NEWS

BREAKING NEWS ...

  We are very pleased to announce the formation of TWO new WIs in Oxfordshire - WANTAGE WI - in the south of the county, which will meet on the second Wednesday of the month at 10.30am in the Wantage Masonic Hall, and, MILCOMBE WI, in the north, which will be meeting on the second Thursday of the month at 7.30pm in Milcombe Village Hall. If you are interested in joining either of these WIs, do go along, you will be made most welcome.

SHOWCASE 2009 - CHRISTMAS PAST, WAITING FOR SANTA

An impressive display of our members' work and imagination! Working with this Christmas theme, the WI entries not only showed off the skills and expertise of Oxfordshire members, it also gave visitors a nostalgic walk through Christmases past. From Victorian to contemporary, Glaswegian to Edwardian, there were luxuriant colours and abundant ideas. The winning entry from Shipton-under-Wychwood WI is pictured here.

The winning fairy for the top of the Christmas Tree was this wonderful creation by Mary Gregory of Duns Tew WI. Greatly admired by all, it was generally agreed that 1953 was an excellent year! Here Mary (left) receives her cup from Federation Chairman, Pauline Goddard.

  The floral artwork was not to be missed either - the flower exhibit 'A Christmas Carol' brought forth some beautiful work and the winner was Dorothy Carden-Noad, South Leigh WI, with In the bleak mid-winter, pictured below left. A Christmas Ring was won by Joan Creese, Stanton St John WI, and is seen on the right. Again the judges had some very difficult decisions to make as our members demonstrated a very high level of skill.

The full results are as follows: PRODUCE SHIELD 1st Shipton-under-Wychwood WI 2nd Fitzharry's WI (top left) =3rd Stoke Row WI (bottom left) =3rd Thame WI (top right) =3rd Shiplake WI (bottom right) OFWI COOKERY CUP FOR YULE LOG 1st Susan Evans, Shiplake WI 2nd Carol Worthington, Abingdon Evening WI 3rd Pamela Miller, Weston-on-the-Green WI MAC GRUNDY CUP FOR SHORTBREAD BISCUITS 1st Ann Timbs, Spelsbury WI 2nd Virginia Lawrence, Otmoor WI 3rd Susan Partridge, Shiplake WI CHALLENGE CUP FOR FLOWER EXHIBT - A CHRISTMAS CAROL 1st Dorothy Carden Noad, South Leigh WI 2nd Marion Callan, Benson WI 3rd Judith Nunn, South Leigh WI EATON HASTINGS CUP FOR CHRISTMAS CHUTNEY 1st Marilyn North, Otmoor WI 2nd Maureen White, Wolvercote WI =3rd Susan Evans, Shiplake WI =3rd Sue Phipps, Marston WI JULIA DOWNES CUP FOR A CHRISTMAS FAIRY/ANGEL 1st Mary Gregory, Duns Tew WI 2nd Jane Madden, Marston WI 3rd Denise Line, Dorchester-on-Thames WI TUSMORE CUP FOR A CHRISTMAS RING 1st Joan Creese, Stanton St John WI 2nd Bernie Cowley, Botley WI 3rd Dorothy Carden Noad, South Leigh WI

NEW WI IN DUCKLINGTON

We are delighted to welcome Ducklington WI to Oxfordshire Federation! This new WI is meeting on the first Thursday at 7.30pm in the Baptist Church Hall. If you live in the area and would like to join, please go along next month when you will receive a very warm welcome. We would like to wish Ducklington WI every success.

SUPPER WITH SCARECROWS 2009

 56 scarecrows were accompanied by hundreds of members to the Barbecue and Posh Scarecrow evening at Millets Farm, Frilford. This was another event in our 90th Celebration Year and it was blessed with beautiful sunny weather. The band, the Chipping Norton School Allstars, played on, as we admired the skill and inventiveness of the scarecrow makers. The judges, from Millets, took their time but eventually came up with the winners, saying what a difficult choice it had been as they were all so good.

