WEST FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S INSTITUTES

Rodley Business Centre, 164/166 Town Street, Rodley, LS13 1HP

Charity No. 1017012 Incorporated in and Wales as a Company Limited by Guarantee No. 2737120

2016 ANNUAL REPORT

BOARD OF TRUSTEES - (ex-officio on all Sub- committees)

OFFICERS Federation Chairman - Maureen Hancox – elected April 2016 WYN Editor, Denman Ambassador, WI Ambassador, Secretary of Campaigns & Current Affairs, Member of Home Economics & Handicrafts Sub-committees and Knitting & Stitching Show coordinator

Honorary Treasurer - Sue Stothers Member of Arts & Leisure and Secretary of Membership Support Sub-committees

Senior Vice Chairman – Kathleen Hardcastle – elected April 2016 Chairman of Campaigns & Current Affairs Sub-committee & ACWW Representative

Vice Chairman - Gaye Baird – elected April 2016 Vice Chairman of Social Events Sub-committee

Vice Chairman - Heather Ross Chairman of Social Events and Home Economics & Handicrafts Sub-committees

BOARD MEMBERS

Helena Harrington (resigned as Federation Chairman in April 2016) Chairman of the Membership Support Sub-committee, WI Adviser, WI Ambassador, FIFE and Knitting & Stitching Show coordinator

Marion Lawes Fundraising Officer & member of Social Events Sub-committee

Val Pearson Secretary of Home Economics & Handicrafts Sub-committee

Penelope Scott-Rowley Federation Health & Safety officer, member of Home Economics & Handicrafts and Campaigns and Current Affairs Sub-committees

Yvonne Todd (resigned as Vice- Chairman in April 2016) 50/50 Coordinator, Secretary of Arts & Leisure and Social Events Sub-committees

NON-BOARD SUB-COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN Mary Phillips – Arts & Leisure (Resigned as Catering Coordinator in April 2016) Carole Davenport - FIFE

FEDERATION COMPANY SECRETARY - Elizabeth Walker ADMINISTRATION SECRETARY – Carol Wride

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT FEDERATION CHAIRMAN – MAUREEN HANCOX It gives me great pleasure to present my first Annual Report as Federation Chairman. This year has been a very successful year at the Federation and I am pleased to report that our finances are much healthier than this time last year. This is due to a number of factors which I will share with you.

Our Membership has increased by 878; at the end of 2015 we had 2482 members and at the end of this year we had 3360 members and we now have 81WIs. In 2016 we opened 4 new WIs and I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Clayton Village, Afternooners, Newmillerdam and Pomfret WIs. A big thank you must go to our two WI Advisers for all their hard work involved in the formation of these WIs; Gillian Swift and Helena Harrington have put a great deal of time and effort into getting these new WIs up and running. Rosemary Pearson, Croft House Cookies WI has been accepted on the NFWI Adviser training course and we wish her every success gaining her qualification later in 2017.

The introduction of a Communications Team with Social Media Co-ordinators has enabled us to advertise events regularly with updates. Liz Walker and Karen Poitr have done a great job in sharing WYFWI news and events with our WIs and Members via Twitter and Facebook. This means of communication has helped to increase the number of Members attending workshops, events and outings. Sue Waring our Webpages Co- ordinator has worked hard this year modernising our web pages on the NFWI website and keeping it up to date with event postings. Events are always followed by a write – up with photographs to show ‘What you have missed’! The downloadable booking forms have helped Members to book for popular events themselves so they don’t miss out!

The introduction of eWYN has brought our popular newsletter into the 21st Century whereby the newsletter is emailed to Members. This has increased the circulation of WYN and more of our Members have been kept informed and have been interested in joining in with Federation events. It goes to show that if Members are given the opportunity to read WYN they are inspired to join in with the Federation events and in doing so they gain more from their membership and of being part of this great organisation.

The Federation Sub-Committees have worked hard as a team and continually try to keep abreast of our ever changing Membership and they have planned events that are exciting and different. Members have been keen to attend and in some cases events have been sold out and with a waiting list!

