ME, MYSELF & WI

Details of this year’s Me, Myself and WI.

The objective of this activity is to encourage members to take time to look at their own mental health and physical health and general wellbeing, making time to put themselves first and recognise ways in which they can make small adjustments to their daily life and to help improve their understanding of the importance of taking care of their mind and body.  We feel strongly that the objectives of Me, Myself and WI fit beautifully in support and recognition of the National Mental Health Awareness week, starting on the 9 May 2022.  As such, Me, Myself and WI will offer a week of activities to encourage members to take a step out of their normal routine and take some time to focus on themselves and their wellbeing.

Please find attached an advert which gives an outline of the week plus the Me, Myself and WI logo, which will be used during the lead up to and throughout the week, so that members can easily associate activities with the event. 

Activities will include: 

  • 10 Minutes of Mindfulness daily recordings. 
  • Information from the Met Police on online fraud, sexual consent and drink spiking. 
  • Mindfulness colouring pages
  • Updated Watchlist 
  • Craft projects
  • Cookery projects

Faberdashery

For those that went to or have heard of Denman’s Faberdashery Sale Days, a lot of the donated items that used to raise money for Denman were given to charity when Denman closed. However, there are many items that were packed away and stored for future sales and have been stored by Botley WI in Botley WI Hall, North Hinksey Lane, Botley, Oxford, OX2 OLT. The space is now needed as face-to-face meetings are happening so there is to be a sale scheduled for 26th March 2022 from 10:00 – 15:00 if you want to grab yourself a bargain. No need to book, just turn up and see what is on offer.  Enquiries should be directed to Alison Jenner, President – alisonjenner@yahoo.com . 

Centenary Banner Challenge

We were asked by the Middlesex Federation of Women’s Institutes to contribute to the new Centenary Banner. The brief was to provide a small ‘patch’ that would depict our activities at the North West London WI. Alison came up with a wonderful design and then Penny did most of the work, with others contributing elements that could be incorporated in the finished product.

These photos show the progress of the banner. It includes reference to local landmarks (including Wembley Stadium and the Neasden Temple) as well as all our activities – see if you can identify them all!

And here’s the finished product!!

Chelsea College of Art and the WI

Note from Penny on her experience of the BA Textiles Student Project:

BA Textiles Student Project

November 2020 to March 2021

This was a joint project between the WI’s National Public Affairs and Denman teams, and the University of the Arts London Chelsea College site.

Preliminary information came out in November, and I submitted an application which asked for my experience and interest in work with textiles. We weren’t asked to submit any previous work.

There was an initial briefing in early December, and then it kicked off in February.

Spread over 5 weeks, it was a very interesting experience, if sometimes baffling. There were 19 different virtual events over that time; varying from simple online chats with some of the more than 90 other WI participants, to tutorials with hands-on opportunities, lectures, and presentations from Chelsea’s internal staff and visiting lecturers. These were delivered over 3 different platforms, Zoom for WI meetings, Microsoft Teams for meetings with Chelsea staff & students, and Blackboard for lectures. These were not always successful, I spent half of one presentation trying to see anything other than a fellow WI member eating her lunch apparently unaware her camera was on.

From the students’ perspective the purpose was to introduce them to

“…professional communication of design strategies. Understanding your audience and how to communicate your ideas clearly is a fundamental skill in design.”

As I understood it, the WI was a quasi-client for design responses to the issues identified in our Resolutions. At the same time WI Members were encouraged to engage in a similar reactive process within their own personal practice.

The presentations I did watch were all very interesting and provoked ideas. We were allocated a small group to support a small group of students, but they did not all engage. The other WI members in my group had active textile skills and knowledge and “our” one student was very talented and enthusiastic. I am part of a Creative Embroidery evening class, and our tutor Isabel Dodd is from Chelsea and is this student’s tutor so we had another common experience.

Finally, all the work of members and students has been collated into an on line exhibition :-

https://app.emaze.com/@AOQROTOCQ/chelsea-college-of-arts-virtual-exhibition?fullscreen&redaolon

AFGHANISTAN

As an organisation the WI is very concerned about the plight of women and girls in/from Afghanistan

Members who wish to support calls for the UK government to take action can do the following:

  • Sign this petition which calls for a range of actions to protect the freedom of Afghan women and girls https://chng.it/fzwCFYZ5vw
  • Write to their MP asking them to push the government for action to support women and girls. A draft letter you can send to your MP is attached to this email.

We are aware that many members will also want to take practical action to support refugees who have been resettled in the UK. We have therefore collated a list of organisations working in this field that are asking for support from the public. This list can be found at the following link:

https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/news-and-events/take-action-on-afghanistan

Useful Anti Spam Contacts

NatWest Security centre – available for our customers and non-customers
natwest.com/security

Friends Against Scams website – headed by the National Trading Standards Scams Team

www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk

Report the scam to Action fraud:

0300 123 2040 or via their online reporting tool at  www.actionfraud.police.uk You can also forward suspicious or nuisance text messages to 7726

The “Little Book of Big Scams (version 5)” is a fantastic booklet written by the Police Service in conjunction with other expert organisations and is available at www.met.police.uk

Get Safe On Line – the UK’s leading source of unbiased, factual and easy to understand information on online safety www.getsafeonline.org

National Cyber Security Centre is the UK’s independent authority on cyber security www.ncsc.gov.uk  

The 10 minute “Become A Friend Against Scams” video available on YouTube https://youtu.be/r-DsFRKacRA

More Helpful Documents To Download From Nat West Bank