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The Women's Institute
What is WI? – The Mystery Explained
The Women’s Institute is a meeting place for women, the biggest
organisation for women in the world. It was formed before women’s
suffrage when there was little education for country women. It has
changed over the years to become a modern voice for women while
upholding its core values and creating an atmosphere of friendship
and fun for women.
Each Institute caters for its own members needs and interests and no
two institutes are exactly the same. We choose what subjects we
would like to learn about; which speakers we would like to inform or
entertain us; whether and where we would like outings, rambles,
theatre trips, concerts etc and how we run our own proceedings. It
is NOT obligatory to make jam or pose for nude calendars!
Coleshill WI
We are a group of fifty members meeting in Coleshill Village Hall
once a month when we have a speaker and a sumptuous tea. (Second
Thursday of each month at 2pm (Nov – Feb) or 2.30pm (Mar – Oct)
except August)
We also have frequent outings to the theatre and places of interest.
We are always delighted to welcome visitors for the modest sum of
£1.50 if you would like to come and see what we are all about.
Once a month we have a WI walk ending with a pub lunch and as well
as the walking group we have Cross Stitch, Poetry, Patchwork and
Book groups who meet in each others houses.
Some members bake delicious goodies for the Amersham WI market on
Fridays in the Free Church hall and help with coffee.
Once a year we entertain a deaf group from St Saviours in east Acton
giving them lunch, an afternoon out and tea before they return by
coach. We sometimes have fundraising efforts for a local cause such
as Scannappeal.
Annual
Subscription:
£22.00
Who is Who
Following the AGM a new committee is ready to take care of things in 2008
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President
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Lindsey Haubner |
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Vice President |
Catherine Green |
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Hon. Secretary |
Margaret Harding |
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Treasurer
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Joan Domin |
Committee
Adrienne Baldwin
Meg Green
Ann Holroyd
Marcia Neil
Sally Pool
News
We started the year with some of our older members deciding not
to rejoin but have been pleased that several new members are now
coming each second Thursday in the month at 2.30pm.
The unexpected death of Ann Trotman, who was a past President and
active member of our Institute, meant that the May meeting started
on a sad note before going on to discuss this year’s resolutions for
the AGM in Liverpool.
We have had some interesting speakers but one did, unfortunately,
have to let us down. Instead of replacing her we had an informal
meeting, around tables instead of sitting in rows. Members were
allocated tables on arrival, which meant meeting and chatting to
people they did not usually sit with. After the business of the day,
each table was able to open an envelope to reveal the first line of
a short story, which they as a group had to complete. This resulted
in some imaginative writing, most of which included alcohol in some
form (!) and much laughter when they were read out at the end.
The June speaker is a Blue Badge guide who will be talking about
‘London Oddities’, then in July we will learn about, ‘Bucks Houses
and Their Treasures’. We are having an outing in August, then, in
September, ‘The History of Lingerie’. We are all going out to a
cookery demonstration and lunch in June; in July several of us will
be joining The Lee WI for another lunch and in August we will be
having a tour of Oxfordshire villages and enjoying a lunch provided
by a WI there. We will also be having a tea party in the village as
well as the lovely tea provided by our members each month at our
meetings. No WI member has ever been known to die of starvation!
Lindsey, our current president, who has been a member for 31 years,
has now joined the county executive committee and two of their
sub-committees, so will be able to keep us up to date with what is
happening at county level. For example, Lars Tharp, from Antiques
Roadshow, is coming to give a talk later in the year. Our own sub
groups, which include a patchwork group, a book club, and a poetry
group, still meet regularly and there is talk of starting a craft
club, too.
The whole idea of a Women’s Institute is to provide a gathering
place for women, who can then run it as they wish. We enjoy doing
what we do now and have tried T’ai Chi, rambles etc and, if a group
of us want to have a go at something else, we can take it on – with
help from our county federation if we need it. If you find you are
getting a bit bored, why not come along one month as a visitor, with
no obligation to join. Who knows, you might find yourself swept
along on a wave of new activities and you will be made very welcome
Contact
Lindsey Haubner – President Coleshill WI
- click here to contact the WI
Useful Links
- www.bucksfwi.org.uk
- www.womens-institute.org.uk
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