Buckinghamshire Federation of Women's Institutes
  • Home
  • who we are
    • Federation Trustees
    • Sub-Committees
    • Sub-Committee Videos
  • What we do
    • Current Campaigns
      • Climate Change
      • End Violence against Women
      • Get On Board
      • Stop Modern Slavery
      • Make a Match
      • 5 Minutes that matter
    • Resolutions
    • The Members' Blog
  • What's On
    • Events Calendar
    • Competitions & Challenges
      • Green Canopy Competition '22
      • Elizabeth Bell Challenge 2021
      • BFWI Silver Cup
      • Lady Denman Cup
      • Pudding Fit for a Queen
      • Virtual Show
  • Running your WI
    • Finding a Speaker
    • Subscriptions
    • Library
      • Tutorials & Library
    • Learning
      • WI Training
      • Denman @ Home
  • Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • On-line Store
  • History of Buckinghamshire WIs
  • Use of Website
  • Home
  • who we are
    • Federation Trustees
    • Sub-Committees
    • Sub-Committee Videos
  • What we do
    • Current Campaigns
      • Climate Change
      • End Violence against Women
      • Get On Board
      • Stop Modern Slavery
      • Make a Match
      • 5 Minutes that matter
    • Resolutions
    • The Members' Blog
  • What's On
    • Events Calendar
    • Competitions & Challenges
      • Green Canopy Competition '22
      • Elizabeth Bell Challenge 2021
      • BFWI Silver Cup
      • Lady Denman Cup
      • Pudding Fit for a Queen
      • Virtual Show
  • Running your WI
    • Finding a Speaker
    • Subscriptions
    • Library
      • Tutorials & Library
    • Learning
      • WI Training
      • Denman @ Home
  • Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • On-line Store
  • History of Buckinghamshire WIs
  • Use of Website


The Members' Blog

Authorship
Until January 2020, this Blog was the voice of an individual WI member.  Over her 40 years of membership, our Blogger had made a very fine contribution to this and other Federations in England.  With interests in crafts, reading and writing and in travel, she also took an active part in campaigning for women's welfare and education and on environmental issues.  While she has now handed over the Blog to the wider Bucks membership, her archived blog posts are a testament to someone who always made the utmost of her membership, and a rich source of information about the part the WI can play in today's society. 

All our yesterdays

6/5/2018

3 Comments

 
April is a month dominated by WI resolutions. The meeting at the AVDC building in Aylesbury was well attended and very useful to members who had volunteered to introduce the mental health resolution to their own WIs in order that the vote might be carried up to Cardiff for the National Annual General Meeting.  The local information adds to the article printed in WI Life and the follow-up papers on the NFWI website.
At the May meeting our WI, in a small way began the process of talking about mental health in the members’ own or family experience which is the aim of the resolution---to be open about these matters and to try to eradicate the stigma which has been attached for time immemorial. The members duly voted for the resolution but forgot to give our delegate the right to use her discretion to alter the vote. In discussion we hoped that because there has been progress in the treatment of mental health it will help anxiety and depression to be seen as a temporary phase and not a lifelong sentence.  We can all help by listening and not being judgemental. We have also started to fundraise for MIND to help in the care of sufferers from poor mental health.
We listened to a report of how one of our members had been to Denman College on our WI bursary to study fermentation and had returned enthused to make yoghourt and exploding tomatoes---yes, you heard it here first!
Then the members were shown a craft exhibit from 1969 made by some of our previous members which had won a prize and then disappeared without trace into someone’s attic. There was also an item dated 1933 and a beautiful hand embroidered double bedspread with Bucks lace round the edge. The workmanship on these items is of a fantastically high quality and the time spent on their creation must have been exhausting. NO ONE KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT IT OR WHERE IT WAS. Should we care? And where is it to go so it will not disappear again? Very few WIs have any facility to store their archives and we know our County Federation Offices cannot store stuff. What should we do with it? Does it matter? Our WI has a folder of photos of lots of craft items and a set of scrapbooks which is rarely seen. These are squirrelled away in various attics or understair cupboards in danger of being thrown into a skip when the member’s family clears the house. Is this enough? Libraries are closing. Museums? They wouldn’t be seen there very often. Again, does it matter?
​
3 Comments
Hils
10/5/2018 05:55:13 pm

I was saddened to read about your examples of neglected and forgotten crafts. How were they found?

Reply
Betty Furner
12/5/2018 03:18:31 pm

It would be very sad if all your archives disapear. If scrapbooks and other items are in different places, I think you need to make a note of everything and where they are stored. Updating the list every year and keep it with the minutes of the annual meetings. Perhaps you need to put them on show, the May meeting is always a good time to put them on show as it is a more relaxed meeting or even have a special day when you put everything on display and at the same time advertise your WI

Reply
blogger link
15/5/2018 09:55:20 am

Good advice, Betty. We have an inventory of items over the years but there is obviously a lot of stuff from our WI's early days that no one knew about when it was compiled. The real problem is where to store things. In attics and under the stairs in private houses in the event of death or down-sizing is dangerous as relatives are often working at speed and have no idea of the provenance of strange collections! We have had displays in the local library etc.We used to have a small cobwebby, damp cupboard in the old hall which wasn't ideal either. I don't know the answer to the problem but I presume other WIs suffer in the same way.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2021
    September 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All
    ACWW
    Annual Meeting
    Body Image
    Book Group
    Bucks County Show
    Care Not Custody
    Centenary
    Christmas
    COOL
    Denman
    Digital Team Leader
    Discussion Group
    Existentialist Angst
    FGM
    Food Matters
    Great Food Debate
    Happy Stitchers
    History Day
    Homelessness
    Investigation And Discovery
    Jammin' With The WI
    Literary Lunch
    Loneliness
    Love Your Libraries
    Membership
    Mental Health Matters
    Modern Slavery
    Organ Donation
    Plastic Soup
    Quiz
    Resolutions
    Science
    Shop
    SOS For High Streets
    Stuart Lodge
    Support Overdue
    Violence Against Women
    WI Campaigns
    WI Constitution
    WI Crafts
    WI Life
    Women's History
    Women's Suffrage

    RSS Feed

Buckinghamshire Federation of Women's Institutes (Affiliated to the National Federation of Women's Institutes)   ​Charity No: 228057 ​
​External links disclaimer
Throughout our site you will find links to external websites. Although we make every effort to ensure these links are accurate, up to date and relevant, BFWI cannot take responsibility for pages maintained by external providers.  If you come across any external links that don't work, we would be grateful if you could report them to us.
Photo used under Creative Commons from rverc
  • Home
  • who we are
    • Federation Trustees
    • Sub-Committees
    • Sub-Committee Videos
  • What we do
    • Current Campaigns
      • Climate Change
      • End Violence against Women
      • Get On Board
      • Stop Modern Slavery
      • Make a Match
      • 5 Minutes that matter
    • Resolutions
    • The Members' Blog
  • What's On
    • Events Calendar
    • Competitions & Challenges
      • Green Canopy Competition '22
      • Elizabeth Bell Challenge 2021
      • BFWI Silver Cup
      • Lady Denman Cup
      • Pudding Fit for a Queen
      • Virtual Show
  • Running your WI
    • Finding a Speaker
    • Subscriptions
    • Library
      • Tutorials & Library
    • Learning
      • WI Training
      • Denman @ Home
  • Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • On-line Store
  • History of Buckinghamshire WIs
  • Use of Website