From Uni to international Netball Umpire.

Our meeting today, the first of the New Year, included a talk by a young man named Gary Burgess, talking about his career journey whose dream passion was to play sport for England, but didn't quite make it & then trained  as a  PE teacher & became deputy head for 3 yrs in Bedfordshire & then came to Norfolk, decided to change his career & now is an International Netball Umpire & now, believe it or not, is liaising with our Federation to set up 'walking netball' teams.  Anything to try & keep us fit!  Well, we did have a laugh.

 We are a small, relaxed & happy friendly bunch of ladies.  Why not give us a try, come & 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 February when we have Maria Pennington - Pearls are my passion., we would love to see you join us as a guest to see if you enjoy our meeting.

We can also be contacted via our blog at ditchinghamwi@gmail

Pam Lack

Press Editor. 

Ditchinghams AGM 2016

The November meeting was the last time we meet at the Village Hall this year.  It has been a very busy year for the WI in its 98th year.  We have had some good talks 
Including a Experience of a Paramedic, Jenny gave a very interesting on how she came to live in a rual village in Turkey and Helens very warm and funny talk about her love of cows which has resulted in her setting up a business called Wavaney Dexter Beef. 

For our final meeting of the year we will all be going out for a Christmas meal.  At the November meeting we also held our AGM as all committee members were standing again everything stays the same.  On a personal note Sue our President said she would like to thank all the members for helping her through the year. Sue added we are now looking forward to our 99th year.

Our January meeting on the 11th is Gary Burgess - From Uni student to international Netball Umpire Competition. 

Our W.I.  meetings which are on the second Wednesday of every month are very informal.  

Interested? Why not come along as a guest on the second Wednesday in the month at 2:30pm in the village hall, we would love to see you. You can also  contact us by email at the following address:

ditchinghamwi@gmail.com

Press Blog Editor

Pam Lack.

   Talk by Helen Reeves - My love of cows. 

We had our monthly W.I. meeting on Wednesday 12th October  held at Ditchingham Village Hall.  Our speaker was Helen Reeve who is behind Waveney Dexter Beef.  Helen gave us a very interesting light hearted talk about achieving her child hood dream of working with cows.

Helen Reeves  is a determined young woman. Not one

to give up in the face of adversity, she fought hard to build a successful business
without land or capital. And she did it all from just one heifer.
“I knew from the age of 11 that I was going to work on a farm of some sort, preferably with cows,” said
Helen whose passion for the animal came from helping her dad count the heifers on the marshes when she was younger. “my parents tried to put me off the idea of farming but when I dug my heels in they were very supportive.”
so supportive that they bought Helen her first Dexter heifer when she was just 14, which has kick-started her herd of Waveney Dexters – named after the nearby Waveney river. Helen now has a miniature breed of 38 pedigree Dexter cows, chosen she says because she is only 5ft1 herself, and is hoping to sell the beef in the Waveney Valley and beyond. “Dexter beef has quite a unique taste and texture,” said Helen.

It’s that enterprising spirit that has earned Helen two awards so far – the Chris lewis Award in 2009 that came with £3,000 prize money and last year she picked up the Norfolk Young Farmers’ Clubs’ Growing Business Award and a £5,000 cheque.

“To get recognised is quite an achievement and something I’m proud of but it has all been hard work, blood, sweat and tears. 

Our. December meeting is a Christmas meal for members only. 

Our W.I.  meetings which are on the second Wednesday of every month are very informal.  

Interested? Why not come along as a guest on the second Wednesday in the month at 2:30pm in the village hall 

Press Blog Editor

Pam Lack.

   Claire Richards - From Nun to Mum to UNICEF

We had our monthly W.I. meeting on Wednesday 13 July held at Ditchingham Village Hall.  Our speaker, Claire Richards, gave us an interesting, serious, talk on her life. She was madly keen on sport & became a P.E. teacher, becoming a nun which wasn't her father's wishes.  Marrying a priest, then adopting baby Colombian twins, then becoming a volunteer for UNICEF.  We had light hearted banter with our tea & biscuits afterwards.