Those WIs that took part in the Chairman’s Challenge and donated 50% of the money they raised to the Federation has contributed over £2000 to the Federation. I would like to thank all the WIs who sent in their donations as you really have made a difference.

The Federation Annual Meeting was held at the King’s Hall & Winter Gardens in for the first time and was well received by the members & guests. Following its success, the Board agreed to use the venue again for the 2017 Annual Meeting and arrangements are already in place for the day.

In May it was with great pleasure that we received Lynne Stubbing from the NFWI Training Committee at the Rodley Office to refresh and retrain our Board of Trustees in their Roles and Responsibilities of being a Trustee. It was an informative day and we were all inspired to move the Federation forward with fresh ideas.

In early June 33 West Yorkshire Federation members made up of 20 Delegates, 2 Federation Representatives and 11 Observers travelled to Brighton by coach to attend the NFWI Annual Meeting held at The Brighton Centre on Saturday 11th June. For some it was their first time attending as a delegate and we all had an informative day where resolutions on ‘Appropriate care in hospitals for people with dementia’ & ‘Avoid food waste, address food poverty’ were passed. The stay in Brighton also gave everyone an opportunity to meet other members, to explore the area and enjoy a walk along the seafront.

In October our Federation Treasurer, Sue Stothers and I attended the NFWI Autumn Council Meeting in Wyboston and the theme of the weekend was ‘Embracing Change’. I was proud to be selected to present our Federation Success Story ‘WI Ambassadors’ to the 69 Federations across the country and I have had many requests asking for copies of this PowerPoint; we are really pleased that other Federations are going to be using this idea that Gillian Swift our WI Adviser devised two years ago. Our Ambassadors have continued to be invited to WIs to show this presentation throughout the year and it is rewarding to have received such positive feedback.

Embracing change has been one of our targets this year and our first job was to revamp the office to make it a more welcoming environment. Needless to say, we have thrown a lot away but we have also been archiving paperwork and textiles. The Membership Support Committee with help from Sue Plant, Shibden WI, have been logging and filing paperwork from many years ago and have some wonderful stories to tell. I have also sent some exceptional textile pieces to NFWI to be archived and may be displayed by them sometime in the future.

If you have visited the Federation Office recently you will have noticed an improvement in our image; the entrance is more welcoming and the upstairs committee rooms have display boards on the walls; we have also employed a cleaner which we hope makes for a more professional look. In April our Admin Secretary Rio Neville left us to further her career and in October we were pleased to welcome Carol Wride to work alongside Liz, our Federation Company Secretary. Carol comes to us with a wealth of knowledge having worked for a Charity and she is working 8 hours over 2 days dealing with event bookings, the Year Book and general office work. It is great to have Carol join the team to support the Federation, Institutes and Members.

In November Sue, Liz and I travelled to the North Yorkshire East Federation Office to attend an Inter Federation Meeting with the Northern Federations. This gave us an opportunity to share ideas and discuss ways of managing change and the opportunities we provide for our Members and embrace our new Membership too.

Finally, I would like to thank you for the support you having given me in my first year as Federation Chairman and the good wishes I have received. The success of this year has been down to the hard work of the Board of Trustees, sub-committee members, Liz and Carol and to you our members for your support throughout the year. The Members are our customers and we will continue to strive to give you excellent customer service and ensure that the WI is everything you want it to be.

FINANCE REPORT HONORARY TREASURER - SUE STOTHERS The Board of Trustees and Sub Committees started 2016 more determined than ever to reduce the deficit of £2839 from 2015 which as anticipated was much less than the previous year of 2014; and with the help and advice of Jill Foster of Foster & Co we have all worked harder to achieve this.

Our two year investment of £45,000.00 held at the Yorkshire Bank paid an interest of 1.8 % each year which we put into our current account to help with cash flow. This investment comes to an end in February 2017 and we are currently researching where to reinvest this for the future.

Unfortunately our other investment accounts held in COIF (Charitable Organisations Investment Fund) is only achieving 0.04.85% interest at present, but this is a secure place for Federation funds and we are always hopeful for a change in circumstances where interest will increase once again.

