Beyond these walls

Tonight’s WI meeting welcomed Sue North from the Farm Deli in the town. She talked about cheese and bread making and brought along 7 different English cheeses for tasting. We learned a lot and admired the hard work that goes on behind the scenes at her local shop. The ballot for tickets for the Investigation and Discovery Day in March was conducted and more volunteers were sought for the Resilience scheme. Members were asked to consider taking up walking netball after Easter. The local WI Denman bursary was discussed and it was decided on an educational visit to a not too distant vineyard in the summer. Attention was drawn to our own WI website which is under-used by members: they were encouraged to add reports to it and promised help in doing so. Members were asked to consult the WI Life before the next meeting to decide on their votes for the NFWI Board of Trustees.
For many years the members of Winslow WI have served the drinks to the blood donors after they have given blood. The nurses always encourage the donors to sit for a while and have a drink to settle their circulatory systems. Now we are told we are to be replaced by drink stations. Faced with a machine I think a lot of donors will just leave instead of sitting down and having a chat for a few minutes. It is not our fault if the car park fills with fainting bodies. Robots rule OK?
I think that I have said before how strange it is that as soon as the contenders for the AGM resolutions are issued one sees articles relevant to them in the national press. It was good news to see that following the fall in cervical screening the MPs debated the age window for tests and are pushing the idea of home tests. However, does this mean that the potential WI resolution this year has been gazumped? There is also an on-going case in court of modern-day slavery and abuse of a daughter. Again, the WI continues its campaign against FGM and now the second case has come to court. Unfortunately, this one is tied in with witchcraft which is so far removed from normality that it detracts from the focus of the outrage felt against the practice conducted for reasons of cultural beliefs. (I don’t know how to express this argument but I hope that you get my meaning.) We have lost a champion in the campaign against FGM and forced marriage in the death of Sir Peter Singer, judge of the High Court, Family Division but we still have our own sympathetic justice in Francis Sheridan who is speaking at the next Council Meeting in Aylesbury.
Our biggest scoop of course was the Queen’s address to Sandringham WI. Although she was much too diplomatic to name the elephant in the room, everyone got her meaning. There have been times over the last months when I was praying that she would say something because she must be very worried about the national situation at present---a voice of reason for once advocating the search for common ground and debate conducted with respect for the views of others.
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