learn about the game. Women’s cricket, football, lawn bowls and water sports are all on our agenda and we welcome members’ support and help to arrange events. Please do contact me if you have ideas of things we could do and/or if you are able to help us arrange events. You do not have to attend meetings in Guildford to help us with events, we can meet partly or entirely online.

Please remember it is your Federation and we would love to hear your ideas and receive your offers of help.

Angie Leach, Co-Chair, Surrey Federation

 

I like this time of the year, the weather is still warm enough to sit out to have a coffee or a glass of wine. I visited Denbies Vineyard at the end of July with Sanderstead Village WI, to tour their prospective harvest – it’s looking good. My pears, plums and apples are ripening (yes, the bluetits did leave some apple blossom to ripen into fruit!) and I will be able to turn them into pies, mincemeat and chutney. Do you make chutney? Would you like to learn? Join our Autumn Harvest Course.

In September, there is such a buzz at our meetings, friends sharing their holiday news and looking forward to the Autumn programme, Christmas and Annual Meetings.

If you would like to be on your WI’s committee, this is the time to start thinking about it. Programme planning is easier if you have attended our New Speaker Auditions and can feed back to your WI with fresh ideas. These Speakers are applying to be in next year’s Yearbook.

We can offer you a lovely way to get into the Christmas mood with a view of London’s Christmas lights, shopping at Greenwich Christmas market with a cruise up the River Thames ending with supper before the return home.

Jill Mulryan, Co-Chair, Surrey Federation

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