10th April
Today Members' Services sub-committee held the annual Resolution Briefing Meeting in the Oculus at the AVDC Offices in Aylesbury. It was very well attended and those that were there were the first to hear that Bucks has a new Chairman, Jenny Street from Prestwood Evening WI.She was given a rousing welcome.
A slightly different format was adopted for the meeting this year because we had only the one resolution to discuss. After the arrangements for the coach journey to Leeds and the hotel was named, the AGM procedure information was explained.
Then there were 3 short presentations on past mandates so that members could be kept up to date on the progress being made on these. The subjects chosen were The Milk Debate, the Love your Libraries campaign and GM foods where there had been a recent shift in attitudes.It was felt with the latter topic that the WI was in rather an awkward position as it was still mandated to prohibit GM foods rather than allow research to find out whether a complete ban was required in the light of the growth of global food poverty.
The main topic was, of course, this year's resolution encouraging people to sign up for organ donation. It promised to be a rather grim subject but with the help of some dark humour from the WI Adviser, Thelma Sackman chairing the meeting and from the members in the audience it was fully discussed. A lot of misheld fears were dispelled and the practical advantages covered.We also learned just how much use could be made of one donor and that quite often it is the surviving family members who cancel the wishes of the donor, either because they didn't know what the wishes were or they felt that they themselves couldn't agree to the idea.Understandable at a traumatic time for those concerned.
At various points throughout the meeting there were expressions of regret that there was just one resolution chosen to go forward to the AGM in Leeds and that it was one on which there could be little debate. Surely we could have one debatable resolution and one that was an opportunity to raise awareness on some important topic? After all, in former years there had sometimes been 3 resolutions on the table for the meeting. We felt that our feelings should be conveyed to NFWI. Let's hope that Bucks can bring forward a resolution for 2015 . We were reminded that resolutions could be brought to the Bucks Federation Annual meeting as well; so watch out for developments in the future. A very useful and worthwhile business meeting.

9th April
Our local WI discussion night had fixed upon hygiene as a topic and many and various were the aspects raised. Had we become obsessed with cleanliness until measures were almost counter-productive? Were too many anti-biotics prescribed so that they lost their effectiveness?Did we need all these baths and showers which exerted such a huge burden on our water supplies? We then touched on the basic food hygiene certificates which the WI promotes and the many breaches of the rules seen abroad.The use of chemicals both for personal hygiene and for house cleaning is big business and much of it is not as effective as our grandparents' methods.

7th April
After an afternoon of craftwork, we were off to a neighbouring WI for the Group Meeting. We hold two a year in our group and we really enjoy them. The speaker tonight was telling us about the history of Punch and Judy which brought back many childhood memories. The accounts of the WIs' activities were very interesting and we are looking forward to another outing arranged by Anne Liverseidge, our Group Convener. The refreshments were excellent but once more our WI failed to win the competition shield. It's years since we carried that home in triumph: it's becoming embarrassing.

Annual Council Meeting 2 April
As usual the meeting today was very well organised at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury.It was a farewell event for Jean Morris, the BFWI chairman for the last 5 years. A sad day but she should be proud to be leaving the federation in such a healthy state. Bucks has gained 8 new WIs and the membership has risen by 7%. Finances are healthy and ambitious plans are in hand to celebrate our 90th anniversary at Waddesdon on 15 June 2015 at the same time as the NFWI's centenary.
The morning programme consisted of talks by Johnny Walker from Walkers Bulbs and the former Mayor of Amersham, Mimi Harker who not only speaks at breakneck speed but also lives her life in the fast lane. The following speaker was Jane Dixon, the Head of Denman College who announced the improving situation there from when she took up the challenge of becoming its principal.Everyone was moved by the talk and film presented by Patricia Pearce who described her setting up of Dreamflight, an organisation which gives a holiday of a lifetime in Florida for children with disabilities of various kinds. If we think offering a coach outing to our fellow members an onerous task fraught with problems, imagine loading an aircraft with all those wheelchairs and walking frames! The organisation relies almost entirely on charity donations and volunteers, several of whom are celebrities from the world of showbiz and sportsmen and women.
The afternoon programme brought the announcement of the new board of trustees and the presentation of prizes followed by a talk from Chris Beardshaw "100 Plants that almost Changed the World". He should really have come on April Fools' Day because his talk was an hilarious mixture of true and false information about the history of garden plants. The audience loved it and I imagine quite a few went home to look up exactly what was fact and what was fiction.We all emerged from the meeting saying how much we had enjoyed the whole day.

