CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN:

Another month has flown by and the next few weeks are set to be busy, firstly with Carrington Steam Rally and then with the Lincolnshire Show – both good showcases for the WI.

I was pleased to be able to take part in one of the ACWW walks. We didn’t walk the world, but we did walk a good part of Willingham Woods. It is amazing how you can be near a main road and yet in the middle of the woods, all you can hear is the birdsong. It was a lovely, relaxing morning and thanks go to my walking companion Anne Crawforth, the president of Rase WI, who raised more than £100 in sponsorship.

At the beginning of May, I attended an Army Engagement event at The Epic Centre on Lincolnshire Showground. It was a very interesting evening, showing how the army
works within the community – especially over the past two years, providing vital support during the covid pandemic and with the vaccinations.

The event was also encouraging businesses to give staff time off for Army reserve duties.
I am not sure how our Federation can engage with the Army – maybe an army assault course……… could be interesting.

As always, take care, and I look forward to seeing you at the Lincolnshire Show.

Take care. Dianne
Chairman of Lincolnshire North Federation of WIs

Inside the July Newsletter

Page 2: Chairman’s column
Page 3: Murder Most Novel
Page 4: Walk the World, Denman, Resolutions
Page 5: Ladies of Lincolnshire Lunches, 50-50 draw results
Page 6 : Around the Federation
Page 7: Forthcoming events
Page 8: Events Calendar

CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN:

I don’t know about you, but I have had a fantastic month – although the year does seem to be flying by.

It started with the annual meeting in Skegness. We have received some very positive feedback – both about the morning session and, of course, our afternoon speaker Amanda Owen. Wasn’t she fantastic?

It was lovely to also have Amanda present the many WI anniversary certificates and membership certificates.

Thanks go to everyone who helped make the event happen and who helped on the day.
We had some unclaimed raffle prizes at the end of the day. The numbers were sent out to WI secretaries, so please check.

One of the WIs collecting their 100th anniversary certificate was Skellingthorpe WI and I was delighted to be able to join them for their celebration party on April 6.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend Binbrook & District WI’s 75th birthday bash the following evening, but my fellow trustee Maria Scott went along and said what a good evening it was.

It was a pleasure to put on my WI adviser ‘hat’ and attend Revesby & Mareham WI’s annual meeting – a very friendly group of women, who provide delicious cake too.

I was delighted to be invited to Tetney WI’s daffodil show and present the awards to the very talented entrants. This was a dry run for the Federation Springtime Extravaganza two days later, which was another fantastic event, with thanks to all who helped organise the event and helped on the day too. The hall was a blast of colour and the judges were very impressed with the quality of entries. Such was the success of the day, it is already pencilled in for 2023 – so look out for more details later in the year.

Finally, things are now moving fast on the Lincolnshire Show front, so I hope you are all planning your entries. It is great to be working with our friends at Lincolnshire South this year and we hope the event will be a wonderful showcase for our fantastic organisation – but we can’t do it without you.

As always, take care. Dianne.
Chairman of Lincolnshire North Federation of WIs

Inside the May Newsletter

Page 2: Chairman’s column
Page 3: Resolutions
Page 4: Space Centre visit
Page 5: Murder review & Treasurer update
Page 6 & 7: Annual Meeting pictures
Page 8 & 9: Spring show results & pics
Page 10 & 11: Around the Federation news
Page 12: Events Diary

CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN:

By the time you read this, the annual meeting in Skegness will have happened, but as is the way with these things, the WI News had to be ‘put to bed’ in advance. So, fingers crossed it all went well and the next edition will have more about it.

I have been pleased to be able to get out and about once again to visit WIs, both in my role as Federation Chairman and as WI adviser.

Sadly, some visits have been to suspend WIs who felt they could not continue as they were unable to form a committee.

In contrast, a highlight of the past month has been a visit to Nocton & District WI, where members show a real ‘can do’ attitude. They have a lot going on and are very much part of the community. Every time there was a request for a volunteer to do something, someone agreed to do it. It makes life so much easier, doesn’t it, if everyone does their bit and helps spread the load.

I am very honoured to have been elected as chairman once again and, hopefully, I can really begin to do the role justice and visit many more WIs and look forward to welcoming members to even more events.

This year, we will be back at Carrington and also at the Lincolnshire Show, which we are doing with our friends at Lincolnshire South.

A reminder that the theme is as it was for 2020: ‘Into the Woods’.

I hope you have all been looking at your schedules and planning your combined entries and individual entries.

Schedules were sent to WI secretaries last year, but if they have gone astray, please request another one from the office, as the deadline for entries is fast approaching.
Also fast approaching is our Spring Extravaganza on April 9.

This is the first time we have done this event, so please come along and support it.
If you don’t want to enter anything, then drop in to see other people’s entries and stay to enjoy a cuppa and some cake.

The events committee has been busy preparing a fantastic range of events for 2022 and are now turning their focus to 2023.

So if you have a burning desire to do an activity or make a visit to somewhere, let them know and it may be possible to incorporate it into the programme – ideas are always welcome.