Pictured is the overall WI winning entry from Shipton under Wychwood, in her gorgeous pink floral dress and carrying the "Flowers for the Presidents table." She also had on some very fetching pink wellies to accessorise!

Second place went to the Strawman, built by Milton under Wychwood WI (and reading a choice magazine). In third place was Winston Churchill, the brainchild of Marcham WI members.

All of the individual entries are shown in the multi scarecrow picture. The winner was the girl in blue and white stripes, named Suzanne by her maker Carol Moul from Peachcroft WI, pictured together and on the left in the photo of the two scarecrows. The green dressed scarecrow beside her was the runner up, built by Jenny Rothery from Garsington WI and third was the suffragette made by Ann Timbs, of Spelsbury WI. Our congratulations to them all! More photos can be found on Federation Projects

DARTS FINALS 2009

  This years' darts finals took place in June, with the four teams in the semi-finals coming from Clifton Hampden & Burcot, Filkins & Broughton Poggs, Greys and Nettlebed.

A hot night, both in temperature and excitement, ensued with the final best of five games being played out by Greys and Filkins. With superb finishing, Filkins and Broughton Poggs won the trophy, captained by Diane Blackett, who is pictured (left) holding it, with her team. The runners up plate went to Greys, which captain Ida Tilbury is holding in the other photo with that team.

Thankfully this long running league had a last minute reprieve, with the volunteering of a new organiser, on the retirement of the present one, Penny Noble, who is trying to cut down on her many WI "hats" So therefore the games will be up and running again come September. Our thanks to everyone who participated this year, we hope you will join us again in the autumn.

NEW WI IN ABINGDON

  A very warm welcome to ABINGDON EVENING WI which was formed in June. They are meeting at 8pm on the third Wednesday each month at 35 Ock Street in Abingdon (next door to Baptist Church). A delightful group, they are looking forward to welcoming many more new members in the coming months.

Tea for the Nineties

  At the tea party for our 90 year olds and over, held in the lovely Horton cum Studley Millenium Hall, we had two very special guests of honour amongst the 90 or more people there. Cecilia Leighton is our eldest member at 102 and has been a member of Watlington WI since 1945. Mary Tame is 95 and joined Dorchester WI in 1935 at the age of 21, so she is our longest serving member with 74 years totted up. These two super ladies used to be friends through Wallingford Market, years ago, and were delighted to be reunited at the tea. They are pictured cutting the cake, which was a joint effort between Trustees Barbara Gray and Carrol Eaton.

Cecelia is in the light blue ensemble in the photos which also show Pauline Goddard, Chairman, congratulating them both, with Mary on Pauline's left. Treated to tea, courtesy of the Board of Trustees, all the guests (which included two men who had been drivers for the day) thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon of singing, sandwiches and scones, plus cakes galore and a bottomless pot of tea.

A NEW CHAIR FOR NFWI

We are delighted to inform you that RUTH BOND (pictured), Cambridgeshire Federation, has been elected Chair of the National Board of Trustees. The Honorary Treasure is Aleathia Mann, Norfolk Federation; Vice Chair and Chair of Denman College Committe is Anne Harrison, North Yorkshire West Federation and Vice Chair and Chair of Membership Committee is Janice Langley, West Sussex Federation. Other appointments are: Chair of Education Committee - Maggie Simons, Wiltshire; Chair of Federation Support - Stephanie Fort, North Yorkshire West; Chair of Public Affairs - Marylyn Haines-Evans, Sir Gar Camarthenshire; Chair of Training - Lynne Stubbings, Warwickshire. Other Trustees are Joy Thomson, Patricia Tulip, Pauline Bibby, Diana Birch and Margaret Lloyd Jones. We would like to wish them all every success.

