NORTH YORKSHIRE WEST FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S INSTITUTES
Minutes of the Spring Council Meeting of the North Yorkshire West Federation of Women’s Institutes held at The Pavilions, Harrogate on Saturday, 24th March 2018
Heather Stoney delivered a Health and Safety briefing about the necessity for accurate records of members present at the meeting and the procedure in the event of a fire alarm
1 Jerusalem
2 Welcome from the Chairman The Federation Chairman, Pauline Bowman gave a warm welcome to all the members and delegates in attendance including a special welcome to representatives from neighbouring Federations: East Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Teeside, South Yorkshire, Cumbria-Cumberland and Cumbria-Westmorland Federations, past Federation Chairmen: Ellen Dunkley, Val Fell, Sylvia Foxton, and Val Harrison and the morning speakers Peri Langdale, Kate Willoughby and Adele Kendall.
3 Apologies for Absence The following apologies had been received by the Federation Secretary, Michelle Gracey, and were read out as follows:
Lesley Manser, Federation Treasurer 2 Neighbouring Federations 2 Past Federation Chairs 3 individual WI’s from the NYWFWI
4 Minutes of the last Spring Council Meeting The last meeting was held at Tennants, Leyburn on Saturday 1st April 2017. Proposed by the Chairman, seconded by Hazel Smyth of Marton cum Grafton WI and signed as a true record of the meeting, with agreement from all the delegates. The minutes of this meeting will be available from Alma House during office hours from 15th May 2018 and on the NYWFWI website. The minutes of this meeting will be signed at the Spring Council meeting on Wednesday 10th April 2019 at Tennants, Leyburn.
5 Introduction of the Platform The Chairman introduced the members of the Board of Trustees: Carol Ambler, Julie Clarke, Anne Harrison, Margaret Merrall, Heather Stoney, Liz Whapples, Jackie Williams. Federation Secretary, Michelle Gracey and Finance Assistant, Marina Briggs, were also introduced.
6 Chairman’s Address The Chairman addressed the meeting as attached.
7 Presentation of the Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2017 The full accounts had been circulated to the delegates present. The Accounts were prepared by JWP Creers LLP, York.
Jackie Williams NYWFWI Assistant Treasurer addressed the meeting on behalf of Lesley Manser as attached. A member asked what had happened to the monies refunded from the teas at Spring Council at Tennants last year and Jackie Williams undertook to find out and report back to the member.
8 Appointment of the Financial Examiner 2018 Jackie Williams proposed JWP Creers LLP as the Financial Examiner of the accounts for 2018; this was seconded by Sue Earl Armstrong from Barnoldswick Buttercups WI with agreement from all the delegates.
9 Adoption of the Annual Report 2017 & Work of the Committees Jackie Williams proposed adoption of the Annual Report 2017 & Work of the Committees; this was seconded by Sue Earl Armstrong from Barnoldswick Buttercups WI with agreement from all the delegates.
10 Great Yorkshire Show Julie Clarke gave thanks to the 170 members who helped with the show last year and informed the meeting that a record 21 institutes had taken part in the exhibition.
The “Wrascels” entry on the schedule this year is similar to a Betty’s “Fat Rascal” and a representative from Betty’s is to judge this entry and may give a special award to the winner.
The Scarecrow co-operative entry requirements have needed some clarification and the criteria will be circulated to members shortly. These entries will be judged using a public vote as usual.
The catering and exhibition stewards volunteer forms have gone out in the mailing and preferred time slots will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Additional volunteer forms will be available on Federation Facebook page and the website. In order to further improve the smooth running of the catering, Julie will endeavour to allocate jobs prior to the show and has asked volunteers to state which jobs they have done before on their forms.
It is to be hoped that the show will be as successful this year since it is the greatest source of income for the Federation.
11 1st Morning Speaker Peri Langdale, Trustee of the Monument of the Women of WWII.
Peri informed the meeting about the campaign to have a monument which started in 1998 to acknowledge the work of 7 million women in the second world war. She is the last surviving original female campaigner and holds a comprehensive set of records about the women involved at that time. The Monument is situated next to the Cenataph in Whitehall, London which was designed by John W Mills and was unveiled by the Queen in 2005. It was dedicated by Betty Boothroyd. The unveiling took place two days after the London bombings despite attempts to delay it. The monument is not meant to give a message of being anti-male or political, but rather inspires respect, tolerance and forgiveness. It is designed to promote reconciliation of all who were involved in WW2 including those from opposing sides.
The Raise Your Hats campaign was started in 2015 by Peri - the year of VE70 - and is to promote education about the Monument and all it stands for. It is also seeking public recognition for John W Mills and Peri asked for support from the WI for this cause.
Peri then went on to show numerous photographs of people involved in the campaign and outlined the symbolic importance of floral hats.
12 Vote of Thanks Margaret Merrall from the BOT gave the vote of thanks to Peri Langdale on behalf of the meeting.
13 2nd Morning Speaker Kate Willoughby, Actor/Writer of “To Freedom’s Cause” – the story of the Suffragette Emily Davison
Kate started by telling the meeting that she had marched past the Monument on the 4 March 2018 with Helen Pankhurst, the Granddaughter of the Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. She then went on to outline her work as an actor, writer, activist and proud Yorkshire woman.