Or if you are interested in organising things yourself, why not become one of the events team?

Take care. Dianne
Chairman of Lincolnshire North Federation of WIs

Inside the April Newsletter

Page 2: Chairman’s column & 50/50 winners
Page 3: Waddow Hall & Carrington Events
Page 4 Speakers showcase, Croquet & Gunby Hall Garden
Page 5: Resolutions, WI Shop, Flower Show
Page 6 & 7: Around the Federation News
Page 8: Forthcoming Events calendar

CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN:

It is three years since we held an in person annual meeting at Skegness and I know many of you are looking forward to coming along and hearing our speaker Amanda Owen – The Yorkshire Shepherdess.

It will also be a time to catch up on what has been happening over the past two years and hear about what is planned for the future.

As part of the annual meeting, we want to have a photo gallery from our WIs, so please send in no more than three pictures to represent what your WI has been up to. Email the pictures to lincsnorthwi@gmail.com before Wednesday, March 16, please.

We will also be giving out membership and WI certificates. So if your WI is marking an anniversary this year (or has since our last Skegness meeting, but you haven’t received a certificate) please let our federation secretary Sue know as soon as possible. We already have some members who are celebrating their 70th and 75th anniversary of membership – amazing!

A reminder please that any donations for our fundraising tombola can be brought to the Skegness meeting too.

There will also be a raffle, the ‘Enterprise Stall’ with some lovely new stock, the popular paper quiz and a Federation Flutter.

See you there
Dianne
Chairman of Lincolnshire North Federation of WIs

Inside the March Newsletter

Page 2: Chairman’s column, Waddow Hall
Page 3: Upcoming events,
Page 4 & 5: Around the Federation news
Page 6 & 7: More upcoming events & 50/50 draw results
Page 8: 2022 programme and booking details

CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN:

Hello everyone – and a Happy New Year. Let’s hope 2022 is more ‘settled’ than the previous two years.

It was lovely to be able to attend some seasonal celebrations with some of you in December and I am looking forward to meeting up with more of you in the coming months.

Looking ahead, our events committee is planning a varied year of activities and we also have our Federation Weekend at Waddow to look forward to.

There is also the Lincolnshire Show – and you could say it is third time lucky for us to go ‘Into the Woods’. Schedules are in your WIs and we hope as many as possible will enter the show classes.

Ahead of that, there is a new venture for the Federation – the Springtime Extravaganza – which is something else to look forward to.

At this event, we will be holding a tombola and any donations of items for this will be gratefully received. They can be dropped off at WI House or brought to the Annual Meeting at Skegness, where there will be a box for donations to be placed into.

Also to assist federation funds, by avoiding bank charges, it would help greatly if when making any payments for events etc, this is done via bank transfer. Please make sure when doing so, that your surname and the reason for payment (ie: Smith: snowdrops) is put as the reference. This helps allocate your payment and ensure your place is booked.

However, don’t worry if you are not able to do this; cheques and cash will still be accepted.

That is all for now.

Hope to see lots of you at the Skegness meeting

Dianne
Chairman of Lincolnshire North Federation of WIs

Inside the February Newsletter

Page 2: Chairman’s column #showthelove
Page 3: Resolutions & December 50/50
Page 4: Upcoming events
Page 5 and 6: Federation weekend at Waddow Hall
Page 7 & 8: Waddow Hall application form
Page 9: Spring Extravaganza
Page 10: Around the Federation
Page 11: Viking Way Scarf distribution
Page 12: Events

CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN:

I fear I am repeating myself when I say, ‘well, what a year’.

To say it has been challenging is an understatement, but WIs are meeting once again and that is something we can be grateful for.

The friendships forged through our meetings is invaluable and has continued to shine through as we have dealt with the change in the ways we have all been living our lives.

I know we are all grateful to our WI committee members who have kept everyone informed – and I add my personal thanks to them for volunteering their time to organise meetings and pass on information from the Federation and our national office.

I also take this opportunity to thank the Federation volunteers – trustees, WI advisers and members of the events committee, who have all been working hard to get things going again.

Lots of activities are planned for 2022 and we hope there will be something for everyone to enjoy. But as we always say, we want to hear what you – the members – would like to do, so please get in touch.

Finally, thanks to our Federation secretary Sue who keeps everything going in the office and I know she has been pleased to see the events taking place once more, meaning she is kept busy with bookings.

So as we close the door on 2021, we look forward to what will hopefully be a happier and brighter year.

Martin Luther King Jr said: “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

We must all move forward and working together we can do just that.

There is a lot to look forward to and I am looking forward to meeting up with more of you.

Until then, I wish you all a very happy festive season and New Year

Dianne
Chairman of Lincolnshire North Federation of WIs

Inside the Dec/Jan Newsletter

Page 2: Chairman’s column
Page 3: Murder order form and knitting count up
Page 4 & 5: Around the Federation
Page 6: Notices of events
Page 7: Resolution round up & 50/50 draw
Page 8: Upcoming events

Click here to view or download the full Dec/Jan issue as a PDF