In May, The East Leake WI welcomed back Linda Davey from Nottinghamshire Federation to lead the Annual Meeting and Resolution Debate. This is the chance for the members to have their say and contribute to the business and campaigning side of the WI.
The group have enjoyed a full programme of monthly meetings, events and activities this WI year as well as welcoming a variety of excellent speakers to our monthly meetings who were well received by members and a large number of visitors.
Last year we ran a Water or Wine stall at the East Leake May Fayre but this year we launched a new “Human Fruit Machine” which was popular and a lot of fun! These events have given us the opportunity to meet local residents, promote our WI and raise funds.
Social events have included trips to see “Pretty Woman” and Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at the Theatre Royal Nottingham as well as a backstage tour of the premises. Many cinema trips have been arranged, most notably Bridget Jones – Mad About the Boy as well as many sociable outings, the most recent being a tour of the Bell Foundry at Loughborough. These events are in addition to our monthly meals out and refreshment and chat sessions in local cafés.
After the usual reports, Linda Davey led the elections which saw 7 of our existing committee members being voted back in as well as 3 new members. Denise Graham was then re-elected President for 2025/6.
The resolution for this year is “Bystanders can be Lifesavers” It calls upon WI members to work together to increase public confidence and training in the delivery of CPR and to work with local organisations to help to improve access to defibrillators in their communities.
After some discussion and input from members around the fact that early CPR and defibrillating can more than double the chances of survival, our members voted unanimously for the resolution to be supported. This decision will be taken by our delegate to the National Annual Meeting in June. WI Resolutions are a call for change on a current issue in society and if this resolution is adopted it will go on to form the basis of a WI campaign and join the many issues that WI members have successfully campaigned on over the past 100 years.
After the business of the meeting members enjoyed wine and social time. There was also the chance to view photos depicting the past year’s events and activities and the chance to sign up for this month’s gatherings.
The next monthly meeting is on Tuesday 10th June at 7.30pm in the village hall on Main Street, when we will be welcoming Richard Arter for a hands on Steel Band Experience and on Tuesday 8th July we will be finding out about the History. Mystery, Facts and Myths about Playing Cards.
Our new programme of speakers is now available on our page on the village website https://east-leake.co.uk/east-leake-womens-institute/ or look out for our new posters on the village noticeboards and outside the library.
New to the village or been here a while? Why not come along as a visitor, enjoy a pleasant evening and join in and find out more about us. For further information please contact our Membership Secretary, Carolyn Barnett, on [email protected].