Together we can stop male violence on women and girls

  On a fine spring day OFWI Policy and Public Affairs Committee, and WI members descended on London protesting solidarity with women and girls surviving violence. We joined other WI members, and many other entities, at Portman Square where NFWI welcomed us. The march ended at Waterloo Place where we found NFWI offering a stall providing campaign leaflets and also delicious refreshments.   

It is an empowering experience joining so many women and girls bearing banners, marching together, representative of the human lifespan and wide range of culture and colour, together realising the international scope of violence suffered in domestic and political contexts. Oxford St and Regent St became pedestrian zones for us, helpfully marshalled by female and male police. Protestors safely mingled with one another and bystanders, chanting songs in mother-tongues, calling out "oolulas" or blowing whistles, each sound demanding attention and affirmation! We did wonder if a silent march might have better illustrated the often hidden nature of violence on women and girls, however, observers responded positively, waving, photographing and voicing their support.   

At Waterloo Place speeches were presented against a big full colour screen, raising awareness of the range of violence suffered and survived by women and girls of disparate culture and colour: domestic violence, workplace harassment, sex trafficking and rape as a weapon of war.

Stall holders encouraged interest in adult education courses and the urgency for increasing women Members of Parliament (MPs) in order together to end violence on women and girls. We returned home better informed, empowered and glad to have taken part.

Following this action, Jane Finnerty sent a letter to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and was pleased to receive this positive reply Click here.

Violence against women happens irrespective of age, nationality, culture, religion, ethnicity or geography. Women are often afraid to talk, but desperately need and deserve support, especially if they do decide to speak out about the abuse. The WI has the capacity to help these women and to reach many communities and individuals. Some WIs in Oxfordshire are actively campaigning and helping in practical ways, such as fundraising for a local hostel which can house women who need to get away from an abusive situation. If you would like to know more about this campaign, or to get involved, please contact the OFWI Office 01869 331081 for more information.

The Map of Gaps

Launch of Map of Gaps 2 was held in westmister on 3rd March for the provision of women's support services can be seen at www.enviolenceaginstwomen.org.uk

PACKAGING

  Did you know that you can't leave tetrapaks (those foiled cartons your orange juice comes in) in your normal recycling? Their components and manufacture make them just too complex. However, there are national collection points where you can safely leave tetrapaks for the manufacturers to deal with. We understand that some councils will now recycle tetra packs, but if yours still does not do so then you can take them to one of the following sites in Oxfordshire:

West Oxon:   Dean Pit, Chadlington; Woodford Way Car Park, Witney; Coop Car Park, Carterton; Back Lane Car Park, Eynsham; Sainsbury's, Witney

Cherwell:   Ardley Fields WRC; Alkerton WRC

Oxford:   Redbridge WRC; Tesco Car Parks; Marston Ferry Leisure Centre; Mill Street, Wolvercote

Vale of the White Horse:   Dix Pit; Drayton WRC; Stanford in the Vale WRC; Tesco Superstore, Abingdon; Sainsbury's, Wantage

South Oxon:   Oakley Wood WRC; Kings Rd Car Park, Henley; School Car Park, Mill Lane, Chinnor; Thame Cattle Market; SODC Car Park, Crowmarsh Gifford.

Find out more at www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk - a great website with lots of interesting information.

Care not Custody

Trinity College March 2009 Ruth Bond and Baroness Corston on Vulnerable women in the justice system Baroness Corston and Ruth Bond joined us for a half day conference looking at the issues surrounding vulnerable women and how these fit with our recent mandates and what we can try to achieve on a personal level for women in our own communities.

Sir David King and Dr. John Wilkins - Heritage Lectures 2009

We held two extremely successful Heritage lectures and feedback was no less than brilliant for both our speakers Dr John Wilkins and Professor Sir David King. Dr John Wilkins talk on Nuclear Power was excellent. He traced the history and the present position of the industry. He gave us facts and figures and showed us some of the options open to us as a country. He answered many questions and we were left with his opinion that decisions must be made about future energy supplies urgently. Professor Sir David King said exactly what he thought raising inconvenient truths but leaving us in no doubt of the facts on climate issues.

MIXED SEX WARDS

We had asked the PCT to look into single sex washing and toilet facilities and hope for a reply soon. However the good news is that The Health Secretary has set NHS hospitals a deadline to "virtually eliminate" mixed-sex wards by next year or face heavy financial penalties.

Alan Johnson said that such accommodation was "totally incompatible" with the NHS's focus on quality, dignity and respect. "From 2010/11 hospitals who fail in their duty to protect patients' privacy by allowing mixed-sex accommodation where it is not clinically necessary will be financially penalised.