A WONDERFUL DAY AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL

  Approx 180 members went from Oxfordshire to the Royal Albert Hall for the 94th AGM of the National Federation. What a day we had! Expert speakers on the Resolution SOS for Honey Bees (carried by a massive majority of 99.4%), hugely entertaining speakers in Maureen Lipman and Eve Pollard, an informative talk by Jonathan Wild of Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate and the wonderful music of Richard Stilgoe and his apprentices. Fay Mansell, retiring national Chair, went out to a standing ovation having chaired a splendid meeting. She leaves a strong, thriving organisation and looks forward to spending more time with her embroidery and her bee friendly garden. All in all a day to remember. Pictured above in the lunchtime sun are some of the 5000 delegates, observers and officers who spilled out of the hall to sit by the Albert Memorial in the Park opposite.

ANOTHER NEW WI IN OXFORDSHIRE !

  A very warm welcome to THE LEYS WI who meet on the first Wednesday in the month at 7.30pm in the Clockhouse. They are a very lively group, drawing on Greater Leys, Blackbird Leys and surrounding areas and would welcome anyone interested in joining them. They have already enjoyed a talk on local history and a craft evening and have lots of other exciting meetings planned. We wish them every success.

OFWI ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETING 2009

Here are some of the highlights from the meeting in the splendid Town Hall in Oxford. Before the start of the meeting the OFWI Chairman, Pauline Goddard (right), shares a smile with our special VIP, the national Chair, Fay Mansell, before getting down to the business of the day.

Three new WIs have been formed over the past year: one in Charlbury, one in Hornton and the very newest in Blackbird Leys & Greater Leys (to be called The Leys), which was having its first meeting on 1st April. We were pleased, in this time of financial crisis, to hear from our Treasurer that we have played safe and steady by investing in a Charity Account, rather than risky Icelandic banks or shares.

A total of nine bursaries for Denman College were allocated to WIs, in line with our 90th year celebrations, and the lucky winners were announced. National Chair, Fay Mansell, gave an enthusiastic talk on her own WI journey and the upturn of WI in general. Among the usual awards were those for two new WI Advisers, Beryl Mann and Pauline Goddard, pictured here with Fay.

Cholsey WI and Filkins & Broughton Poggs WI tied in the 'Swim the Extra Length' Challenge and so both won £100 for gaining the highest proportional number of new members. Representing their WIs were, from the left in the picture, Alison Papworth from Filkins & Broughton Poggs and Momena Wright from Cholsey.

  The winners of the Gold Medal 2009 competition for a Book Cover were as follows -

  Gold Medal - Pearl Horgan, Woodstock WI

  Silver Medal - Beryl Mann, Langford Village WI

  3rd Place - Marion West, Cuddesdon & Denton WI

  Silver Salver - Teresa Forrest, Hook Norton WI.

  Pictured above from the left, Beryl, Teresa and Pearl.

The star speaker in the afternoon was Sheila Dibnah, widow of steeplejack Fred, who did not disappoint. An amusing lady, she does a very good spoken impersonation of Fred, especially when you consider she was about 20 years younger than him and at least a foot taller! Sheila (left)is also pictured with Sue Cox, First Vice Chairman of OFWI, relaxing before the meeting. A good meeting with a varied mix of business, information and fun.

OFWI OFFICERS 2009

  We are delighted to report that the Officers for OFWI for 2009 are as follows:

• Federation Chairman - Pauline Goddard
• Federation Treasurer - Diana Kerley
• First Vice Chairman - Sue Cox
• Second Vice Chairman - Cheryl Boorman
• Assistant Treasurer - Linda Needle



WELCOME TO CHARLBURY WI

  We are very pleased to welcome Charlbury WI to our Federation. They have had their first official meeting and would be delighted to see more ladies from their village and the surrounding area. They are meeting in the Corner House on the third Wednesday at 8pm.




HERITAGE LECTURE 2009

The former Head of Site at Harwell, Dr John Wilkins' talk on Nuclear Power 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 very many questions and we were left with his opinion that decisions must be made urgently about future energy supplies. Professor Sir David King (pictured) said exactly what he thought; raising inconvenient truths but leaving us in no doubt of the facts on climate issues. Sir David is a former chief Scientific Adviser to the Government and present Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University.