At the 2016 Annual Meeting, Helena Harrington as Chairman at the time set a Chairman’s Challenge which was very successful indeed and has brought in an additional £2146.00 to Federation Funds for which the Board is extremely grateful.

Our agreement with our Insurance Company D. E. Ford remains the same and has kept the costs down once again for both the Federation and the Institutes. All our equipment is running well and our photocopier is still doing a fantastic job on WYN and promotional printing for events and workshops.

Most of our expenditure is spent on the smooth running of the office for utilities, salaries, insurance etc., our rent remains the same; the boiler is running smoothly and our agreements with Npower for our gas and electricity remain the same, but we are always looking out for better deals where possible.

Thanks to all the hard work of our WI Advisers and the Membership Support Committee the Federation ended the year with 78 WI’s and our current membership stands at 3360 which is excellent. We have also benefitted from NFWI subscription pro rata scheme which means that subscriptions are coming in throughout the year which has also helped certainly our cash flow.

2016 has been a more pro-active year with all the Sub Committees working really hard to provide interesting and varied events for our members, most of which have been very well supported throughout the year. As our Financial statement shows all the hard work from every member of the Board and Sub Committees, and the support of the members has certainly paid off. We remain hopeful that we will close 2016 in a better financial position to start 2017. THE WEST YORKSHIRE FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S INSTITUTES COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2016 2016 2015 £ £ Income Arts and Leisure 5262 9207 Home Economics 3273 1950 Membership 1550 2418 Campaigns and Current Affairs 5967 416 50/50 Club 2470 2830 AGM, National Travel 13786 17179 Bursary Income 1385 - Council Meetings – Spring 4486 4797 Denman 10535 11654 Diaries 1706 1363 Donations 596 1896 Federation Events 400 1965 Federation Challenge 2146 - Bank Interest Received 981 858 Members Subs 64043 47919 Social Events 23895 18131 Pooling of Fares 1232 1088 Fundraising 340 734 Quota 788 638 Royal Garden Party - 1900 Annual National Raffle 489 603 Shows and Promotions 1119 3765 WI Insurance 2040 1700 WI Stationery 601 812 WYN 7011 5800 Year Book 358 393 Suspended Institutes and Formations 674 723 ______Total Income 157133 140739 ______

THE WEST YORKSHIRE FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S INSTITUTES COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2016 2016 2015 Costs of Generating Funds: £ £ Arts and Leisure 3140 7999 Home Economics 1853 909 Membership 1268 1458 Campaigns and Current Affairs 5775 246 50/50 Club 1235 1415 AGM, National Travel 11106 13931 Council Meetings – Spring 2315 4528 Denman 9764 11266 Diaries 1542 1201 Federation Events 174 1348 Social Events 21636 15862 Fundraising 349 326 Royal Garden Party - 1900 Shows and Promotions 972 2520 WI Stationery 571 692 WYN 5348 6093 Year Book 84 60 ______Costs in Furtherance of Charitable Objects Membership Fees 36355 27714 Bursaries 150 445 Payment re Yorkshire Room - 7 _____36505 ______28166 Management and Administration Accountancy 1500 1500 Heat and Light 2388 2225 Federation and Institutes Insurance 2706 1781 Officers Expenses 978 720 Photocopier 5388 5686 Pooling of Fares 1200 1168 Repairs and Maintenance 889 2408 Rent, Rates and Water 7200 7064 Stationery and Office Stamps 1114 1279 Salaries 14023 18077 Salaries NI - - Training and Workshops 301 117 Sundries 377 499 Telephone 1001 1001 Depreciation 103 133 _____39168 ______43658 ______Total Expenditure 142805 143578 ______Net Income/ (Expenditure) 14328 (2839)

50/50 CLUB REPORT CO-ORDINATOR - YVONNE TODD This year (2016/17) the 50/50 Club had 198 members. Therefore the income from the sale of membership cards was £1980. Half this sum (£990) was given to the West Yorkshire Federation to help with supporting WIs, and the other half provided prize money throughout the year. For 10 months, prizes of £15.00 were awarded to 3 50/50 scheme members, and at the Christmas Lunch the draw saw 1 prize of £100; 2 prizes of £50; 1 prize of £40 and 1 prize of £30. Similar prizes will be given at the Federation Annual Meeting in April. The Board thanks you all for your continued support.