"We will not pay for care that has taken place in mixed-sex accommodation unless it can be clinically justified."

The announcement means that hospitals will be required from 2010-11 to segregate the sexes by giving patients "separate sleeping areas (eg single-sex bays) and separate toilets and bathrooms that they can reach without having to pass through (or close to) opposite sex areas".

This gives us a target date too and something we can keep a close eye on with regards to developments here in our Oxfordshire hospitals.

Visits to a Magistrates' Court

West Witney WI took up the offer, through information provided by the Campaigning & Current Affairs Committee, of arranging a visit. Their March meeting commenced with two local magistrates visiting to outline their work in the courts. Needless to say their meeting went with a buzz after such an excellent talk. This was followed up a week later with a visit to Witney Court when 15 members spent time listening to cases in the Traffic and Criminal Courts. Members enjoyed the evening and the visit and we hope more WIs will take up the opportunity of visiting a local Court.

Proposals for the future of our Post Office network - update

The Government has stated it wants to encourage more community-run post offices where viable. These services are not to be connected to Post Office Ltd., but the community itself pays for a daily collection by Royal Mail, and there is a limit to the range of postal services that the service can provide.

The post offices would provide basic postal services, but could also incorporate other services, such as a shop, a café, or internet access points. If your closing post office is part of the only local shop and the shop is also lost due to the closure, then you could consider establishing a community-owned shop. There are currently some 170 in the UK, many of which incorporate post offices. ViRSA, the Village Retail Services Association (which is based in WOODSTOCK), has advice sheets on their website www.virsa.org to help communities which are considering this option. ViRSA Tel: 01993 814377 or 01993 810730 Email: virsa@plunkett.co.uk

  To look at the area plan for post offices closing, click here and for the Branch Access Report, click here.

Sustainable communities   

The role of the WI in our Communities after Post Office Closures   

What are sustainable communities?   

The Government even has a website especially dedicated to them. Essentially they are the places we would all like to live in. It doesn't take a lot to break or make a community and a local WI can make a difference. Living in a community with a thriving Women's Institute, busy charity shop and active church choir is good for the health. Research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council identified a strong link between voluntary activity and life satisfaction. So how is your WI faring and what is the secret to a thriving WI? Are you inclusive enough - how does your community view what you do? Do you know?   

Without our Post Offices groups like the WI will become more important to keep community spirit alive by offering friendship, passing on valuable skills and looking out for each other.

Early Day Motions - Post Offices and the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 (EDM 1066 -updated)   

Early Day Motions are an excellent way to change political thought on issues and demonstrate the strength of feeling across the country. So please, write to your local MP(s) as a WI encouraging them to sign these EDMs, if they have not done so. The first EDM has been tabled by Tim Farron MP and is calling for a Moratorium on Post Office closures. The wording is as follows:

'That this house expresses continuing disappointment at the closure plans for the Post Office network and is deeply concerned that the closure office branches threatens the sustainability of many communities, notes that in Autumn 2008 the Sustainable Communities Act will come into force for the first time at which point local authorities will be asked by Central Government to identify support required to keep their communities viable and in the light of this calls on the Government to issue a moratorium on post office closures in order to allow the Sustainable Communities Act to operate as intended'

OFWI RESOLUTION

  Thank you for supporting the Resolution below. If you would like to read the Executive Summary of Baroness Corston's Report, click here Click here (WORD doc 114KB).

  Following our very successful event at Trinity College last October, the Government's response to the Corston Report was published on 6 December 2007. It sets out the commitments made across departments to take forward the Corston Report's 43 recommendations for improving the approaches, services and interventions for women in the criminal justice system and women at risk of offending and can be found on the Ministry of Justice's website at www. justice.gov.uk/publications/gov-resp-corston-review.htm.

  As a Federation we wrote to Jack Straw and Harriet Harman and to read the response, please Click here for page 1, and here for page 2.

  We also had a response from the Government Equalities Office, Click here to read this.
  

In the last decade the women's population has more than doubled and women in prison suffer from numerous mental health problems - two thirds of women show symptoms of at least one neurotic disorder and more than half are suffering from a personality disorder.

A University of Oxford report on the health of 500 women prisoners, says that: 'women in custody are five times more likely to have a mental health concern than women in the general population, Over half the women in prison say they have suffered domestic violence and one in three has experienced sexual abuse.  

Those of you that came to the Oxfordshire AGM will have heard Juliet Lyon from the Prison Reform Trust speak on our mental health and prison mandate. Juliet had spoken at the Trinity event held in Oxford last October that many of you attended. She is particularly interested in how Oxfordshire is going to take our campaigning forward. Several WI groups have registered their interest and we hope many more of you will on the NFWI website click here .

