WI Support Team
TEAM LEADER: Helen Ainley
We have 5 WI Advisers
We all help and support WIs throughout Nottinghamshire - we can start a new WI, help an existing WI, and will put on training events for new Presidents, Secretaries and Treasurers.
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If you would like to join one of our WIs in Nottinghamshire or start a new WI, Please contact the County Office 01636 673550 or email: secretary@nottswi.org.uk
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OCTOBER
Welcome to October everyone. I hope those of you that attended our Coffee & Chat at Maxey’s enjoyed it and found it useful to chat to members from other WIs and the advisers. We enjoy meeting and getting to know new faces and welcoming them to our events. Our next Coffee & Chat will be on 17th November at Trowell Garden Centre, Stapleford Road, Trowell, Nottinghamshire, NG9 3TG, this will be our last for 2025. Please come along and enjoy the festive cheer of the season, yes, it’s that time of year again! We hope to start these events up again in March of 2026 when hopefully the worst weather will be over.
As I’m sure you know we are leaving Trent Bridge House this month, but I want to assure you that your WI Support Team will be operating as usual, nothing will change, and we will still be available for you. You can contact us via the new mobile number you will be receiving or the new PO Box details you will receive, my contact details will remain the same, helenainley@nottswi.org.uk.
I have spoken about the new UpToDate Handbook, published by NFWI, so I hope most of you will have had a look at it on MyWI. This is such a useful tool for WI trustees and very interesting for all WI members. A paper copy of this is available via the above details and costs £5. Please contact me if you have any WI queries.
SEPTEMBER
Hello everyone, by now all WIs should have received, by email, a copy of the new Constitution. Back when your WIs were formed a Constitution would have been signed, some WIs still do have theirs, but I know quite a lot of the older WIs have misplaced them over the years. Therefore, it is best practice for all WIs to now sign the new one. Each WI should keep a copy and forward by email, the signed copy of the back page only, which was sent as a separate attachment, to the Office. I know a couple of WIs don’t have access to email so if those contact us, we will make other arrangements.
I hope some of you will either have been to our Coffee & Chat at Maxey’s or are looking forward to it this month. Look out for the next one on Monday 17 November at Trowell Garden Centre, NG9 3TG at 10am till 12 noon. Hopefully by then we will all be looking forward to the festive season and can browse all that the Centre has to offer as well as enjoy our popular chats.
Have you booked the WI Officers’ Workshop which will be online on Monday 6 October from 10am till 12 noon? This is your chance to ask any questions regarding your WI, particularly about the new Constitution. These questions should be submitted to us by email admin@nottswi.org.uk before the closing date of 19th September.
As always you can contact me at helenainley@nottswi.org.uk if you need any help or advice.
AUGUST
Firstly, I would like to thank all those that entered a patchwork square in our Sheila Norris Rose Bowl Competition this year, the entries were quite exceptional and our judge, Joan Ware, had a very hard job as they were all an excellent standard. I would like to send a huge thankyou to Joan who was meticulous with her judging, she went above and beyond what we expected of her. The results were.
1st & 2nd Kim (Orston & Thoroton WI) who will hold the Rose Bowl until next year.
Joint 3rd Elizabeth (Newark Palace WI), Denise (Wollaton WI) and Lesley (Forest Town WI). Congratulations to you all.
We held a very successful Programme Planning meeting this month, where members got together to network and share ideas to improve and develop their programmes. There was lots of sharing and discussions which was followed by a light Ploughman’s lunch and homemade cakes. We will be repeating this next year, so look out for the enclosure coming out if you would like to join us.
The new WI Constitution is now available to download on MyWI, we hope that everyone, particularly WI Committees/Teams have a look through it. As good practice we will be asking WIs to sign the back page of the new constitution, as would have been done when your WIs were formed, and return it to federation. We will be contacting each WI regarding this.
Lastly, please can I remind you of our Coffee & Chat at Maxey’s Farm Shop, Hockerton Road, Kirklington on Monday 15th September. We will be having a talk by their butchery staff which I believe is very interesting, I hope you will join us.
As always if you would like a visit or advice from your WI Support Team, please contact us via Federation Office or myself directly at helenainley@nottswi.org.uk
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MCS REGISTER
After your Annual Meetings you may possibly have changes of officers, please can I remind you that these changes must be logged onto the Membership Communication System (MCS) as soon as possible after your meeting. This ensures that the details are carried forward, so the Yearbook is kept up to date and that mailings etc are sent to the correct person. The office also needs to update changes to passwords on Office 365. If you need any information about running your Annual Meeting it is worth having a look in the WI Handbook, it should be your go to for anything WI. You can find this on My WI or if you prefer a paper copy that can be requested from the Federation Office for a small charge for printing and postage.
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Be BOLD, Be INCLUSIVE, Be FLEXIBLE and GROW
Be BOLD – Have you had a speaker talking about the achievement of a woman? Has your WI offered members the opportunity to do something different?
Be INCLUSIVE – Are you really friendly and welcoming to new members or do you have to sit where and with whom you always sit?
Be FLEXIBLE – Have you surveyed your members to see if the time and place of meetings, including committee meetings and activities, are convenient for everybody?
GROW – Is your WI on Facebook and is it used well for promotion? If not, apply for funding from your local MP and for 3- 6 months send out a newsletter to 50-100 houses in the area.
These are just a few suggestions, we bet you can think of and do more.
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Data Protection for ALL members. When sending out emails to more than one WI member it is important that you put all recipients in BCC (blind carbon copy) not CC, as you are breaching data protection by showing other members’ email addresses. We are sure that everyone knows that members’ emails are for WI business only.
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How many committee meetings should be held in a year. The constitution says a minimum of 6 meetings a year should be held. However, your WI may well need more meetings in order to keep up to date with news and events and of course planning for your main meetings may take some time. Remember the saying that "If you fail to plan then you plan to fail". I am sure that doesn't affect your WI but planning is an essential part of running a good WI and this is generally done at your WI Committee meetings.
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Question
My new member hasn't received WI Life why is this?
Answer.
In order to receive WI Life your new members' details need to be added to the MCS register with a date of joining. After her details are added she will start receiving WI Life, she will receive a New members pack from the Federation via her email or the Hornblower envelope sent to your WI and she will also receive a new member pack sent to her from National but only if her details are put on within three months of her joining. It is important that the MCS is kept up to date not only by adding new members but deleting members who are no longer in your WI.
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