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.
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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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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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