WI Support Team

TEAM LEADER:  Helen Ainley
We have 4 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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MARCH 2024

Well, here we are already in March and the start of Spring is on Tuesday 19th. I wonder if you are like me and looking at those spring cleaning jobs that need keeping up to date with? If you are a Trustee of your WI one of your jobs may be making sure that all your WI details are up to date. Did you know that if you change the name of your WI, the venue for your meetings, the date of meeting or the time of meeting you first need to seek your members’ permission? You can do this by a show of hands with a majority of three quarters of those present and then ask permission from the Federation. You might ask why there is a need to seek permission from the Federation, this is so we hold the correct information about your WI and can update the changes in the Yearbook. We understand there is always a sound reason for making these changes which benefit your members and their enjoyment of your WI. As always, the WI Support Team are here for you if you need any assistance, you can contact me at helenainley@nottswi.org.uk or ring Federation Office.

FEBRUARY 2024

May I wish you all a Happy New Year for 2024, I hope you all had a joyous Christmas and have not been affected by the flooding too badly in your area.

BEST

Your WI will have received in this month’s mailing an A4 sheet as a reminder to submit an entry for the Sheila Norris Rose Bowl Challenge for this year. The brief for this has slightly changed due to feedback from some WIs, but if you have already completed an entry to the original brief that is wonderful & please submit what you have created.  If you haven’t, please will you use this sheet of paper, or any medium up to A3 size, to complete it showing the 3 BEST things about your WI. What makes it special for you and your fellow members, why do you like your WI, have you done an event you particularly enjoyed, do you have something that other WIs may not have?  The closing date for this is 8th March.  We would love to have lots of submissions for this to be able to display them at our Annual Federation Meeting on 23rd March at Southwell Minster School.

Please may I also gently remind all Officers to submit their WI’s Annual Reports to the Federation Office as soon as possible after your Annual Meetings as this enables us to update the records we hold for you.

As always, the WI Support Team are here for you if you need any assistance, you can contact me at helenainley@nottswi.org.uk or ring Federation Office on 01636 673550.

DECEMBER

Hello everyone! This month I would like to remind you of the Sheila Norris Rose Bowl Challenge for 2024. We are asking you to come up with 3 Ways in which to make your own WI EVEN BETTER than it is now.  You can be as creative as you like with your entries, as long as they are no bigger than A3 size and can be in any medium.  We would like you to think of how you might like to make your WI more inclusive to all women, are there any little tweaks that could be made to enhance the experience for members?  You have free rein to think outside the box, we look forward to seeing your entries which need to be received at Notts Fed of WIs, Trent Bridge House, Beastmarket Hill Newark, Notts, NG24 1BN by 28th February 2024. All the entries will be displayed at the Annual Federation Meeting on 23rd March 2024.  I would like to send very best wishes to you all for the festive season and a Happy & healthy New Year from all the WI Support Team.

My contact details are as usual helenainley@nottswi.org.uk or via the Office should you need any help.

NOVEMBER

As we are now into the Autumn months, I hope you are all braving the darker nights and enjoying the warmth and friendship of your WIs. When I recently visited a WI, they told me of a very good idea that had worked well for them and had boosted their membership numbers. If each member brought a non-WI friend along to a meeting as a guest, there is a good chance that the friend will enjoy the experience so much that she goes on to become a member herself. This would be a win for both your friend and your WI. It’s a simple thing to do that could have excellent results, give it a try!

As always, your WI Support Team are always here for you, my contact details are helenainley@nottswi.org.uk or via County Office

OCTOBER

JOIN OUR TEAM

The WI Support Team have been asking members to help by joining our team. You don’t have to train to be an WI adviser, you can join us as a support team member. Our support members are a very important part of the team, as part of the team you would learn most of the role that an adviser fulfils but will not have to undertake the formal training, which we understand can be off putting. You would be allocated a mentor and over time would get to know more about the role. If you are interested in getting a little bit more involved in the WI at Federation level this might be something you would like to consider.  If you would, please contact me at helenainley@nottswi.org.uk or via Federation Office on 01636 673550 so we can arrange for you to come to a team meeting for a taster of what we do, this won’t commit you to anything!

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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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