ARTS AND LEISURE REPORT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN - MARY PHILLIPS The last year has been a busy year. As a small committee of six, it has endeavoured to arrange events giving choice, challenges and companionship whilst fulfilling the committee remit. The committee met on six occasions with an extra meeting enabling us to be flexible at short notice, adding to the programme as events became available, whilst meeting the constraints, for advertising purposes, of printing deadlines.

Our first event held in March was an evening of Osteoarchaeology. An illustrated talk by a university tutor gave a fascinating insight into the information that can be yielded by old bones – lifestyle, age, illness, nutrition or results of an accident. The following month, after a safety talk, a group of members took to the waters of Yeadon Tarn for a taster session of dinghy sailing – all returning safely to dry land. On an evening in May, the Bowmen of welcomed a group of members and partners, enthusiastic club members encouraged all taking part to progress and by the end of the evening, all had hit gold! By popular request in June, we returned to Sutton Bank Gliding Club, where a group of members and some partners took to the air in the safe hands of Club pilots. The weather was slightly overcast, but all reported enjoying the views and experience. Following the flights, all were joined by spectators and supporters for a hot supper in the clubhouse. Also in June, we held a “Village Secrets” day based in Barwick in Elmet. After coffee in the village hall and a talk by the local historical society, members joined local guides on short walks to see the “secrets” of the area, including the church, historic Tower Hill and the maypole. After lunch a visit to open gardens had been arranged. The busy month of June concluded, on a sunny afternoon, with members boarding a canal boat at Foulridge and enjoying an afternoon tea whilst cruising along the Leeds – Liverpool canal. In October, we once again held our popular Quiz Night. A full house saw Sowood WI emerge as winners. Also in October, tutor Chris Moss led a day school using wire to sculpt life sized garden birds. So popular was this course that we were able to offer a second course later in the month. Such was the enthusiasm of members that not only birds were produced, but miniature hares and sheep! Unfortunately a Forensic Science Experience day planned for November did not attract a viable number of participants, so had to be cancelled. It is not known whether the cost or the subject matter was unattractive to members. 2017 events already planned include in January, a theatre visit to the Alhambra, , to see the pantomime Peter Pan and also a backstage visit. In February we are offering a Ukulele workshop and in March an illustrated talk on Whitby Jet. Our “Curtain Up” concert featuring the Clifton and Lightcliffe Band and our own Fixby Songbirds brings our year to a close.

In summary, we have had a successful if challenging year, members have supported our events and comments have been very positive. As the committee endeavours to encompass all areas of the Federation, days and timings of events, it is now becoming difficult to find events, to attract groups of members when so many Institutes are becoming more active and involved with their own events.

CAMPAIGNS and CURRENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN - KATHLEEN HARDCASTLE In March Dr. Sarah Pugh and Mr. Paul Kajda of Leeds University hosted our Science Day. The lectures about Organic Foods and Chemicals in Everyday Life gave us much food for thought and interesting discussion. The members also enjoyed a visit to the Marks and Spencer’s Museum.

Later in the year Mr. Glyn Wainwright, an independent researcher, spoke on the topic of “Sugars v. Fats and Cholesterol. It was an informative day, enhancing our existing knowledge, dispelling some myths and provoking many interesting questions.

Our most popular events by far was the visit to the Houses of Parliament at the end of October. After free time in the city on Sunday we were taken to the House early on Monday. MP- Stuart Andrew and his assistants took us on a tour of Parliament which included a visit to the famous terrace and time for questions. During 2016 the sub-committee trialled evening meetings to try to encourage other members who work to join the committee, but sadly this did not come to fruition, so the Board agreed for meetings to revert back to daytime in January 2017.

Plans have been set in motion for a Bollywood International Evening in Shipley and an NFWI Science Event involving a traditional cream tea!

ACWW (Pennies for Friendship) COORDINATOR – KATHLEEN HARDCASTLE The 28th Triennial Conference was held in August when six hundred and forty delegates from all over the world met at Warwick University. Delegates were addressed by Mrs Ruth Shanks, World President who gave an update on worldwide projects and congratulated members on their effort.

