John Vigar - Sex and Mayhem in English Churches.

At our  W.I. meeting this month,  held at The Village Hall, Ditchingham on 14th November, we had an insight by John Vigar  on Murder, Sex and Mayhem in English Churches.

Our members throughly enjoyed the talk with much laughter as John took us through sitting in a old churches while soaking up the peaceful atmosphere our eyes sometimes alight on images or stories that are far more violent! Medieval wall paintings depicting the martyrdom of the saints; memorials and carvings showing violent murders, accidents and bizarre events and, surprisingly, blatantly sexual images warning us against carnal lust.
This fascinating and often amusing lecture opens our eyes to the wealth of detail to to found in our medieval churches and you will never look at them in the same way again.

John was our last speaker for 2018, all our members have enjoyed a wonderful year celebrating 100 years of Ditchingham WI which included outings, celebration meals and a excellent all round years programme. 

Our next meeting is on 12th December . This will be our Christmas Lunch.

Our meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at Ditchingham Village Hall at 2.30pm.  We are a fun group of ladies, who like a laugh & are very friendly.  Why don't you come & give us a try if you are feeling lonely.  Its better than a tonic!

Pam Cooper

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Open birthday meeting. 100 years celebration.

This is the year Ditchingham WI celebrates its 100th birthday. One such event was an ‘open meeting’ on Wednesday 8th August inviting 60 odd guests from other W.Is. We had a welcoming drink and  superb sponge Birthday cake was made,  we were delighted having received a letter of congratulations from the queen. We had an amusing story teller, Mark Mitchel, followed by scrumptious cakes and sandwiches and excellent raffle prizes. All in all everyone had a wonderful time. We are a small, relaxed and happy friendly bunch of ladies. Why not give us a Try, come and join us if you are feeling lonely.  We meet once a month on the second Wednesday at 2:30 in the Ditchingham Village Hall why not come along to our meeting in October when we have Marco Cartoonist we would love to see you join us as a guest to see if you enjoy our meeting.  Pam Lack

Tree with all members names celebrating 100 years for Ditchingham WI

Centenary Tree made by several of our members for 2018.

Membership Subscription for 2019

Subscription 2019

The NFWI Board of Trustees has set the membership subscription for 2019 at £42.00. The WI share will increase by 50p, the federation share by 50p and there will be no increase to the NFWI share.   

The distribution of the 2019 subscription will be:

Total subscription 2019	WI share	Federation share	NFWI share
£42.00	£20.50	£9.80	£11.70

Payments are due from members in January 2019.


Pro-rata subscription for new members in their first year

New members joining the WI in 2019 for the first time, or who have not previously been a member of any WI in the past 10 years, will pay a pro-rata subscription depending on the quarter in which they join. The rate per quarter and the distribution are shown in the following table.

Date of joining 2019	Total subscription	WI share	Federation share	NFWI share
1 Jan-31 March	£42.00	£20.50	£9.80	£11.70
1 April-30 June	£31.50	£15.38	£7.35	£8.77
1 July-30 Sept	£21.00	£10.25	£4.90	£5.85
1 Oct-31 Dec	£10.50	£5.13	£2.45	£2.92

Centenary Dinner

       5 Women's Institute's celebrated 100years  at Park Farm Hethersett on Wednesday July 25th

                       Barnham Broom, Ditchingham, Hardingham, Hethersett and Hingham.


                                                      Members of Ditchingham  WI

Ditchingham Women's Institute Formation 1st August 1918. OUR CENTENARY YEAR.

Below is a extract taken from 1915, today the WI is still going strongly and enjoyed by many.  

Fast forward to 2018 and notice the  cost of a yearly membership in 2018, it is £41:00.  Sounds a lot but you have 11 meetings a year and usual in August a garden party not  so bad when you work it out monthly. 

Each month you receive a WI magazine and most groups give you a monthy book called 'Norfolk WI News'

Report from 1915

The Women’s Institute in England and Wales was born in 1915 at a time of great upheaval. The First World War saw tens of thousands of women drawn into the workforce, both on the land and in the towns. Things were changing for women. The WI’s first biographer wrote that while the Suffragettes had made the pot boil, the WI knew what to get out of the pot. Now, 100 years on, the world has altered dramatically, but the WI remains successful and relevant. 

In the early 20th century, life was hard for country dwellers. An exodus of people to the cities in search of work had left farming bereft. Many farmers had gone bankrupt and unemployment among agricultural labourers was high. This brought great hardship to their dependents. Many communities were underpopulated and impoverished, financially and educationally. 

