News

DON'T FORGET THIS ENTERTAINING AND EDUCATIONAL TALK
FRANCES CARLOW, 'THE PEARL LADY'
THURSDAY, 28 JANUARY 2021
Frances Carlow's Pearls of Wisdom talk will fascinate, entertain and educate all who listen to her. She is passionate about pearls and what she doesn't know is not worth knowing.
If you would like to participate please get in touch with Diane at County Office as soon as possible. Week commencing 18 January is the final opportunity to get you name down.

CHAT WITH WI ADVISERS

The lovely DFWI Advisers are missing you all and would welcome a chat with you on one of the two dates below. If you would like to join them on either of the dates contact Diane at federationsecretary@dorsetwi.org and a Zoom password will then be sent to you nearer the time. Please see below, which is sent on behalf of our team of WI Advisers :

With the roll out of the coronavirus vaccination programme it is hoped WI’s will be able to meet again later in the year.

However, the WI Advisers are here to support you and invite any interested members to join them on a Zoom meeting to offer support, answer any queries and exchange ideas. Feel free to join us with your cup of tea, or glass of wine on :

Thursday, 4 February, 2.00pm - 3.30pm
or
Wednesday, 10 February, 7.00pm - 8.30pm

Looking forward to seeing some of you on zoom - WI Advisers

IMPORTANT NOTE : If Zoom is worrying you at all take a look at the Zoom Information page where there are some instructions as well as an offer of assistance if you need it.

The News page is now split into current updates during the Covid19 situation, the Monthly Flier, and a 'pick' of WI News.
To skip to the start of each section please click on the appropriate link below :

Important News
Current updates during Covid19 situation
Monthly Flier Information
A 'pick' from WI News

* IMPORTANT NEWS *

ANNUAL MEETINGS - IMPORTANT FOR ALL WIs

Due to Coronavirus many WIs have been unable to hold their Annual Meetings this year. As Annual Meetings are advertised in programmes WIs should record why it was not done, an example being :

"The Annual Meetings planned for ............ did not take place due to Coronavirus, however all reports and financial statements were shared with the members".

when planning programmes for 2021, instead of putting Annual Meeting put "Save The Date". This will enable WIs to plan how the Annual Meeting is delivered next year. WI Advisers will be advising WIs on the way forward early in 2021.

ZOOM EVENTS

Your Comms Team and Events Team continue to work hard for you, even during these unprecedented times, and two Zoom events have now been organised.

A new page, Zoom Information, has been set up on which there is a link to a Zoom Events page that gives all courses currently planned, and also a link to a Zoom Instructions document.

Zoom events will be shown on the Events page and will also be advertised in our monthly WI News so keep an eye open.

Please support these Zoom events. The Events Team strive to find ways to bring us courses and events during
these difficult times and a Zoom event must be better than nothing at all; we can still benefit, albeit not physically together.

WI MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION

The NFWI have issued the following :

The NFWI has been very concerned about the disruption this lockdown period has had on WI meetings and activities and your membership experience this year. We recently held consultations with all federations to discuss ways in which we can acknowledge this in our membership subscription this year.

We are delighted to share with you that as a result we are offering a three month extension to this year’s membership subscription. The next renewal date for membership subscriptions will therefore be 1st April 2021. In addition, from this point onwards, membership renewals will always be in April. This is to acknowledge the feedback many of you shared with us during the recent Strategic Vision consultation about the challenges of the January payment date and how you wished to see this changed in the future.

We have added full FAQs to My WI to help you understand a bit more about the process and how this will impact WIs. The FAQs can be found here: https://mywi.thewi.org.uk/essential-information/subscription-rates/faqs-membership-subscription-extension

We know that many WIs have responded creatively to the practical challenges posed by lockdown and we continue to be inspired by the activities being delivered to ensure members remain connected during this difficult time. However, we do appreciate that this period has meant that many members have experienced disruption to their WI experience and therefore we hope the additional three months will provide some compensation to acknowledge the disruption.

We are aiming to ensure that this message reaches all members as soon as possible. As well as the formal notification to federations and this announcement on social media, there is a memo in the July WI Life magazine and a letter in the July WI mailing. We hope that by ensuring the message is consistent across all our channels of communications, it will reach all members; but please do ensure you share the news with all the members in your WI too.

Please note that NFWI continue to post the latest pandemic guidance, etc on their website so if in doubt take a look.

Similarly, DFWI continues to update members on various issues during these unprecedented times and following is a statement issued by email to WIs on 15 September 2020 :

Following a query regarding a reduction in subscriptions the Board of Trustees have agreed the following statement :

It has been pointed out that some other charities such as English Heritage and National Trust have offered a membership extension with an 'opt out' scheme. However, these charities, because of their charitable status, adhere to different charity rules.

In line with our constitution every WI member must pay an equal subscription fee There has to be consistent rule for all as it would not be fair for some members to be offered a lower rate.

The subscription rate is set by the NFWI in consultation with the National Council. If changes are made to the subscription they must be applied to all members in all WIs equally.

CURRENT MONTHLY FLIER INFORMATION

See information on the News page concerning the new DFWI Board of Trustees and important information concerning Annual Meetings.

All those with Calligraphy skills may be interested in entering a piece of work, on behalf of the WI, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday. Any Calligraphy style can be used, using any form of writing instrument associated with the art of Calligraphy. Full details of this can be found by clicking on the link below :

Calligraphy application form

Crafting with the Chelsea College of Arts - Are you skilled in weave, print, knit, stitch or embroidery? Take a look at the application of interest form via the link below :

Chelsea College of Arts

Elizabeth Bell Challenge 2021 / 2022 - Running from January to December 2021, WIs are invited to compose a record demonstrating how their members have worked together to engage and support one another throughout the year, offering opportunities that have united their members, as well as successfully marketing the WI to increase their membership. For further information and entry form and schedule can be downloaded via the link below :

Elizabeth Bell Schedule

Elizabeth Bell Entry Form

WALKING NETBALL - Following recent Government announcements the community netball will be suspended with effect from Thursday, 5 November. In the meantime, the virtual WI WN activity sessions will continue every Monday evening at 7.30pm and every Thursday morning at 10.30am. These sessions are free to attend and are offered to all WI members, regardless of whether or not you play Walking Netball. Please contact nicole.flaherty@englandnetball.co.uk to register your interest and receive a link to attend a virtual session.

Full details of any events, Zoom or otherwise, organised can be seen either on the Events page or the Booking Forms page and these now include a Zoom talk, "Pearls of Wisdom" by Frances Carlaw.

DORSET WI NEWS - December / January issue now available on https://dorsetfwi-news.weebly.com/.

Check out Flier Number 9 for further information. This should now be with your WI Secretary.

A 'PICK' FROM THE CURRENT ISSUE OF WI NEWS
but do read the November edition for full details and information

COUNTY QUIZ QUESTIONS
These are now available to be posted out to WIs. Please see WI News for full information.

RESOLUTIONS
Please see WI News for information concerning the current Resolutions situation. It's important that all WIs are aware of the process and each WI's choice should be with Secretaries by mid January latest as the tallied totals need to be with DFWI by 18 January 2021.

MEET THE EVENTS TEAM
Behind all the wonderful events we are offered is an equally wonderful team of ladies who organise the events. Each of them, like most of the "background staff" within DFWI, is a volunteer and they love what they do. To "meet" the members of the Events Team, and put a face to a name, see page 5 of WI News.

FOR ALL OTHER WI NEWS CONTENT PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THE WEBPAGE https://dorsetfwi-news.weebly.com/