Category: Womens Institute

September Review

September Review

At our September meeting a warm welcome was extended to everyone, especially our visitors Ann and Paula. We sincerely hope they will visit again soon.

The evening commenced with a minute’s silence in memory of Shirley Harris. Shirley was a long-standing member of our Institute and had been on the Committee for a number of years. She will be missed greatly and our thoughts and prayers are with Shirley’s family at this sad time.

Our speaker on this occasion was Abi Reader MBE. Abi has always enjoyed farming and the countryside. Since graduating from the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester Abi has completed a Farm Business Management Course and a Rural Leadership Course. She farms on the family farm – Goldsland Farm, Wenvoe – and it is evident that she thoroughly enjoys all aspects of it. She is truly passionate about farming. Abi was the first female County Chairman in Glamorgan and she was also the youngest Chair by about 20 years.

She has worked tirelessly setting up and taking around the ‘Cows on Tour Road Show’ to schools all over the country – raising a lot of money for charity at the same time. Cows are a big part of Abi’s life. The 200 cows at Goldsland Farm are Holstein Friesan and Dairy Shorthorn and they are all homebred. Farm Open Sundays are becoming popular and Abi has joined this initiative. In 2014 they were anticipating 50 visitors but 300 turned up. Within a few years this figure has risen to 3,000!

Abi is one amazing lady! Her advice to us, in order to support the wonderful work of our farmers, is ‘Buy Welsh, buy British and look for the Red Tractor logo’. The MBE she has been awarded is thoroughly deserved and we wish her well with all her plans for the future.

WI business consisted mainly of collecting names for various events, including our Fish and Chip Supper in November. Members were reminded that they will need to pay for this at our next meeting.

Our October meeting is on Thursday, 3rd October at 7pm at Wenvoe Church Hall. Our speaker will be Susan Dickson Davies. She will be giving us an insight into “The Breast Centre” at Llandough Hospital (our charity for this year). We will be presenting a cheque for £400 – the result of our recent fundraising events. Visitors can be assured of a warm welcome and there is no charge.

 

 

Coffee at the Radyr Garden Village

 

Wenvoe WI did not have a meeting in August. However, 20 of our members travelled to Pugh’s Garden Village at Radyr at the end of July for coffee, lunch and, of course, retail therapy! Everyone enjoyed the trip and most people got off the coach at Wenvoe carrying more than they did when they had got on to go earlier.

At our next meeting we will be collecting names for our Fish and Chip Supper in November. The next meeting will be on Thursday, 5th September at 7pm at Wenvoe Church Hall. Our speaker will be Abi Reader who will talk about “Cows on Tour”. Any visitors can always be assured of a warm welcome and there is no charge.

 

 

July Meeting Report

July Meeting Report

President Madeleine welcomed everyone to the meeting, especially Shirley, who has been unable to join us for some time due to ill health. We were delighted to see her again and spend time with her.

Our speaker Viv Truran, has been a visiting speaker at Wenvoe WI for many years and it was good to have her back. We all thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the stories and facts behind a selection of items that Viv passed around for us to see. They included a Vaseline Glass Vase (which was quite valuable), Victorian postcards of local landmarks and a beautiful handmade purse/small bag displaying hundreds of tiny beads, all sewn on by hand. We are looking forward to Viv’s visit next year to see what treasures she will be sharing with us then.

We all enjoyed strawberries and cream and then moved on to WI business. Members were thanked for their contributions towards the success of our recent Charity Tea. At our October meeting we shall be giving a generous contribution to the Breast Centre at Llandough Hospital.

Names were collected for Wenvoe Garden Centre on 10th July to celebrate Gloria’s special Big Birthday and final arrangements were put in place for our trip to Radyr Garden Village on 22nd July.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday 5th September (there is no meeting in August). We will be collecting names and payment for our Fish and Chip Supper in November. September’s speaker will be Abi Reader who will be giving us an insight into ‘Cows on Tour’. Any visitors can be assured of a warm welcome and there is no charge.

 

 

York Minster Tour Guide

 

Everyone was welcomed to our June meeting by President Madeleine.

On this occasion our speaker was Mike Stillings. Mike has been a tour guide at York Minster for eight years. York Minster dates back to the fourth century and is one of the largest cathedrals of its type in England and Northern Europe. Henry VIII’s religious revolution was to have a great impact and the people of York felt the impact more than most. Mike told us some very interesting facts and stories about the connection between York Minster and Henry VIII. The talk was accompanied by some wonderful slides – some were of some beautiful stained glass windows. Mike mentioned and told us about the Bell Founders Window and the Tree of Jesse Window. The Tree of Jesse Window is a fourteenth century window in the Nave at York Minster. We all thoroughly enjoyed the presentation that Mike had given us.

After refreshments we moved on to WI business. Final plans were made for our Charity Tea on Friday, 14th June at Wenvoe Community Centre from 3-5pm. Names were collected for various events in the near future including The Link Meeting at Dinas Powis on Monday, 24th June and the trip to Radyr Garden Centre on Monday, 22nd July at 10.30am, returning at 2.30pm from Radyr.

Next month’s meeting is to be held on Thursday, 4th July at Wenvoe Church Hall at 7pm when Viv Truran will be telling us about her “Humorous Holiday Stories”. Visitors can be assured of a warm welcome and there is no charge.