Our next speaker will be Talking about the "Petting Zoo" on Sept  14th.

Our W.I.  meetings which are on the second Wednesday of every month are very informal.  

Interested? Why not come along as a guest on the second Wednesday in the month at 2:30pm in the village hall 

Press Blog Editor

Pam Lack.

June 8th - Ann Newmeir. 

W.I.Ditchingham had a real treat on Wednesday afternoon.  Our speaker was Ann Newmeir on holiday humour 'My suitcase, my patience and Him'  She kept us in fits of laughter  with packing a case of medicenes & things just in case, including 2 toilet rolls!.  It was a delightful/amusing/hilarious talk on her holiday antics abroad on land & stories about her many cruises.  She displayed more than 25 caps from different destinations & showed us a gorgeous display of table clothes she had collected.  Why not come & join us.  We are a friendly bunch of ladies & you will be made to feel welcome.

We have tea/biscuits, & the meeting is light hearted & nothing too serious. The get together is on the 2nd Wed  of the month at  2.30pm at the Ditchingham Village Hall.

       
           Pam Lark
           Blog Press Officer

May 11th. John Newmeir - Experience of a Paramedic.

We had a relaxed & pleasant Wednesday afternoon at our Ditchingham W.I. village hall monthly meeting whereby our speaker, John Newmeir, gave us a talk on 'Experiences of a Paramedic'.

Well his stories weren't at all what one might expect to see on T.V. , but 'the other stories' that are 90% comical & true which were amusing, hilarious & making us all laugh.    A real tonic for us ladies.  We ended having tea & biscuits & a good old natter  together.  If you feel lonely, why not come along.  Only once a month.  We are a truly friendly bunch of women.  Next month John's wife, Ann is speaking on 'holiday humour' my suitcase my patients and him.  Should be funny.  
Interested? Why not come along as a guest on the second Wednesday in the month at 2:30pm in the village hall Ditchingham.

Pam Lark
Blog Press officer.

Jenny Gibbs - April 13th.

Our speaker today was Jenny Gibbs dressed in traditional clothes as a Turkish lady from the Rural village she lives in.
Jennys life in her rural Turkish village is full of humour and packed with unusual and surprising stories of a culture so different from our own.  Embarking on her new life of adventure at the age of fifty, meeting the man of her dreams, Jennys talk trace her arrival in her village in 1994 through to the present day. 

Setting up home in the village and buying an ancient farmhouse in desperate need of restoration, Jenny quickly became an integral part of this close-knit community, where time seemed to have stood still, but which is now on the cusp of change. She arrived just in time to experience this age-old culture before the inevitable change occurred.
The Hills around Jenny' village  are smothered in olive tress, millions upon millions, some hundreds, even thousands of years old, pickers line the road verges making their way to their particular groves, donkeys and mules picking their way behind. 

Every man over forty wears an old suit jacket and every woman, of whatever age, wears colourful (enormously) baggy pantaloons. The olive groves, for the most part unploughed for centuries, are havens of wild flowers. In February anemones carpet every grove in a riot of rainbow colours, when they finished they are replaced by snowdrifts of  daisies and endless blush pink asphodels, with their tall, spiky flower 

Jenny also brought along with her various embroidery and handicrafts for sale after the meeting which had been made in the traditional way.

Jenny still lives in her beloved village and farmhouse, but she spends a few months each year in England.

Our next speaker will be John Newmeir on May 11th, Experiences of a Paramedic. Our W.I.  meetings which are on the second Wednesday of every month are very informal.  Why not come & give it a try.  We are a friendly bunch with young at heart ladies.

Pam Cooper for Pam Lack.
Blog Press officer.

Sent from my iPad

March 9th - Georgette Vale - Julian and Margery

Our speaker today was Georgette Vale dressed as Julian of Norwich, born 8.11.1342 who was an English anchoress & an  important Christian mystic.  Her Revelations of Divine Love, written around 1395, is the 1st book in the English language known to have been written by a woman.

A quick change & our speaker was then dressed as Margery Kempe, born 1373 in Norfolk who was an English Christian mystic, known for dictating the Book of Margery Kempe a work considered by some to be the 1st autobiography in the English language.