Her work focuses on Emily Davison and other Suffragists who campaigned for the vote for women. 2018 marks 100 years since some women (aged over 30 and property owners) were allowed to vote. Emily Wilding Davison was born in 1872 on the 11 October, which is now marked as Day of the Girl. She trained to be teacher, but also fought for the rights of ordinary, brave women and for equality for all. She also campaigned for access to good education for girls.
Kate impressed on the meeting the need for women to make use of their vote in order to make sure that others voices are not louder than our own and spoke of the play she wrote and performed in the House of Commons about the Suffragette movement.
Kate then delivered a powerful speech made by Emily Davison which she believes inspires future generations of women.
Finally she explained that the colours on the sashes worn by the suffragettes represented Dignity (Purple), Purity (White) and Hope (Green).
14 Vote of Thanks Anne Harrison from the BOT gave the vote of thanks to Kate Willoughby on behalf of the meeting.
15 3rd Morning Speaker Adele Kendall, Community Safety Officer for North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service.
Adele informed the meeting that she had been a member of the fire service for 26 years and is now predominately involved in community safety. She outlined the difficulties the Fire Service faces in identifying vulnerable people given the area and rural nature of North Yorkshire.
The Safe & Well campaign is run by the fire service and not only looks at the fire safety aspects of a person’s home but also their general wellbeing so that any problems can be flagged up to other agencies in order to keep people safe and in their own home for longer. It covers 5 areas of health: Smoking Cessation, Slips, Trips & Falls, Wellbeing, Loneliness and Mental Health.
The meeting was then shown a video demonstrating the speed with which fire can spread in a house.
Resources within the fire service are stretched and Adele asked whether the WI may be able to help with the initial evaluation of potentially vulnerable people, by making a visit in pairs to homes and completing a simple checklist which may help to identify whether people needed further help in any of the 5 health areas.
16 Vote of Thanks Carol Ambler from the BOT gave the vote of thanks to Adele Kendall on behalf of the meeting.
17 The meeting broke for lunch between 12.40pm and 1.40pm.
18 Welcome to the Afternoon The Chairman welcomed everyone to the afternoon session, hoped they had all enjoyed their lunch and were now looking forward to our afternoon speaker.
19 Presentation of Certificates and Awards WI Anniversaries Ripon Centre 90 Years Grantley & Winksley 90 Years Spofforth 90 Years West Witton 90 Years Upper Nidderdale 90 Years Sharow 90 Years Scriven 90 Years Marske in Swaledale 85 Years Roecliffe 85 Years Glusburn & Crosshills 70 Years Fearby & Healey 70 Years Bishop Thornton & Shaw Mills 70 Years Sutton in Craven 65 Years Skipton with Stirton & Thorlby 55 Years Embsay with Eastby 25 Years
A number of members were presented with certificates for 50 years or more continuous service.
Kathleen Bird Award – Fearby & Healey WI (East Witton 2nd, Barnoldswick Buttercups 3rd and Highly commended for various other WI’s) Norah Worth Award – Victoria Fattorini, Rylstone & District WI Federation Rose Bowl – Glasshouses WI Ellen Pullen Award – Hampsthwaite WI Anne Martin Award – Joy Rayden, Masham WI
Lynne Swift from Durham Federations who had judged the programmes this year was presented with a plant in appreciation of her help. She said a few words outlining the quality of this year’s entries and what she looked for in the programmes: Good presentation, date, time and venue, contact details, competitions, speakers, who is to give the vote of thanks, words of Jerusalem, Federation & National information, hostesses and the costs of subs for members and visitors.
20 Afternoon Speaker Julian Norton, The Yorkshire Vet addressed the meeting with anecdotes from his life as a vet and the filming of his television series. He then invited questions from the members.
21 Vote of Thanks Liz Whapples gave the vote of thanks to Julian Norton
22 200 Club Draw, Denman Dip, Denman Bursaries, Raffle
200 Club Winners: £100 prize – No. 214 K M Smith – Masham WI £50 prize – No. 180 J Overend – Aiskew WI £25 prize – No 78 Grace Mc Gonnigal – Ingleborough WI
Denman Dip Jean Maxwell – Gargrave (Reserve: Liz Eveson – Ingleborough)
NYWFWI Bursary for Denman (£300) Kettlewell & District WI (Reserve: Aiskew WI)
Raffle – this was drawn
23 Chairman’s Closing Remarks Thanks were given to: Harrogate Rascals WI for running the raffle The Board of Trustees for their support Pamela Rudd, Sue Earl Armstrong and Cynthia Kent for stewarding Denise Morell for the flowers Matthew Stoney for the photos The Federation Secretary and the Finance Assistant for their support Peri Langdale, Kate Willoughby, Adele Kendall & Julian Norton Representatives from the neighbouring Federations and past Chairmen Husband of BOT members and their families!
The Chairman then wished all the ladies going on the Denman trip a nice time and that she looked forward to seeing people at the AGM in Cardiff.
24 Announcement of Next Year’s Spring Council Meeting There is to be an Autumn Meeting this year, with details to be confirmed. Next Year’s Spring Council meeting will be held at Tennants on Wednesday 10th April 2019.
25 Thanks to the Chairman Given by Heather Stoney
26 National Anthem
27 Close of meeting
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 3.35pm.