The Book Group read “Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert this month which is a story of Emma who lives in a self-centred world of her own based on dreams which have been fed by reading romantic novels similar to modern day Mills &Boon. She wrecks the lives around her, runs into desperate debt and ends up taking the only way out by committing suicide; all in her search for passionate love preferably in some exotic far Middle-Eastern setting. I am glad to say that nearly everyone finished reading the novel in spite of the tragic storyline because there was dark humour at the expense of the heroine and the pomposity of the people living in a small French town in the 1850s and it was beautifully written. Flaubert commented on society in as great detail as any Chinese civil servant assessing his neighbours’ economic and social rating.
It is not often that I seek refuge indoors away from the temperature outside and am glad to sit down to write the blog. Now that I do, I find that it is over a fortnight since I wrote anything about what is happening in the WI in Bucks which is not, I am sure a true picture. Locally, our WI discussion group set the members a topic about which few of them knew anything at all so they were forced to do quite a lot of homework in advance. We talked about the Chinese social credit system. OK! So you all knew about that: well, we didn’t but we do now and this is why our meetings are so worthwhile and enjoyable. It is a national scheme where every citizen will have a credit rating assessed on his/her reputation in the community to include aspects of private and business life. In some pilot towns and cities the ratings are pinned up in public places for all to see and anyone can add or subtract points to the scores of others. If one plays the radio or TV too loud, if one is seen to jay-walk or jump a red light, or thought to be a bad parent or fail to pay a fine etc. one’s rating will suffer. This has the potential to have a mortgage refused or put an end to a job application. Couple this system with a register built on facial recognition and one’s life is no longer one’s own. Could this happen in the UK? We can check our credit ratings and sometimes these have been proved wrong. Amazon and big shopping stores keep records of what we buy and so do our computers. There are tax records and a national NHS data bank. CCTV and Neighbourhood Watch? Makes you think, doesn’t it? Name and shame---here we come.
The Book Group read “Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert this month which is a story of Emma who lives in a self-centred world of her own based on dreams which have been fed by reading romantic novels similar to modern day Mills &Boon. She wrecks the lives around her, runs into desperate debt and ends up taking the only way out by committing suicide; all in her search for passionate love preferably in some exotic far Middle-Eastern setting. I am glad to say that nearly everyone finished reading the novel in spite of the tragic storyline because there was dark humour at the expense of the heroine and the pomposity of the people living in a small French town in the 1850s and it was beautifully written. Flaubert commented on society in as great detail as any Chinese civil servant assessing his neighbours’ economic and social rating.
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Bournemouth
This was a very good meeting, not wildly exciting but interesting. Lynne Stubbings NFWI Chair started proceedings with a “state of the nation” type of resume of the past year. The Treasurer reported a good year financially: WI Enterprises had done well and Denman College had been dealing successfully with its deficit. The new system for claiming Gift Aid was explained. Ann Jones promoted the Climate Ambassador Scheme and appealed for volunteers to work locally for it. The resolution against the decline of local bus services was well presented with experts speaking for and against the motion. Debate from the floor stressed the extent of the problem and the negative impact on living conditions in rural areas. It was carried by a huge majority as expected. Lord Bradley Chairman of the Care not Custody Coalition spoke of the work of the Prison Reform Trust and 38 other organisations working within this coalition. He listed the action programme that it was carrying out with 92% coverage across the UK. This included diversion services, street triage, teams in schools and colleges, Pathways such as the one in Milton Keynes for women on remand or with short sentences and improved information sharing between hospitals, the police and social services. A united approach would save money in the NHS, reduce the crowding in prisons and cut re-offending figures and more importantly increase the chances of the offenders enjoying a better standard of life. After lunch the resolution Don’t fear the Smear was presented. Rod from Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust supported the motion and a member from NFWI Trustees spoke as the Devil’s advocate because no expert could be found. There were heart-rending examples quoted in the debate and the overall message was don’t stop at the age of seventy, encourage businesses to allow employees time for tests and increase awareness to stop the gap among younger women who had missed the new system of vaccination in secondary schools. This was passed by an even huger majority than the morning’s motion. Maggie Philbin CEO of Teentech and previous presenter on Tomorrow’s World and Swapshop described her work with youngsters especially girls to encourage their skills in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and Maths). She stressed the need for nurturing talent and imagination from an early age even if it was difficult to fit into a rigid school curriculum. This year I didn’t travel down with the BFWI coach nor stay with Bucks members in the same hotel but I am sure that worked out well as usual. I shared my hotel with Suffolk Federation which had arranged for the delegates to raid the breakfast bar to make up sandwiches and take fruit etc for their lunches at the conference to avoid crowding in the hall: foil and paper bags provided. This wasn’t repeated for their journey home! I couldn’t help thinking this was a good idea as there have been meeting halls with pretty ropey refreshments in the past. I picked up leaflets encouraging the use of MYWI and the Climate Ambassador Scheme to bring home to Bucks but left all the promotion material for cruises---well, you know what I think about the pollution from ocean liners! Mind, if you look at the financial statement for NFWI you know why it insists on handing out their cruise lists and fills WI Life with their advertisements. Enough said… The Chase