On the 15th November a meeting was held at the Ridgeway Centre in Wolverton. This was arranged by the BFWI Science and  Society sub-committee and chaired by Thelma Sackman. We listened to the facts and figures behind the problem of modern day slavery from Dr Akilah Jardine who is involved with Rights Lab. Research at Nottingham University. This organisation is working to help to end slavery which involves 40 million people worldwide. The first thing she wanted us to realise was that trafficking on which the media likes to concentrate is only a means of establishing the state of slavery for about 10% of slave victims. To be a slave is to be treated as an object which belongs to someone and can be bought or sold without a right to food, shelter or feelings: everything has been taken from that person. Slavery is big business across the world but all the finances go back into the criminal world not into a country’s economic status. The centre in Nottingham is using expertise from all areas of study at the university in conjunction with government departments and the United Nations to explore the very nature of the world of slavery and what can be done to stop it and to support the victims who can be of either sex and of any age.
April McCoig and Victoria Butler from Thames Valley Police gave us the local statistics: 2500 slaves in their area, around 12,000 nationally of which only 289 cases had come to court. Slaves might be forced into street crime, benefit fraud or drug running. They could be providing unpaid labour in factories, on building sites or in the fields. There were many in domestic servitude---they are the hardest to spot---and of course sexual exploitation is rife. The officers encouraged everyone to be vigilant and to ask themselves why articles or services could be so cheap and to report anything that didn’t look right.
An account of the work of the Salvation Army followed. It provides accommodation, psychological and physical support to victims and undertakes to transport people to safe houses and gives positive help in starting a new life. Reverend Tim Norwood spoke of the work of the Clewer Initiative “We see you” which provides materials for schools to help them to recognise the dangers of being co-erced into acts of crime.
Liz Gough then described some of the work that she and her husband had been doing in Greece with victims trafficked to the beaches and across Europe lured by the prospect of jobs and a better life. They are then beaten into submission and made completely dependent on their slave masters by emotional manipulation and fear of repercussions for their families back home.
There followed a table activity on what we thought the WI could do about the information which we had heard and we were promised that some of the ideas thrown up would be considered for action.
 An informative but depressing afternoon was experienced by all. Man’s inhumanity to Man never ceases to appal. However, we were glad to have attended and promised to spread the word.
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Our WI’s Annual Meeting was an enjoyable occasion because we were reminded of a very successful year both financially and socially. We elected a new President and are fairly confident that we have the other two necessary officers. The jazz evening had made a good profit to split between the WI and Mind Buckinghamshire. The outing to Birmingham Christmas Markets was fully booked. The poppy wreath made by members was admired and will be carried with pride in the Remembrance Day parade. Next year’s programme is ready for printing and promises some good speakers and activities.
The Book Group read “The Boleyn Inheritance” by Philippa Gregory which was enjoyed by more than half of the members. We agreed that the novel needed to be read as fiction first rather than as an historical narrative. The trouble is we have some history buffs among us who find things to question in the telling of the story so perhaps we will give this genre a miss for a while. Our latest requests for sets from the County Library have all been rejected as the books are fully booked for months ahead so it is back to the drawing board with the list. Our group has been going for about 15 years so it is not surprising that we are beginning to find that we have read an awful lot of the titles in stock.
The Fashion Show staged at the AVDC Gatehouse, Aylesbury was well attended and the models from our BFWI Board of Trustees performed very professionally. The clothes were provided by shops in towns across Bucks and they were featured in a wide range of sizes to suit normal people who are not as thin as twigs! I am sure many ladies present were thinking that they would like to wear a pair of trousers or a dress like those on display.
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There were about 90 Winslow WI members and guests at the Jazz evening tonight when Lou’s Sextet entertained us in the Public Hall. This was a fund-raising event for Buckinghamshire Mind and the local WI. Everyone enjoyed the music and the ploughman’s supper and each other’s company. There is always the worry at these events that nobody will come but in the last few days prior to the date requests for tickets flow in. The WI committee had spent a lot of thought organising the evening and its work paid off.
On the17th October four members got together to make up the Remembrance Sunday wreath from the many handmade poppies either crocheted or knit by 10 members over the past few months. The wreath used up 100 of these which echo-ed the centenary of the end of the First World War. We are very pleased with the look of the finished article and our President will feel justly proud carrying it in the town parade and laying it at the memorial.
