Oh dear! What an uproar about a member’s comments on the activities of the Shoreditch Sisters WI! Is this another occasion on which we should say “There is no such thing as bad publicity”? I can understand how some members could find its approach too forthright (displays on quilts of female parts not usually discussed at the dinner table and pictures of sanitary wear worked into posters) but it is a generational problem and the WI does pride itself on catering for all ages. What Shoreditch does for our WI campaigns is not all that different to the rest of us except they are more active publicly. It is more direct and aims to shake everyone up---which it is obviously very successful in doing. What shook me in the press articles was that it had come from a federation trustee which seemed a bit disloyal: I thought trustee members stood together at least in public. Someone must have leaked the blog entry to the media because I don’t believe the local press reads our WI blogs.
If my blog is to go more public I had better be a bit more circumspect about what I say---especially now that I see I have been given categories for people to click to find specific subjects in my ramblings. Have you noticed this re-arrangement? Nothing has disappeared from the website. More future events have been added and some items shuffled about a bit. Our federation website was one of the first and was a role model for quite a few years so we should be proud of it. I wish more Bucks members used it.
The local WI discussion group met to discuss tele -medicine which we had to have defined for us at the start but then discovered that our local surgery has been using the system for some time but we, the patients, hadn’t known its title. Several members were appreciative of booked phone calls to avoid attending the surgery and felt confident that if there had to be follow-up on the diagnosis they would be able to see the doctor or specialist more promptly. Others were insistent that they preferred to speak face-to-face. With today’s pressures on hospitals and doctors generally, this must be helpful like the triage systems in A&E departments. And what about operations being conducted on Skype from one continent to another or being performed by an AI robot being manipulated by a surgeon in another room?
In support of our WI’s charity MIND Buckinghamshire a coffee morning and jigsaw swap in a member’s house raised £75. This is a gesture towards the resolution on mental health going to the AGM in Cardiff in June. This resolution is another example of the WI not being afraid to tackle subjects that have been considered unsuitable for discussion in public. I wonder how the Shoreditch Sisters will handle this one.
​

27th November
The Resolution Selection Meeting was held at Gatehouse, Aylesbury this afternoon. The WI Advisers briefed us on the 5 resolutions on the short list to go to the Annual General Meeting at Cardiff in June next year. Every WI has the chance to send 2 representatives to hear a little more about the resolutions than is printed in the November WI Life magazine. They can then return to their WIs and hope to bring more information to their members before they hand in their preferred personal selection.  In the old days, the advisers had to rely on written notes and do lots of homework for themselves but nowadays NFWI provides screened presentations and videos which can be used along side personal experience and research. This certainly makes the afternoon livelier and helps to lift the gloom induced by the topics under discussion. The two, one on Female Genital Mutilation and the other on Modern Slavery were second visits to previous subjects but more specific in their approach. The one on mental health is certainly very topical and may be a battle already half won. At first, I thought the problems of presenting a positive body image in the digital age was too lightweight to deserve a resolution but having listened to the presentation I could see there was more to this one than I had first considered. (Therein lies the importance of these selection meetings). However, the one on oral health strikes me as too minor to “waste” a resolution on. It is always difficult not to show one’s own bias when presenting the resolutions to one’s WI or indeed to an audience like todays---or on this blog!--- but obviously we will try. It is shaming that so many of the members feel that the resolution process shouldn’t take up part of two monthly meetings in the year. I am going to be very naughty and reveal an exchange in the break which absolutely made my day. A lady who had been travelling in Africa was talking about the abuse rampant against salamis! One of those moments which occur increasingly often at certain times of life. Of course, she realised almost immediately her mistake and we switched our sympathy towards the Somalis.
16th November
This morning there was the Jigsaw Swap coffee morning held in a member’s house. It was well attended by mostly WI members but a few Ramblers were there as well. Funds raised were split between the Denman College Appeal and Adoption UK so each charity received £50. One doesn’t need to buy or sell a jigsaw to attend: to sit around and talk is quite acceptable.
14th November
I have been meaning to visit the WI shop at Stuart Lodge and finally did so today. I didn’t do my homework beforehand so arrived when the craft people were engaged in a group session of decorating candles. Apparently the second Tuesday of the month there is always some kind of a craft going on. It didn’t matter as I could still browse around the shelves and chat to people I hadn’t seen for ages. Now I know about this activity I might bring some of the local craft group down---those who have never been to Stuart Lodge at all. It was a lovely drive south, past Chequers and under the golden leaves of the trees with the sun shining AND a roe deer stepped out into the road ahead of me, surveyed the approaching cars and returned the way he had come. Of course, I hadn’t got a camera so missed recording a really magic moment.
​

13th March
Today I joined the members at the Invention and Discovery event in Aylesbury.The Gatehouse was a lovely venue, warm and comfortable. The speakers were all at the top of their fields and made their presentations understandable to non-scientists. We learned such a lot and one could tell everyone was listening because the questions were so good.We now know a lot more about re-cycling to create energy and were filled with wonder to see the photos of outer space taken from the Hubble telescope. Next day in the press were photos of the Panstarrs comet which we had been told about and we are on the watch already for the comet Ison in November when we hope for less cloud than this month.In the afternoon we were fascinated by the work of medical biologists seeking repair techniques for heart damage and then we were into forensics examining the evidence afforded by bloodstains.A very varied and interesting day.

12th March
Oh dear what a thought-provoking and sometimes depressing novel the local Book Group studied this month! "The Wilderness" by Samantha Harvey featured a main character's gradual slip into Alzeimers disease written from his point of view. We experienced the frightening stages while he was still well enough to realise his deterioration right through until he could remember absolutely nothing.One couldn't say one had enjoyed the read because it was so close to home but it was gripping and prompted a long discussion.The author had mirrored Jacob's state of mind by the jumbled time-line of his memories as we learned his life story.It was very well-written with some intriguing events not explained until the end.It is a book to recommend to anyone involved in the care of a family member suffering from this affliction.

8th March
The local WI members supported a coffee morning and jigsaw swap in aid of Adoption UK this morning. The bad weather this winter has obviously confined people to their houses more than usual because there was a lot of interest in the puzzles and it is a pleasant way to raise money for a good cause.

6th March
The WI met this evening when the members were entertained by one of their own speakers who had prepared a dramatised selection of poems and songs about "Women": some amusing, some sad and some factual. Plans were made for the next Group Meeting and several outings. Reports were presented on events attended and the activities of the various sections. We are very active between monthly meetings so there is plenty of opportunity to meet socially and build up friendships.Like most of Bucks' WIs we have a growing membership and are pleased to say we are keeping our members too. We must be doing something right.