Warwick WI - Annual Report 2018/19
The last year has been as busy as usual for Warwick W.I. We have welcomed a new Committee member, Anne Brar, which helps lighten the load and add to the ideas we have and hopefully continue to make the W.I. fulfilling for all our members.
Unfortunately we have lost a small number of members for a variety of reasons but perhaps the saddest was Marjorie Forbes who died last year after a long illness. She will be sadly missed. To celebrate her life we have planted a cherry tree in the garden of the Unitarian Chapel in Warwick which is where Warwick W.I. met when Marjorie was President. The gardens are open to the public so anyone can sit in the peace and quiet and remember Marjorie.
On a happier note we have welcomed several new members over the last 12 months and we hope they will remain as happy members for years to come.
We had another tree planting this year – we finally found a home for the Oak sapling given to us by Warwickshire federation as part of the centenary celebrations in 2018. The oak is part of a mixed hedge in St Nicholas Park, Warwick, adjacent to Coten End School. It is hoped that it will eventually become a fine, upstanding specimen tree for many future generations to enjoy.
Our monthly meetings have continued to be a mix of thought provoking talks from The Honourable Mrs Victor Bruce otherwise known as the Flying Housewife, Angela Cloke coping with Meningitis, Lucy Morgans and her long career in the Travel Industry and Anna Prosser with her beautiful 4 legged assistant telling us about Dogs for Good. In November we had a gift wrapping session just in time for Christmas. In January we were up on our feet with Miranda and her Zumba Gold session to work off some of the festive calories. To continue the good work we were Hula Hooping a few months later with the Hoop Guy. We have also managed to fit in several social evenings with good food and cheer. Our resolution meeting in May was particularly popular when we had an evening of Poems and Pudddings. So long as it could be eaten with a spoon it counted and after eating those who wished to presented a piece of poetry, some long, some short but all very entertaining.
Our Charity this year was Northleigh House School in Hatton. Partly to help raise funds for them and also because we thought it would be good fun, we have established a new craft group which meets once a month at Federation House. The room upstairs is ideal for us. We made cards, gift bags and other craft items to take to the School’s Summer Fair in early July. Along with homemade cakes and jams our stall looked very enticing as can be seen from the photo in Corunna News. Left over crafts were sold at our July meeting and we sent a cheque for £250 to the school which they were very pleased to receive. Our craft group is so successful we have booked the room until January next year.
In March we hosted Bilton W.I., our Centenary “twins” to a soup and bread lunch. It was lovely that so many of them travelled over to Warwick especially as the weather wasn’t particularly spring like.
Our groups continue to thrive with Book Club and Wine Club proving to be so popular we have had to establish a second of each! Our two wine clubs got together for a wine tasting at the Square in Warwick organised by Rosemary. A lovely evening sipping a variety of Riojas – who would have thought there were so many! Our Campaigns Group is still going though we have changed the name. Warwick W.I. Saves the Planet was suggested but we’ve settled for Environmental Group.
And things don’t calm down over the summer! Many of us went on the Warwickshire trip to Winchester which was great fun. We organised a cream tea in early August, hosted by Anne in her lovely garden, the proceeds of which go towards our Denman Bursary. We had a meeting in August which was our Summer Social at which we awarded the bursary to a very lucky member, Jackie.
Over the summer a dozen of us have taken advantage of the National W.I. learn Bowls initiative. We went to Avenue Bowls Club in Leamington for 6 Monday evenings and bowled with varying degrees of skill!
I don’t think I’ve told you about everything we have done in Warwick but it gives you some idea of what we get up to! And looking at the programme for next year 2020 should be just as good.
Unfortunately we have lost a small number of members for a variety of reasons but perhaps the saddest was Marjorie Forbes who died last year after a long illness. She will be sadly missed. To celebrate her life we have planted a cherry tree in the garden of the Unitarian Chapel in Warwick which is where Warwick W.I. met when Marjorie was President. The gardens are open to the public so anyone can sit in the peace and quiet and remember Marjorie.
On a happier note we have welcomed several new members over the last 12 months and we hope they will remain as happy members for years to come.
We had another tree planting this year – we finally found a home for the Oak sapling given to us by Warwickshire federation as part of the centenary celebrations in 2018. The oak is part of a mixed hedge in St Nicholas Park, Warwick, adjacent to Coten End School. It is hoped that it will eventually become a fine, upstanding specimen tree for many future generations to enjoy.
Our monthly meetings have continued to be a mix of thought provoking talks from The Honourable Mrs Victor Bruce otherwise known as the Flying Housewife, Angela Cloke coping with Meningitis, Lucy Morgans and her long career in the Travel Industry and Anna Prosser with her beautiful 4 legged assistant telling us about Dogs for Good. In November we had a gift wrapping session just in time for Christmas. In January we were up on our feet with Miranda and her Zumba Gold session to work off some of the festive calories. To continue the good work we were Hula Hooping a few months later with the Hoop Guy. We have also managed to fit in several social evenings with good food and cheer. Our resolution meeting in May was particularly popular when we had an evening of Poems and Pudddings. So long as it could be eaten with a spoon it counted and after eating those who wished to presented a piece of poetry, some long, some short but all very entertaining.
Our Charity this year was Northleigh House School in Hatton. Partly to help raise funds for them and also because we thought it would be good fun, we have established a new craft group which meets once a month at Federation House. The room upstairs is ideal for us. We made cards, gift bags and other craft items to take to the School’s Summer Fair in early July. Along with homemade cakes and jams our stall looked very enticing as can be seen from the photo in Corunna News. Left over crafts were sold at our July meeting and we sent a cheque for £250 to the school which they were very pleased to receive. Our craft group is so successful we have booked the room until January next year.
In March we hosted Bilton W.I., our Centenary “twins” to a soup and bread lunch. It was lovely that so many of them travelled over to Warwick especially as the weather wasn’t particularly spring like.
Our groups continue to thrive with Book Club and Wine Club proving to be so popular we have had to establish a second of each! Our two wine clubs got together for a wine tasting at the Square in Warwick organised by Rosemary. A lovely evening sipping a variety of Riojas – who would have thought there were so many! Our Campaigns Group is still going though we have changed the name. Warwick W.I. Saves the Planet was suggested but we’ve settled for Environmental Group.
And things don’t calm down over the summer! Many of us went on the Warwickshire trip to Winchester which was great fun. We organised a cream tea in early August, hosted by Anne in her lovely garden, the proceeds of which go towards our Denman Bursary. We had a meeting in August which was our Summer Social at which we awarded the bursary to a very lucky member, Jackie.
Over the summer a dozen of us have taken advantage of the National W.I. learn Bowls initiative. We went to Avenue Bowls Club in Leamington for 6 Monday evenings and bowled with varying degrees of skill!
I don’t think I’ve told you about everything we have done in Warwick but it gives you some idea of what we get up to! And looking at the programme for next year 2020 should be just as good.