23rd March
Seventy members from across Bucks attended the afternoon session of the Resolutions Discussion Meeting. Two members of the NFWI staff were in attendance to see how BFWI approached this stage in the run-up to the AGM in Brighton in June. Last year’s handling of the process nationally had been most unsatisfactory. The meetings in Aylesbury were set up by the Members’ Advisers Committee and were given a new format which worked very well. Two Advisers took us through each of the two selected resolutions; then eight tables of seven people were directed to produce points either for or against the substance of the resolution, and two tables were asked to decide whether the resolution in itself was a good one or not.
Marilyn Jackson gave the presentation on Food Waste by supermarkets and Kaye Edmonds took us through Hospital Care for sufferers from dementia. Delegates going to the AGM and those who were just going to lead discussion in their own WIs were able to take notes and were referred to various sites on the Web where they could find helpful arguments and statistics. It was a very interesting meeting and I think everyone will have learned a little more about the subject of the resolutions and about the process of selection.
22nd March
This evening the Chase Group of WIs met at Mursley. There was a good attendance to listen to singing and watch some dance routines in a musical presentation by Fiona Harrison. She entertained the members with songs from the shows and films which many of us had seen in the past and soon we were singing along. We were pleased to hear that the new Early Birds WI would probably be allocated to our group to take the place of Drayton Parslow WI which had closed recently. The centenary plaque commissioned by Mursley WI was admired. Stewkley WI has 14 new members and is going to take part in the Clean for the Queen activity. Mursley WI has five new members so the Group is mirroring the national trend for growing membership. There will probably be a group outing in the summer to explore the Albert Hall inside and out arranged by our Group Convenor in her usual efficient manner: after many years in post she really knows what she is doing now!
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ACWW Conference at Denman College 12th March 2016
I attended a day conference about ACWW (The Associated Country Women of the World) to which all WIs are linked and for which WI members collect Pennies for Friendship and take part in Women Walk the World. It is a shame more members don’t know more about it. Bucks has 2 Representatives who are very willing to come out to talk to individual WIs or at Group Meetings.
Ruth Shanks, the ACWW World President from Australia gave a history of the ACWW stressing its connections with the WI i.e. founded by Mrs Madge Watt in 1929 and that the Lime Walk at Denman College was planted in her memory. There are now 9 million women across the world who about are members in 9 areas of the world each with an Area President. ACWW is not a relief organisation but it is set up to help women less fortunate than ourselves. It has been connected with the United Nations since 1946. Ruth then went on to advertise the second Triennial World Conference to be held in UK, at Warwick University in August.
Alison Burnett, the ACWW Treasurer from Scotland explained the finances of the organisation and stressed the importance of the WI’s contribution through Pennies for Friendship, collection of old coins, jewellery and stamps; legacies were very useful too. To cut down on expense Skype is being used and video conferencing. Alison suggested that individual WIs and Federations should approach the London HQ to obtain speakers for their meetings whenever officials come to the UK on ACWW business or even offer them accommodation. She also suggested that WIs set up penfriends across the world. It costs a WI £32 for an annual subscription. Alison also, justifiably, criticised the NFWI for not mentioning ACWW in its centenary celebrations.
Henrietta Schoeman, who will chair the Triennial Conference, from South Africa gave us a rundown on the 1000 projects undertaken from 1977. She described the weeding process which applications go through before they are adopted and how they are monitored. Henrietta praised the work of WIs and thanked us for all our help. In our monthly letter you will see that the next project which Bucks is promoting is in the Cameroons so watch out for information on that.
Margaret Yetman, Deputy President and Chair of the Agriculture Committee, described the work undertaken on projects with the aid of United Nations and FAO, namely the Zero Hunger and the Women to Women campaigns. It was interesting to hear about growing spinach, mushrooms and edible snails in polythene tunnels in Mongolia.  
In the afternoon we watched a cookery demonstration by HRH Princess Azizah of Malaysia who is Area President for South East Asia and the Far East. I was fortunate to have been sitting at her table during the morning and she was very amusing to talk to. Her demonstration was ambitious and included some of the recipes from her ACWW cookery book. The Princess struggled with an induction hob for the first time in front of 100 people and unable to use her own favourite pans. However she was calm and held everyone’s attention and produced some lovely food.
I really enjoyed the day. I talked to some other members from Bucks and some from Oxfordshire, Kent and Northumberland. There are still day tickets available for the Warwick conference at a cost of £85 ( see the NFWI and Bucks website). WIs may become members of ACWW for £32 and I think individuals pay £20 but you had better check that. You receive an interesting magazine with information about all the good work being done across the world.
 

9th March
The discussion group from the local WI met this evening to talk about Consumer Power. First we defined what it is: the ability that the customer has to influence collectively industry locally, nationally and internationally. We then looked at the ways this can be done. No one needs to teach this to WI members who through NFWI back its mandates by lobbying, letter-writing and using boycotts. Now of course social media is a powerful tool. We listed the examples of the successful use of consumer power and how demand can be created too. Some of the methods used by well-meaning organisations were criticised but on the whole we supported the work they do.
