Category: Womens Institute

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.

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.

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.

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

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

President Madeline welcomed everyone to the meeting. A special welcome was extended to our visitor, Carol Atkinson, who is retiring as our WI Advisor.
We held a minute’s silence in memory of Eira, who sadly passed away. Eira had been unable to attend monthly meetings for some time due to her failing health. We have missed her and will continue to do so as we remember Viv and all Eira’s family.
Sheena Crossley was our speaker on this occasion. Sheena’s involvement in horticulture has included working for Cardiff Parks Department, lecturing in Pencoed College, broadcasting on Radio Wales and organising school workshops. We all thoroughly enjoyed Sheena’s humorous talk, whilst showing slides of beautiful colours in lovely gardens, many of which were local, such as Dyffryn and St Fagans. “Gardens of Wales” was certainly a way of brightening up a dark winter’s evening.
After refreshments the evening continued with WI business. An invitation had been received from Sully WI to attend their coffee morning on Saturday, 3rd November. Members chose their menus for the Christmas meal to be held on Monday, 10th December at 12.30pm in the Wenvoe Arms. Names were collected for our Carol Service on Thursday, 13th December at 7pm at Wenvoe Church.
As agreed at the meeting, on Sunday, 11th November, Madeline placed a wreath at the Wenvoe Memorial, on behalf of our WI, to remember all those who gave their lives, plus all those who have suffered, physically and mentally, as a result of war.
Our next meeting, on 6th December at 7pm in the Church Hall, will be our Christmas Party. It would be greatly appreciated if all members could bring along a plate of food (sweet or savoury) for the buffet.
The President and Committee would like to wish all members and their families a Happy Christmas, with peace and good health in 2019