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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2024
NOVEMBER
Welcome to November everyone. I thought I would talk to you this month a little more about programme planning. At our recent workshop we were asked the question, “how can we make Annual Meetings and Resolution Meetings more inviting?” Well, we all know that these meetings must be held but how can we make them more appealing to our members and encourage them to attend rather than having a distinct lack of numbers on these evenings. The answer seems to be, to give our members “added value” to the meeting. Of course, keeping to the business of the meeting but adding something else afterwards even if it’s just some special cakes with tea and coffee. Perhaps a quick craft, a member's recollection of a special holiday, a beetle drive, quizzes, asking members to share new recipes they have tried – even better if there are samples. That brings me onto food, anything that includes some type of food is always popular, think: chocolate tasting, cheese & wine, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, we don’t want to encourage bad habits! Did you know that one of our WI’s has a “Juniper Appreciation Society”? The list is endless once you start to think about it. And members, don’t just leave it to your planning team to produce an idea, if you have an idea or a talent that you want to share, I’m sure they would love to hear from you.
OCTOBER
Hello October, I love the “ber” months, don’t you? With all the wonderful colours of nature around us. Going into the Autumn months, I hope you aren’t letting the darker nights put you off going to your WI monthly meetings as you can always be sure of enjoying the warmth, friendship, and fun with fellow members when you are there.
Please may I remind you all that we are always looking for new Team Members in the WI Support Team. The training has now changed and is done via a computer-based session and by shadowing existing advisers and the appointment to adviser is now made by the Federation and not NFWI (National) as it was in the past. The training is not rushed, and you would go at your own pace and if you decided after a while it isn’t for you then that's fine, there would be no obligation to carry on. We would love to see any of you at our monthly Team Meetings, you could see what we do and get a flavour for the role that you might fulfil. If you would like to get involved at Federation level this may be for you. Come along, and see what you think, it won’t commit you to anything.
As always, your WI Support Team are here to give any help and advice you may need as well as helping with your Annual Meetings, contact us using my email: helenainley@nottswi.org.uk or by contacting the office on the usual numbers.
SEPTEMBER
We are in September already; how did that happen? I hope you all enjoyed the lovely sunny days we had in August, I certainly did although it was very busy with the school holidays. I hope some of you will have been to our Programme Planning morning on 9th of this month and found ideas for your programmes for the coming year, if not I will remind you of some of the resources that you could use. Of course, there is always the Speakers List on SharePoint Office 365, these are not recommended speakers but speakers that have applied to go on the list and are updated regularly by Heather in the Office. We always recommend that you look at “Home Grown Talent”, your members may have a particular interest or skill that they could share with everyone. Other local organizations such as Local History Groups and Animal Sanctuaries may have speakers that will come and speak to you. There are lots of free speakers such as The Dog's Trust and EMAS (East Midlands Ambulance Service) that will come along and speak free of charge but may ask for a donation. Having said all that, I do hope you came to the planning morning as talking to other WI members and sharing recommendations is by far the best way of finding interesting speakers. You will also have had the chance to view other WIs programmes for inspiration.
Please can I remind you of our final “Coffee & Chat” session which will be at Blue Diamond Garden Centre, East Bridgford, on 8th October at 10am.
As always you can contact the WI Support Team via myself at helenainley@nottswi.org.uk or via the Office.
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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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