The competitive spirit

3rd April

A representative from the Air Ambulance was invited to be our speaker at the monthly meeting.We were very pleased that she was talking about the local service and not the distant branch which inundates our homes with plastic bags requesting old clothes. Our local area air ambulance also is reliant on donations from the public but uses different methods.It is always difficult to explain why the WI cannot be seen to pay money into another charity but we fall foul of the Charity Commission if we do and this ruling is built into our constitution because the WI is itself an educational charity. However, if the charity could be of benefit to the local community then it is acceptable to make a donation. In this case although we all hope we will never have to call the air ambulance, it might just happen that one of us does need its services.

We were delighted to hear that our quiz team had done very well at the county event in Buckingham.

2nd April

Did you manage to watch the new sewing programme on the TV tonight? I thought it was very interesting and good publicity for the WI because Mary Martin has been one of Denman College's instructors for many years. Some time ago the NFWI was encouraging members to volunteer to teach sewing and knitting in schools so perhaps that was the springboard for this initiative. The WI has been bemoaning the dropping of Home Economics from the curriculum which has resulted in a generation that doesn't know how to fit a zip or make a sponge cake.Of course the BBC has to introduce the competitive element but it does in a way increase audience participation as we begin to identify with the contestants. It must be awful having the judges with cameras breathing down your neck as you race against the clock to fit a sleeve or level a hem. I really felt for that girl wrestling with two slippery fabrics when she tried to attach them together!

26th March

Two teams of the local WI members met to play skittles this evening in one of the town's pubs. It was very competitive and noisy but great fun.I think something quieter is planned for next time: something to do with pigs. The mind boggles!