The National Blog Spot

  The NFWI Public Affairs Department recently launched a blog to help inform WI members and the public of its current work. The blog will be updated regularly by members of the NFWI Public Affairs Committee and Staff. This is a great way to keep up-to-date with what the NFWI Public Affairs Department is doing on a daily or weekly basis. To view the blog directly please click on the following link http://theWIpa.blogspot.com.

Now what a bright idea! The WI Carbon Challenge

Do you know how you should recycle your used energy saving light bulbs? You can't put them in the general purpose waste bin at home and need to put them carefully aside where they won't get broken. You can take them to your local Civic Amenity (CA) household waste disposal centre and put them in the special container that should be provided both for Lo-energy lamps and for tubes as well. They will be sent on to a recycling plant and do not pay anything to do this.

  As an alternative, especially if you are buying new energy saving lamps, some retailers will be able to take back the old lamps if you take them with you when visit their store. NFWI life has provided us with this guidance and has said they will be covering this issue in the October 2007 edition of WI Life

  Here is a list of local companies who provide free of charge return facilities.

  The lightbulb Company - Address: Unit 53 Steventon Storage Facility, Hanney Road, Steventon, Oxford, OX13 6DJ Telephone: 01865 794500 Contact Name: David Bradbury

  The lightbulb Company - Address: Thomas Edison House, 74-77 Magdalen Road, Oxford, OX4 1RE Telephone: 01865 794500 Contact Name: David Bradbury

  Eco-St - Address: The Chinnor Garden Centre, Thame Road, Chinnor OXON, OX39 4QS Telephone: N/A Contact Name: Neil Morgan

  Electric Centre - Address: Unit 25 Botley Works, North Hinksey Lane, Botley, OX2 0LX Telephone: 01865 726661 Contact Name: Mark Sullivan

  Cherwell - Oxford - Address: Unit 3 Wildmere Close, Wildmere Ind Est, Banbury, Oxford, OX16 3TL Telephone: 01295 258822 Contact Name: William Gibson

  Eco St - Oxford - Address: The Chinnor Garden Centre, Thame Road, Chinnor, Oxford, OX39 4QS Telephone: 07974 144664 Contact Name: Neil Morgan

  The Lightbulb 2 - Address: Thomas Edison House, 74-77 Magdalen Road, Oxford, OX4 1RE Telephone: 01865 794500 Contact Name: David Bradbury

Packaging Unwrapped!

OFWI joined forces with Oxfordshire's Community Action Groups (CAGs) for a Day of Action in June 2007. All round the county, at various supermarkets, local WI groups and CAGs challenged shoppers to reduce the amount of packaging they take home. These photos show Bucknell WI braving the elements to set up a stall outside Marks & Spencer in Bicester. The event was supported by the store who provided fifty Bags for Life to give away and the aim was to keep packaging issues at the top of the agenda by providing information to shoppers and asking them to complete a survey about the main 'weekly shop' experience.

Twelve months ago the WI and CAGS held similar events throughout Oxfordshire and the major supermarkets agreed to set targets for reducing packaging over time. The feedback gained from the completed surveys will enable the progress to be assessed and the targets to be made more challenging. It was pleasing to note that an enthusiastic response was received from the shopping public in Bicester, many of whom are already doing their bit but are keen to do more and many who were pleased to be given some new ideas about shopping with packaging impacts in mind.

  For anyone interested in further information and who have access to the internet please go to www.theWI.org.uk and www.cagoxfordshire.org.uk

Car Sharing

  Do you do enough in your WI to share journeys shopping or travelling to events? Do you think we could all do more? Following the sustainable transport workshop held in Tackley we have a 'Tool Kit' that could help your WI think more about this - Please contact the Office if you would like a 'Tool Kit' or to speak with someone about ideas to promote car sharing in your WI.

The Great Milk Debates

  We now have a large range of promotional materials from NFWI for any local debates or talks that WIs are hosting. Please contact the office for further information.

Did you know?

  Anyone widowed after April 2001 is no longer entitled to the Widow’s pension - it was replaced by lower benefits. The most remarkable point about this is the fact that so many people do not know that the Widow's pension has been abolished. We can do something to raise the awareness of this issue that may affect many WI members.

  Do you want to know more or get involved in campaigning?

  Contact OFWI at Tackley for more information or Jane Finnerty 01865 553304

Nirex Seminar - Managing Nuclear Waste

  In March 2006, representatives from some 25 WI Federations assembled at Denman College for a seminar hosted by Nirex UK Ltd, on the subject of "Managing Nuclear Waste". Pat Clark, our Science Co-ordinator represented OFWI at what proved to be an extremely interesting and informative day. For the full report Click here (WORD doc 28K)