The October meeting of the Discussion Group chose the topic of “Are holiday cruises anti-social?” It was anticipated that the subject would ruffle a few feathers because many of our members are fond of cruise liner holidays and have travelled all over the world on them. This evening we were presented with a whole lot of uncomfortable facts about the pollution caused by these monsters on the deep. What sort of pollution were they not guilty of? If it wasn’t sewage and waste, it was fuel and crowded places of interest--- and then the damage to the ecosystem in areas such as Antarctica, the Arctic and the Easter Islands. Could the social benefits aboard and the economics of the travel industry justify all of this? Unfortunately, I don’t think the travel firms need to fear a drop in their sales after our discussion but we did try!
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This evening the members listened to an interesting talk by Bob Harding, a paramedic with 40 years’ experience recounting tales of answering calls to the service. Most of these had been genuine pleas for help but unfortunately some had been a misuse of the service or an unnecessary call out. We spent some time making plans for the coming fund-raising Jazz Night and the Chase Group meeting at Mursley. Nominations were taken in for the committee next year in preparation for our Annual Meeting next month. The entry for the Bucks Village Book was on display and we are quite hopeful that it will be included in the final publication.
The WI Reading Group met on 25th September. A lot of people were still on holiday but had sent in their opinions on “1000 Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hossein . I think everyone had been moved by this novel and felt it was equally worth reading as the “Kite Runner”, his earlier work. The story ends hopefully at 2007 but unfortunately we knew how tragically things had turned out after that date in Afghanistan. It was amazing how the author was able to feel for the sufferings of the women through the constantly changing regimes in their lives and the private situation in their homes. It is tragic to see how the beautiful  cities, the history  and their culture have been destroyed by war. We will have to read the next book by Hossein.
In between whiles, I have been reading two books which are so relevant to the national WI campaigns that I would like to recommend them to you: first, non-fiction, “Somebody I used to Know” by Wendy Mitchell and then a novel by Gail Honeyman called “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine”. Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of fifty and she tells her story of how she thought out ways of surviving as normally as possible even though she was fully aware of the slow deterioration of what she could actually achieve. It is a brave account of what can be done, obligatory reading for anyone dealing with this affliction personally or in a family member. Gail Honeyman’s book is sad and hilarious in parts and it is a mystery story too. The main subject is the effects of loneliness and trauma . One just cannot put it down so try and borrow a copy because it will help everyone to understand what loneliness and depression can do to people.

Open air concert at Denman College 15th September
Over 200 WI members with friends and family travelled to Denman College to share in the celebrations planned to mark its 70th birthday. Hosted by the NFWI Chair Lynne Stubbings and Pat Tulip, the vice Chair we were entertained to “Sounds of Summer”. There was music to suit all tastes---Gilbert and Sullivan songs from Opera Anywhere and a contribution from the Young Women’s Music Project, through to symphonies from the Isis Chamber Orchestra followed by the showmanship of the Temple Funk Collective and finishing with a local WI favourite, Lola Lamour singing songs from the shows. The pre-booked hampers were full of lovely food; there were little tents where the visitors could try their hand at willow-work, biscuit decoration or make decorative hearts. For the more active people there were activities such as badminton, croquet, welly whanging and table tennis. Inside the house, tables were laden with haberdashery for sale and of course there was a raffle with generous prizes. A nip in the air towards the end of the evening provided a welcome excuse to visit the bar for warmth of one kind or another.
I couldn’t help wondering why there were not more members from Bucks: after all, we are almost next door to Denman. It is always a risk to attend outside events but we survived abominable weather conditions at Stowe a few years ago and came through cheerfully wet. A pity as so much work had gone into the event and it was such fun! It was advertised in WI Life for several months. There were no coach parties present either but individuals had travelled from Wales and Kent.
September 10th
The local craft group has resumed its meetings. Members are struggling along with their poppies for Remembrance Sunday. We were disappointed to hear that the murder mystery evening at Wendover had been cancelled ---not for lack of support but because the sponsor had pulled out. A shame because the evening had been successful and enjoyed last year.
September 12th
It was sombre listening to the speaker Liz Gough at our monthly meeting. I hasten to add not because of the speaker but because of her subject. Liz has had first-hand experience of helping at refugee stations in Greece. The theme was human trafficking and modern day slavery which are topics relevant to WI campaigns at present. It is difficult for us to imagine the mindset of people prepared to appear to be greeting refugees after the trauma of crossing the seas and then delivering them straight into the hands of the traffickers. We must all keep our eyes open for those poor men, women and children who are unable to escape the clutches of these people. It isn’t just happening elsewhere---it is a local problem too.
The summer tea at Pendley Manor had been enjoyed and plans are well advanced for our Jazz evening in October. Tickets are now available. The village book is in hand. The monthly competitions are well supported now as the members work their way through the alphabet with their entries. I thought “I” was difficult but I think “J “may be more so.
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