During 2009 OFWI will be celebrating it's 90th anniverasary. Formed in February 1919, it was one of the first counties to form a Federation umbrella under which to gather the increasing number of WIs sprouting up around Oxfordshire. We now have just over 4,500 members in nearly 150 different WIs enjoying their monthly meetings and also joining in many other events outside of their own villages.





  For our celebration year these will include:

January - Dairy Day

March - Action on Resolutions in Trinity College Oxford

Craft Dabble Day in March

Celebration and banner parade in Christ Church Cathedral in April

Africa Day in June

Special Opening in June of Hatfield House for visit

Musical Auditions Evening in June

An evening barbecue and scarecrow competition in July

August - Exhibition of Members’ Art

October - Barn Dance with Ploughman’s Supper

Go to Federation Projects Federation Projects to see reports of these events as they occur. These special events are all in addition to our usual programme.





CAMPAIGN UPDATE

  The NFWI recently held a conference in London to raise awareness of violence against women and launch a new research project with Bristol University into violence against women in rural areas. We are now calling for all members to fill out an online survey about their views and experiences. To do this please visit the national website on http://www.thewi.org.uk/standard.aspx?id=13492 where you will find further information on the campaign and a link to the survey.

  As part of our campaign to end violence against women we are also asking members around the country to check whether their local newspaper carries adverts for sexual services from trafficked women. This is a natural progression from the work we did following our 2004 mandate to end the trafficking of women.

Denman celebrates 60 years

  OFWI members were out in force at Denman College in September as stewards, fashion models and sales assistants. They, along with other Federations, NFWI and Denman staff, were all helping to make each day special for the visitors. Tutors were demonstrating their courses, an entertaining speaker was in the marquee and live music was playing in the house, which looked beautiful with exhibitions and displays.





One of the main attractions for the week were the stunning flower arrangements to be found in the house and around the grounds - even on the lake! Almost half of the forty-four floral art installations were constructed by OFWI members and here is a small selection to show some of the great skill our members demonstrated.





The arrangements varied from the traditional, found here in the main house, to the contemporary, demonstrated by the selection below.






  Other arrangements for visitors to enjoy.





An Evening with Ann Widdecombe

OFWI members lucky in the ballot for tickets to hear Ann Widdecombe speak at our Celebrity Event were treated to a marvellous evening's entertainment. Oxford Town Hall was packed to capacity for what turned out to be a memorable occasion. Ann held her audience spellbound as she talked very frankly about the many different threads of her life. A politician first and foremost, she has nevertheless found time to write a number of successful novels and to present several searching television documentaries on some of today's serious social problems. Ann is a feisty lady with a great sense of humour, which was very apparent as she told us of some of the amusing things which have happened to her during the course of her long political career.




Ann spoke for three quarters of an hour without a note, signed copies of her books in the interval and then returned to answer a wide-ranging series of questions from the audience. What a trouper and how lucky we were that she gave up some of her precious time to come and talk to us. Thank you Ann - it was a great honour and pleasure to have you! Ann is pictured above with our Chairman, Pauline Goddard, and here signing books for OFWI members.





A Selection of events to look forward to

CHRISTMAS SONGS 7 December

*CHRISTMAS TINGLE Tuesday 8 December at The Corn Exchange, Witney - spectacular seasonal flower demonstrations by NAFAS demonstrator, Andrew Lloyd.

PIG DAY 29 January 2010

DAY OF DANCE 15 February

COME TO ITALY 23 February

See newsletter for more details.

  Most events are by ticket only. Members can obtain these through their own WI. Occasionally, events are open to the public (marked *) giving non-members the chance to see a small part of what we do and join in with our activities. Non-members are advised to check with the office (01869 331081) prior to attending these open events.

  Click here for previous News and Pictures.



Further information about federation projects can be found on Federation Projects

  Please visit our site again for regular updates.