Group of WIs travelled to Bath for a day’s outing on 9th May. It wasn’t a perfect day weather-wise but we did manage to dodge the worst of the rain while we went on a guided tour of the city. The party enjoyed the attention of two guides and both of them were excellent. We concentrated on the architecture of the city rather than the people who had lived there although of course, Jane Austen and Beau Nash came into the talk as well. The photos were taken by Dee Blackmore. I think she must have lain flat on the floor for the shot of the beautiful ceiling of the Abbey and the picture of the famous Pulteney Bridge from the other side of the river shows how the dark clouds had lifted as we strolled along to the next bridge. Many of us succumbed to eating Bath buns which are much lighter than they look---that is what we told ourselves anyway! An interesting day. Everyone appreciates the work involved in organising a group outing like this and thanked our Group convenor and hoped she would arrange another one. 15 May Did you read in the national press how Leicester and Rutland Federation members have been banned from baking cakes for the local hospice? They have been doing this for years and now the hospice isn’t allowed to accept their donations because of health and safety concerns: all the members’ kitchens have to be inspected and registered as food establishments. This bureaucratic nonsense raises its ugly head every few years and is one of the reasons behind BFWI running basic hygiene courses for members so that WIs can say that they have someone who holds a valid certificate when they cater for the public at garden parties or market stalls. The editorial of The Daily Telegraph poured scorn on the ruling in Leicestershire so perhaps something will be done about altering the decision and the patients can go back to enjoying a slice of cake with their teas. In the same issue of the paper there was a welcome piece about 3 criminal drug dealers being jailed under the Modern Slavery Act for forcing youngsters to be runners for drug trafficking between London and Portsmouth. It is good to see the legislation following WI campaigns being used in the war against this practice. The BFWI Annual Council Meeting on 1st May at the Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury was enjoyable and business-like. Pat Poole, the Federation Chairman reported on the past year’s events and heralded the programme for the centenary in 2020. The finances are healthy but there was disappointment when a show of hands revealed how few of the Bucks members use the MYWI website and our own Federation pages. Steve Irons, the BCC Resilience Officer with the help of Thelma Sackman gave an entertaining report on the work of his team in harness with the WI and announced tests and exercises planned for October 2019. Ruba Asfahani told us about new courses and visits being introduced at Denman College and encouraged everyone to try to attend either on her own or as part of a small group.
Thalia Jervis, CEO Healthwatch Bucks explained its purpose, how it responds to information from the public. It needs people to report good as well as bad practice experienced. Healthwatch had visited 24 care homes and GP surgeries last year. It was also tasked with translating information leaflets and notices into language which anyone with a reading age of 9 years would be able to understand: this is the average reading age of the public nowadays. (An intake of breath here from ex-teachers in the audience). The Red Box Project was explained by Janet Kingdon from a Wantage WI who is an active founder member of the scheme. This is a system for the provision of sanitary wear in secondary schools for the girls from poorer homes who had missed 138,000 days of schooling in 2017 because they could not afford adequate protection. What a worthy, thoughtful and practical solution to a problem undertaken by a WI ahead of government action! It was disappointing in the afternoon that Judge Francis Sheridan was unable to attend but Simon King OBE took advantage of the extra time as he showed examples of his wild life photography and recounted some of his adventures while making nature programmes for television. There was time for some federation news before the enjoyable meeting closed at 4pm. Winslow WI was delighted to see Daphne Preece receive the silver trophy for her Denman Cup entry. . On the 23rd April I attended one of the resolution meetings held in Aylesbury. I was told that the attendance over two sittings was expected to be about a hundred. These meetings are always interesting and informative: the purpose is to brief someone from each of the Bucks WIs to present the resolutions at her own WI May meeting when the members are obliged to vote before passing the decision to the link delegate who will attend the Annual Meeting in June. Considering the number of Bucks WIs and knowing that most attendees came with a friend, the attendance figure becomes less impressive.
The National Federation of WIs provides good briefing notes, a power-point presentation and strategic advice on the national website as well as pretty full notes in WI Life. In these days, when there is at least one member in every WI with enough IT savvy to download and present this information could BFWI not do away with these resolution selection meetings and save the expense? What we want to hear about and why we attend these meetings is to learn about the local situation relevant to the resolutions, such as that given last week by Dr. Frances Butcher and our own advisor, Judith. Our Member Support team could do this advance research and add it for download on the BFWI site. We could then spend the money saved on holding meetings and events planned to support the mandates when passed. Think--- hiring campaign awareness notices on the side of local buses, litter picks, training sessions to work with dementia sufferers, sponsoring a team to staff a mobile scan unit… I don’t know. It is just an idea. As they say in all the best exam papers DISCUSS. .Spring has certainly sprung and we have enjoyed marvellous weather over the Easter Bank Holiday. The urge to spring clean may be why the local committee is gathering together all the WI’s archives from various members’ houses in order to conduct a stocktake. Luckily there is a printed list of what has to be kept officially and what can be discarded after a set period of time so that important records do not disappear into the shredding machines. Paper is not as great a problem as the physical items that a WI collects over the years such as banners, tablecloths and china, costumes from drama events, competition entries etc. Then there is the problem of storage to be solved as WIs no longer have cupboards in their meeting places.