ACWW continually urge all countries vigorously to protect supply of portable, farming and industrial water through the best technical information available so life may be sustained. Water is not a limitless resource and only 3% is available for drinking. Usage of water is ever increasing and we must all be aware of water saving strategies. By 2050 only one third of the world’s population will have access to safe drinking water.

ACWW also urged all governments to continue local vaccination against potentially eradicable diseases. Heather Brennan, the ACWW Finance Committee Chair, reported that the Pennies for Friendship target of £200,000 had been exceeded. From January 2016 to September 2016 - £200,965 had been raised with £905.16 being sent from West Yorkshire Institutes.

The newly elected European Area President is Margaret McMillan from Northern Ireland. Kathleen Hardcastle and two sub-committee members recently met her at the North Yorkshire West afternoon tea in Ripon and they pledged £1000 to support a project in Uganda which improves the skills of disabled women. So our Committee is looking for a project West Yorkshire to support from January 2018.

Mrs Hazel Armstrong, ACWW Representative for East Yorkshire and a member of the Project Committee will speak in more detail about the work of ACWW at our Annual Meeting in April 2017.

HOME ECONOMICS AND HANDICRAFTS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN - HEATHER ROSS 2016 has been a busy and successful year. With a wide variety of workshops which included bread making, a Pork Pie and Piccalilli Day (we were pleased to welcome a members’ husband on this day too). We had many fabric days which resulted in members taking part in 3D Patchwork, Circular Weaving, English Paper Piecing and fussy cutting English Paper Piecing. Two visits to Honeypot Pottery in were enjoyed when members decorated pieces with their own designs. There was a Dabble Day in May when members came and enjoyed a taster day of crochet, knitting, scrapbooking and sugar flowers.

At the end of November we manned our table at The Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate and demonstrated craft items which we had kits for people to purchase if they wished. This is a good show window for the WI and interest was shown, not just for us but the WI as a whole.

Two members of the committee ventured north to Durham Federation office for an Inter County Craft Day where we took samples of workshops we had held and spoke about them. It is a good day to get ideas for our workshops in the future.

Bee Crafty on the 4th Friday of the month still welcomes members when they bring crafts they are working on and enjoy a day of chat and crafting. All are welcome, there’s no need to book, just turn up and stay as long as you wish, don't forget your lunch if you are there for the day.

MEMBERSHIP SUPPORT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN – HELENA HARRINGTON 2016 saw some changes in the Membership Support Sub-Committee. Mrs. Edith Cheesbrough retired at the Annual Meeting in April. We are all grateful to her for all her work and expertise whilst she was on the Committee. This year we trialled evening meetings as agreed by the Board. Although this change did bring two new members to the sub-committee it was agreed both by the members of the sub-committee and the Board that meetings could revert to day-time in January 2017. The year ended with eight members on the sub- committee. The Membership Sub-committee met five times during the year and arranged two training sessions for treasurers, one in the evening (advertised as a drop-in session) and the other a full day. An evening for Presidents and Secretaries was also held. All proved both fruitful and stimulating.

The WI Ambassadors presentations were given to six more WIs this year. The two WI Advisers were helped in this by both members of the sub-committee and the Board.

Early in the year a member Rosemary Pearson from Croft House Cookies WI expressed her interest in training as a WI Adviser. Rosemary was accepted for training and became a member of the Sub-committee and will start in 2017. In the meantime the sub-committee and the Board have offered all the help she requires as she prepares for her first week-end at Denman. We wish her well in her training and look forward to having her on board as another WI Adviser in the Federation.

Meantime the two WI Advisers have been busy, opening new WIs, Horbury and Clayton Village WIs formed in January, Newmillerdam WI followed in April with Pomfret WI in July. In addition they continued to visit WIs for both Institute Annual Meetings, social occasions and when asked to help with a WI problem. Unfortunately four WIs were suspended in 2016 - in January, Birdsedge in February, Walton in November and Calverley in December, but they have still been working on the formation of 3 WIs in early 2017.