Although academics had suggested for some time that it would be wise to educate farmers’ wives in order to improve life in the rural villages, it met with little interest until two events coincided. One was the very real prospect of serious food shortages during the First World War; the other was the arrival from Canada of Madge Watt. The world’s first Women’s Institute had been formed in Canada in 1897; and in 1911 Mrs Watt had been a founder member the British Columbia branch. Once in the UK, she campaigned to get the organisation started here, too. 

So a century ago, with support from Bangor University, the UK’s first Women’s Institute opened on Anglesey, in a village with the longest name in Britain but usually known as Llanfairpwll. Once the movement began, there was no stopping it. 

Jo Reynolds. Britains first Fire Woman.

 

The April meeting started with the President Sue Huggins welcoming members and the guest speaker Jo Reynolds.  Birthday posies were given to Maureen, Lynda and Barbara.  The minutes were read and signed.  Reports were given about the County Annual meeting where the Institute received a certificate for its centenary and the Upper Waveney Border Exhibition held at Hempnall Village Hall.  Many members took part and many received top marks for their exhibits and Jenny was congratulated on winning a trophy for her limerick. Jo Reynolds was then introduced - she gave an interesting talk on becoming Britains first Fire Woman.  She was trained at Wymondham and was stationed at Thetford - the men accepted her and treated her no differently even inviting her to stag do’s.   She was thanked for an insight into her brief career as a Fire Woman and then kindly signed her book and gave for the raffle.  Members were asked to be at Broome Village Hall for 12 noon for 12.30 start to celebrate our Centenary with a lunch.

 Our meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at Ditchingham Village Hall at 2.30pm.  We are a fun group of ladies, who like a laugh & are very friendly.  Why don't you come & give us a try if you are feeling lonely.  Its better than a tonic!

Our next meeting in the Village Hall is July. 

Sue H

The Red Barn Murder.

On 14 March at our monthly W.I. Meeting in Ditchingham Village Hall we had a fascinating talk & photos on screen of 'The Red Barn Murder' in Suffolk in 1827.  The year when George IV was King & George Canning was Prime Minister who only lasted in office for 119 days.  

The Red Barn Murder was a notorious murder committed in Polstead, Suffolk in 1827.  A young woman, Maria Marten was shot dead by her lover William Corder.  He was found guilty of murder & hanged at Bury St. Edmunds.

We learned of the family tree & how our speaker, Susan Parry, was the great, great, great niece of Ann Stow, Maria's sister.

We have interesting speakers & are a fun & friendly group of ladies.  Do come & try us if feeling lonely & enjoy a natter over tea & biscuits.

Our meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at Ditchingham Village Hall at 2.30pm.  We are a fun group of ladies, who like a laugh & are very friendly.  Why don't you come & give us a try if you are feeling lonely.  Its better than a tonic!

Our next meeting is on April 11th, our speaker  is Josephine Reynolds - Norfolk First Fire Woman. 

Pam Lack
Blog Editer

Nick Conrad.

At our W.I. Ditchingham monthly open meeting on Wednesday 14th February, inviting other institutes, held at the Village Hall, we had a very entertaining guest speaker, Nick Conrad, from Radio Norfolk.

We had a Valentine's theme by decorating the table & had delicious biscuits &  superb raffle prizes.  

Our meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at Ditchingham Village Hall at 2.30pm.  We are a fun group of ladies, who like a laugh & are very friendly.  Why don't you come & give us a try if you are feeling lonely.  Its better than a tonic!

Our next meeting is on March 14th  the speaker is Susan Perry - The Red Barn Murder.

Pam Lack

Norfolk. Blood Bikers.

Our 2018 programme began with a humorous & serious talk with snatches of video from two volunteers  from the Norfolk Blood Bikers. This is a charity run by all volunteers giving their time freely, with no government funding, & rely on donations, who transport blood, plasma, platelets, samples & donor breast milk to hospitals. They have a monthly rota & run a 365 day/night  service. They are the unsung heroes giving the highest service imaginable to the hospitals.

Its Ditchingham's W.I. centenary year.  We have a superb monthly programme on offer on the second Wednesday at 2.30 pm in the Village Hall.

If you feel  like joining us, for a happy afternoon, fun & friendship through out the year our meetings are held on the 2nd  Wednesday of every month at 2.30 pm in Ditchingham Village Hall.  Why not give us a try if you are feeling lonely.

Our next meeting on February 14th is Nick Conrad - please note this meeting will start at 2pm.

Pam