Members from my WI then went home to grab a quick meal before our monthly meeting which was very well attended. Our speaker was a local WI member whose daughter is involved in charitable work in Greece. She and her husband work with a rescue organisation called Encounter Compassion providing shelter for women who have been trafficked into prostitution and slavery.The title of the talk was "Human Trafficking:the Balkan Gateway". My word but this was strong meat: modern slavery amounts to 27 million poor souls--more than when the trans-Atlantic slave trade was in full swing. Children as young as 4 years old are sold into slavery, the average age for prostitution is 12 and life expectancy is 28 years old. The chances of being rescued are very slim but this organisation does all it can to bring the victims back into themselves and give them hope.The victims cannot often return home because their families if not guilty of actually selling them will be at risk from vengeful attacks for those rescued. Once more this work is dependent on charity. The NFWI in 2004 passed a mandate to try to outlaw human trafficking but I wonder how many members realised the size of the problem and the huge suffering involved.After this talk the members of our WI will certainly make people aware because they will not be able not to discuss it with others and they were keen to help financially with donations. A drop in the ocean but probably the best we can do besides keeping an eye out in local towns and cities for examples of the homeless and refugees who have been robbed of their papers and their identities and offer support against this inhuman trade.

I know we discussed other things like Gift Aid and the coming May Fair but I couldn't really concentrate for thinking of 4 year old children being kidnapped and young girls being lured away on the promise of a job and a better life.Just to cheer you up further there is a lucrative trade in stealing for organ donation as well.

31st March
The local WI craft group met together for a second session of beadmaking in a member's house.It is a fiddly business but very satisfying to make a necklace or a pair of ear-rings either for personal use or as a present for a friend or someone in the family. We created some really pretty things and had time for a lot of chatter as well.

25th March
Once more we had chosen non-fiction as the book to be discussed this month rather than the more usual novel. Last month it was the edited letters of the Mitford sisters but this time it was autobiography---if you can count as autobiography, a sporting life described with the help of a ghost writer. Our title was "It's not about the Bike" by Lance Armstrong. It was well written which was a bit of a surprise when one had read some of the biographies of sports personalities which fill the bookshops' shelves at Christmastime.Lance Armstrong tells his story of his fight against cancer and his determination to return to cycling.It was a tremendous struggle and revealed his single-minded approach and honest account of the treatments which he underwent. He acknowledges the work of the medical team and the dedication of his mother and girlfriends during hospital treatments. He also touched on his philosophy of life and the generous work he set out to do for cancer charities. Unfortunately the modern reader knows what happened after the period described in the book and this cannot be forgotten when reading. It made one wonder sadly why he allowed himself to be lured into using drugs after all his protestations against their use. I think we all learned about the rigours of training for the Tour de France and admired the bravery of the contestants.

24th March
The blood-doning van was in town today so several of us go down to serve teas and coffees to the donors after they have given blood. Our WI has done this for years and it is much appreciated by the nursing staff. Everything is laid on for us so we just serve out the drinks while the donors recuperate. I didn't realise that when the rota sheet is passed around at our monthly meeting some new members have been slightly alarmed to think that we were recruiting donors through the WI: they wondered exactly what they had committed themselves to in joining! Maybe your WI could help in this way because not all the stops made by the van have the benefit of tea helpers. Next time you see the van, make enquiries. It is a little thing to volunteer to do but is well worthwhile.