In April the Board decided to separate Financial Examiners meetings from Membership Support as it was felt that more time was taken up discussing financial matters and the main object of the Membership Support was not receiving the attention that it should. Accordingly FIFE meetings two or three times a year were to be arranged under a separate chairman, Carole Davenport. The Federation now has seven FIFEs (Federation Independent Financial Examiners) and so are able to offer financial examining services to more WIs. Interest in training as a WI Financial Examiner has been expressed by a member and this will be perused in 2017.

In conjunction with the Home Economics sub-committee the Membership Support sub-committee helped to promote the WI at the annual Knitting & Stitching Show in Harrogate in November. This is always a good showcase for the Federation and information base for the WI. Information packs were also prepared for various shows and information days for Institutes to obtain from the Office.

Plans for Officer training events during 2017/2018 are taking shape and all the details will be announced in WYN.

SOCIAL EVENTS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN - HEATHER ROSS We have enjoyed another year of successful events. Our Denman Federation visit in May was greatly enjoyed and plans are in place for another visit in May 2017 as noted under Denman.

There were two lunches, in June we were in Scarcroft Village Hall for the Summer Lunch when Katie Chaplin from Japan Crafts showed us how to dress in a kimono and we were able to buy Japanese fabrics for out quilting projects. In December we enjoyed our Christmas Lunch at the Manor Golf Club in Drighlington. The food was excellent and the entertainment had us laughing as Dulcie Lewis told us it was "Not Just Yorkshire Pudding".

In September 42 members and friends visited Scotland for a week discovering the Ayrshire Coast and the isles of Aron and Mull. A guided tour of Glasgow taking in two museums was another enjoyable day.

We ended the year with a visit to Chatsworth and the farm shop. The theme was Nutcracker and as usual it was a magical day.

DENMAN AMBASSADOR - MAUREEN HANCOX Our Federation visit in May was a great success and for some of our Members it was their first 'Denman Experience'. Thirty Members and one non-member travelled to Oxfordshire and enjoyed a two night stay in the wonderful Georgian mansion and grounds. Members took part in Silver Jewellery Making, a Patisserie Weekender, Silk painting with Quilting and Embroidery and some of our more energetic members rambled in the heart of the Chilterns. All the courses were excellent and the stay at the college gave the perfect atmosphere for learning and having fun with friends old and new. A number of Members have also made their own journey to Denman or used a bursary award from the Federation or their WI. They have taken part in a wide variety of residential courses ranging from Mother and Daughter weekends, Christmas Edible Gifts, The New Year Country House Party to learning to make cheese. Denman has so much to offer and it really is value for money; I always receive positive feedback. We look forward to increasing our circulation again next year and keeping more of our Members informed by bringing you news from the Board of Trustees, Sub-Committees and the Office to members across the Federation.

WYN WYN EDITOR - MAUREEN HANCOX It has been an exciting year for WYN with the introduction of eWYN and it has also been wonderful to receive positive feedback from our Members. We are delighted to have increased our circulation by 1200 with 1687 eWYNs and 1003 hard copies sent to our WIs and Members at the end of 2016. As expected the number of orders for the hard copy has reduced which has enabled us to keep the cost the same for 2017. It must be stated that it is not expected that WIs print eWYN, it is intended to be read from a tablet, smartphone or computer as this reduces printing costs and is environmentally friendly. Thank you to all the WIs and Private Members who have subscribed this year, to the advertisers for placing adverts with us and also to WIs that collect their parcel from the office; this all helps to make WYN a success and to keep costs down to members. We are still concerned that a small number of WIs only receives the secretary’s copy and this means that their Members are missing out on Federation news and the opportunities available to them including all the courses and events we run. We encourage WIs to purchase copies and/or order eWYN for their Members to read. WYN is your newsletter so please send in your WI and Members news or event information to celebrate your achievement and to share with others. Thank you to all the WIs and Members who have sent in their news this year, it all adds to make WYN an interesting read. We look forward to increasing our circulation again next year and keeping more of our Members informed by bringing you news from the Board of Trustees, Sub-Committees and the Office to members across the Federation.