7th March
Another sell-out for the BFWI Investigation and Discovery Day run by the Education and Current  Affairs  Subcommittee. Professor Monica Grady gave a very enthusiastic and lively account of the creation of the Rosetta space probe and the landing of Philae on a tiny comet. First she explained what the world already knew about the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud and why scientists wanted to know the actual make-up of a comet. Were they dirty snowballs of water and carbon or icy dirt balls? Did they hold the vital ingredients for the earth’s formation such as sugar, nitrogen and sulphur? Monica described the months of mathematical calculations and theories hammered out in the laboratory before being handed to the engineers to execute in time to catch the next rocket. And then the wait to see if it all worked…
Professor Seamus Higson made a welcome return to talk about biosensors, a talk which he had called snappily “From Canaries to Path. Labs and Smelly Fish to Smellier Wounds” and that is exactly what the audience got. We learned about new ways to track glucose levels in blood with the least possible pain and inconvenience for the patient. Lessons in technology had been taken from screen printers, creators of CD discs and yes, mosquitoes! Then we were on to tracking fraud by reading the DNA of the food on your plate and how to save space but include the latest technology in the vans of para- medics so that, by the time the patients arrived at A&E much was already known about them and treatment could start almost immediately. Then there are dressings which can see through to the wounds below and keep treating them without having to risk their removal tearing the newly formed skin.
After an emergency evacuation of the building and lunch, the members returned to enjoy another very lively presentation by Dr Jennifer Rohn  “Antibiotics :the revenge of the microbes”--- incomprehensible numbers in space this morning and now one hundred million bacteria in each one of our bodies. Thank Goodness they are not all being unhelpful! We then saw some of the bad guys working in our bladders and the growth of cancer cells. Jennifer told us that it takes 20 years to get a new drug launched in the world and there is now a gap in production because it was believed that most problems had been solved: everyone had underestimated the way in which bacteria can combat antibiotics. Patients who don’t complete their antibiotic programmes and the over-  prescription of drugs by doctors and agriculturists, all help to educate the bacteria on how to beat the medicine. This talk was not a case of “Are you sitting comfortably, then I’ll begin” but more “When you are really uncomfortable, I’ll stop”. Surrounded as we all undoubtedly were by trillions of shared  bacteria, I wouldn’t have missed listening to Jennifer for anything!
Dr Richard Wyse from the Cure Parkinson’s Trust also showed us pictures of bacteria, those heading for the brain this time. He described the trials conducted on new drugs and the difficulties inherent in these. The wearing of catheters plugged into the brain is just one of the physical problems. There was footage of some successful treatments of patients in USA and work is going on in Hertfordshire. Experiments are being conducted where skin samples from the patient can be analysed and returned to the body with beneficial results and a drug from the saliva of lizards is on trial. However Richard thinks that combined therapies may hold the answer e.g. to make use of statins and cancer inhibitors in the fight against Parkinson’s disease.
After today, one thing is certain and all the speakers mentioned it. We need scientists and engineers and it would be a marvellous thing if we could encourage the young members of our families to study these subjects because time is of the essence. Invention and discovery takes time and money: there are no short cuts. Also from today’s event, these scientists are a lively enthusiastic lot who think outside the box---blood samples on CDs, lizards’ saliva? Who said science was boring?
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2nd March
The speaker at our monthly meeting was Mark Collins, the son of one of our members, who spoke about the Royal British Legion. Many of us were unaware of the extent and depth of its work with the armed forces and their families. We were delighted to hear of the formation of a new WI in the town. Welcome to the “Early Birds WI”. The Committee is encouraging our members to add to the number of interest groups meeting outside the monthly meetings and it is offering support in setting up these. Initial plans have been made to join in with other town organisations in the celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday on the weekend of 11-12th June---a Pimms tent and the provision of cakes were mentioned. A quick show of hands revealed sufficient interest in an outing on a little train in August with a supper and a quiz on board to send the organiser back to discuss terms and a date.
23rd February
Today the members of the book group returned De Bernieres “Birds without Wings” for discussion. Unfortunately several people had not managed to finish the novel in the time allocated because it is quite long and the reader has to concentrate: it is not possible to skim. The plot is set in the time of the fall of the Ottoman Empire in a little village in Turkey where normal life is completely destroyed by the fighting in the Balkans, Greece and Turkey in which Russia, Britain, Italy and France all decide to take part. The enforced removal and immigration of different ethnic groups was rather too close to modern events in Syria and Eastern Europe. The descriptions of the brutality of the war around Gallipoli and the cruelty meted out on civilians on all sides made for harrowing reading which prevented others in our group from persevering to complete the novel. Those who did manage admired the writing, the way we were presented with the history of the period through the progress to power of Ataturk and the young and old characters of the little town with its mixture of religions and nationalities, who managed to bring some welcome touches of humour to the tale.
The latest issue of WI Life is celebrating 9 years since it was transformed from being Home and Country and it contains a questionnaire which the editors would like as many members as possible to complete to reveal their views on the magazine. So those who grumble have a chance to state their complaints and let us hope others can bring out the positives too. I also noted that there is concern again about the future of Denman College which is depressing, especially as I for one had missed hearing or reading news of this after believing the upbeat accounts at last year’s Annual General Meeting.
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