Outside, several members have been taking part in the national town scheme of litter-picking which one approaches with some reluctance but once involved it is quite an enjoyable activity. Working in teams of three it is not long before a competitive element emerges as the collector of plastic and tin argues with the classification made by the general rubbish sack-holder. Of course, in an ideal world this would not need to be done at all, but unfortunately it is only a matter of hours before one notices new litter along a road or street from which one has personally just purged every cigarette end. Recent activities include meetings of the craft group, an outing for the gardening group and a jigsaw swap coffee morning in aid of Adoption UK. The members of the discussion group enjoyed an entertaining evening sharing the titles of books which had made a lasting impression on them at some time in their lives. Children’s classics, books studied for English exams and books written by authors local to the reader’s area which brought back memories, all featured. Several people were prompted to read the recommendations of others but the majority of titles had already been read by all at some time. Next month promises to be a very busy month for WI members everywhere with preparations for the National AGM resolutions, the Bucks Council Meeting in Aylesbury and outdoor activities such as outings and walking netball. I feel like Mole in “The Wind in the Willows”: hang the spring cleaning, enjoy the fresh air, but I’ll probably not go “ messing around with boats”. .March has been a wonderful month for weather: it both came in like a lamb and went out like one. Don’t let us forget that, when the rain finally catches up with us. It was more difficult than usual to spot the April Fool item in the national press following weeks of unimaginable genuine news articles but there had been coverage of developments in advance of the WI’s resolutions on bus transport and the smear campaign which will provide useful material when the May resolution meetings are held. I notice also that there is a scheme afoot to get young girls interested in sport. It is named Girls Inspired. Now where have I heard a similar title to that?
The groups in our WI have been very active: they have been visiting gardens, eating out and singing together. The craft people are considering various projects and a hardy band are making vague plans for an exhibit at the County Show in August. The Book Group was given a difficult novel which was a cross between a novel and a tract against animal experimentation. I cannot say much more about it without giving away the twist on which the story depends. The title is “We are Completely beside Ourselves” by J. Fowler. It was a challenging read and I am afraid many in the group went down fighting. The discussion group members discussed the value of the Arts quite decorously. The BFWI had produced an introductory leaflet to the WI to which the local WI had added details of its own activities mentioned earlier. These were handed out at the April WI meeting and the committee had devised a newsletter to include the record of the previous month---both were well received by members. The speaker talked about his experiences as an evacuee which revived memories for some and the younger members doubted how this could be achieved nowadays when society is cossetted by character checks and counselling and everyone expects to be allowed to question decisions. The evacuation was a huge undertaking and could not have been achieved if questioned and delayed and not conducted to the letter. Sometimes there is a lot to be said for a decision which is imposed and cannot be disputed. Where is a dictator when you need one! I think that is where I came in so I’d better stop now before I get into real trouble. The local WI enjoyed a very busy March meeting. Gill Robinson started the evening as our speaker with the title “Don’t go breaking your heart...” She gave a lively presentation which included a guide to staying steady and useful chair exercises. It is never too soon to start. The committee revealed plans for a new noticeboard in the town, a summer barn dance and a member volunteered to hold a garden party in August. The implications on our finances of a group outing to a vineyard as this year’s Denman bursary were considered and it was decided to enquire into a course with a silversmith from Claydon which would not be so expensive and more truly educational. Ruth Wilkinson gave a brief report on the Investigation and Discovery Day which had been attended by several of the members. They had learned a lot and as usual enjoyed the day. Angela O’Dell had written a letter to the Blood Donors administration to express our doubts about the wisdom of using a drinks machine at the sessions instead of the WI serving them as it has done for years and years. Ideas were sought on the design of the BFWI pennant for 2020 and members were happy to let the Craft group make it however they liked, or words to that effect! Four members have begun to think about a WI entry to the competition at the County Show but considered the schedule very prescriptive this year. We heard about a planned Keep Winslow Tidy session in association with the Big Society and the Town Council. We voted for the NFWI trustees.
All this activity meant that we had to defer until next time Helen Zaremba’s planned introduction to the Winslow WI website. It was satisfying to think over the meeting and to realise that the members had covered all three levels of the WI in one way or another which makes one feel a part of the whole organisation. |
AuthorValerie Alsford has been a WI member for over 40 years. She has been writing a blog on the Buckinghamshire Federation Website for many years but we will put her posts on this site too! To see her historical thoughts please access the Bucks Website. Categories |