 

 

Jane Powell – A Passion For Reflexology

 

President Madeleine welcomed everyone to the meeting, especially our visitor Pat Weaver. We hope she will visit again and join our Institute. We were delighted to hear that Pam Cockerill is now one of our members.

Our speaker on this occasion was Jane Powell. After working for 28 years as a Medical Secretary for the NHS, Jane trained as a reflexologist. Her passion for reflexology was clearly evident as she gave us a wonderful talk about various aspects of reflexology and its advantages, particularly where stress is present. Sue Webley volunteered for Jane to demonstrate the ability of a reflexologist to see indications of poor health by feeling and examining feet. We were very grateful to Sue for being a willing volunteer and to Jane for giving us such an interesting evening with her knowledge of reflexology – an evening we all thoroughly enjoyed.

WI business commenced with final plans for the coffee morning at Dinas Powis on 6th April. An invitation has been received for the Charity Afternoon hosted by Barry Highlights WI on Tuesday, 21st May. The Glamorgan Federation has organised several events in the near future including a picnic at Margam Park on 11th June and a Treasure Trail at Barry Island. Members were reminded that donations for the Tombola Stall at the Table Top Sale will be gratefully received at the May meeting.

Nominations for Committee Members were collected ready for the Annual Meeting next month. Our meeting in May will be on Thursday, 2nd May at Wenvoe Church Hall at 7pm. We will be voting regarding the two resolutions which achieved the highest votes in the January meeting and also the Committee for 2019/2020 will be formed.

Aspects Of The Wenvoe Wildlife

 

Madeleine welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a special welcome to our visitor Pam Cockerill. We hope she will visit again and join our Institute.

Our speaker on this occasion was Bruce McDonald. We all enjoyed a wonderful evening learning about various aspects of the Wenvoe wildlife, including lovely slides which showed many interesting features and information about the introduction of Wenvoe Orchards. Our Wildlife Group has won 5 Community Green Flag Awards with the addition, last year, of the wild orchard at St Lythans. It is a great achievement – no other village in Wales has more than two. This is all due to the team work of some volunteers, the Reader family, the Community Council and the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

After refreshments we moved on to WI Business. Names were collected for the Charity Coffee Morning in Dinas Powys on Saturday 6 April. (Transport arrangements will be finalised in our April meeting.) Members were reminded that our Table Top Sale is to be held on Saturday 11 May at 10.30am at Wenvoe Community Centre. Donations towards the Tombola Stall can be brought to our next meeting where they will be gratefully received.

The Glamorgan Federation has organised several events in the near future, including a Driving Awareness Day at Margam Park and a Treasure Trail at Barry Island.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday 4 April at 7.00pm at Wenvoe Church Hall. The speaker will be Jane Powell who is going to give us ‘An Introduction to Reflexology’. Visitors can be assured of a warm welcome and there will be no charge.

 

 

First Meeting Report

President Madeleine welcomed us to our first meeting of 2019, wishing everyone a healthy and peaceful year ahead. We were all sorry to hear that Mair and Pat were in hospital and hoped they would both be returning to good health and home soon.

Our speaker on this occasion was Julia Wylie. After teaching in Hong Kong, Canada and the Philippines, Julia has brought her love of yoga to Wenvoe. She gave a very informative and interesting talk and then it was our turn! We had a wonderful time as Julia showed us lots of different ways of performing yoga sitting in a chair. Everyone really enjoyed the time Julia spent with us. It was a great way to start a new year!

After refreshments we proceeded with WI business. Madeleine thanked all those who donated mince pies for the carol service, Pam for reading on our behalf and Janet for playing the church organ. We are extremely grateful to Rev John Ormrod for planning and leading the WI Link Carol Service at St Mary’s. It was a very special occasion as it was the first time our Banner had been at a church service. Each member present voted for one of the six Resolutions with the most votes going to “A Call Against the Decline in Local Bus Services”.

Our February meeting will be at 7pm on Thursday, 7th February at Wenvoe Church Hall. The speaker will be our very own Janet Young who will be recalling what it was like “From the Other Side of the Desk” – stories from that wonderful world of teaching. Visitors can be assured of a warm welcome and there is no charge

 

 

Christmas Celebration

 

President Madeleine welcomed everyone to our Christmas Celebration Meeting on 6th December. The evening commenced with WI Business which included final arrangements for our Christmas meal at the Wenvoe Arms on 10th December and the Link Carol Service at St Mary’s Church, Wenvoe on Thursday, 13th December.

Janet read out some poems so that we could have a taste of the Christmas Miscellany that we were unable to attend at Wenvoe Castle Golf Club. This was followed by a delicious buffet donated by all members. During “buffet time” we all tried to recall those “panto times” of early childhood as we searched our brains for the answers to Pam’s “Panto Quiz”. We are very grateful to Pam and to Janet for providing our entertainment. The evening concluded with good wishes to all for Christmas and 2019, followed by details of January’s meeting.

This will be on Thursday, 3rd January at 7pm in Wenvoe Church Hall. Our speaker will be Julia Wylie who will be encouraging us to “stretch and relax”, with something to suit all fitness levels. Julia is a new resident of Wenvoe and we are looking forward to welcoming her to our very first meeting of 2019. Visitors will be most welcome and there is no charge.

Members are reminded that subs are due in January. (Please place payment in a sealed envelope with your name on the outside; cheques should be made payable to “Wenvoe WI”.)

The President and Committee would like to wish all members and their families a healthy and peaceful 2019

 

 

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