The talk was well executed, but slightly controversial.

Our next speaker will be Jenny Gibbs on April 13th, the subject is 

Renovating a Farmhouse and running a B& B in Turkey.

Pam Lark
Blog Press officer.

Our own Pam - Concorde.

Our W.I.  meetings which are on the second Wednesday of every month are very informal.  Why not come & give it a try.  We are a friendly bunch with young at heart ladies.

  Our own Pam gave a very interesting & amusing at times, talk on Concorde.  A 36 hr trip to New York & back she had won for 2 in a  competition way back in 1997. She told of  her excitement on boarding Concorde, the acceleration from a standing start was so exhilarating & the engine afterburners cutting in thrust the aircraft through the sound barrier.  

The trip included a  sightseeing tour & found a few minutes to shop before staying in a 5 * hotel in Time Square & seeing Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.  It all sounded exhausting, but she was 20 yrs younger then!  

Our next speaker will be Georgette Vale on March 9th, the subject is Julian and Margery.

Pam Lack.

          Blog Press officer.

Mark Mower - Crime on the Home Front.

January 2016 meeting.

Our WI announces  with great sadness the loss of  one of our dear friends and member to cancer.  Although she had been ill for a while she had remained positive and strong until the end. 

A New Year has come round again.  Why not come & join us, a happy, relaxed, friendly & lucky bunch of ladies who enjoy an interesting speaker, chatting over a cuppa & winning raffle prizes!  At our last Xmas Waveney group fun event at Haddiscoe we won 8 out of 10 prizes!

             

Our first speaker of the year was a Mr Mark Mower,  who has left us speechless again, on his interesting talk on 'crime on the home front' during our two world wars.  Contrary to popular opinion all crime flourishes during war time.  To illustrate  you might wish to watch the series on T.V.  Foyles War.

Do make sure you come along to our meeting on February 10th  as one of our members is delighting us with her experience of Concord.

Why not come along as a guest to see if you enjoy our meeting, you will always be welcome.

Pam Lack

Blog Press Officer

2017 Subscription Rates.

2017 subscription rates announced

• The NFWI Board of Trustees has set the membership subscription for 2016 at £37.50
• £19 of the subscription is kept by your WI, £8.80 will go to your federation and £11.20 will go to the NFWI
• Subscriptions are due in January 2017. The WI subscription year runs from January to December
• New members joining the WI for the first time, i.e. 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 is shown in the following table
   
  

  Date of joining	Total subscription due
  1 Jan - 31 Mar	£39.00
  1 Apr - 30 Jun	£29. 25
  1 Jul - 30 Sep	£19.50
  1 Oct - 31 Dec	£9.75

   
• WI members can belong to more than one WI, by paying the full membership fee to the first WI, and a further £19 to any additional WIs at any time of the year. There is no pro-rata rate for dual membership
• Each WI holds a minimum of eleven meetings each year and all members can contribute ideas to the annual programme of speakers, activities and events
• WI Members will receive eight copies per year of the WI membership magazine, WI Life and be able to access resources and information on the website and the WI Moodle. WIs are also kept up to date with news by regular mailings from the NFWI
• Federations also keep members informed about the wide variety of activities they offer to members regionally

We hope that you will enjoy your membership of the WI and all that it offers

This information can also be download as a PDF document here.

- See more at: https://www.thewi.org.uk/media-centre/news-and-events/current-news-and-events/2016-subscription-rates-announced#sthash.9tOU75Ob.dpuf

Xmas Lunch held at Beauchamp Arms, Langley.

December we enjoyed a superb Xmas lunch with a glass or two of wine at the Beauchamp Arms in the company of the lovely ladies of Ditchingham WI, once again santa visited with a pressy and card.

Our next meeting is at 'The Village Hall' from 2:30pm until 4:30 on January 13th 2016 where we meet on the 2nd Wednesday of every month. We are a very relaxed and friendly group so please come along where you would be made most welcome and enjoy our guest speaker Mark Mower with us talking about 'Murder & Mystery' ho ho ho, should be a good talk.

Pam Lack.

Ditchingham AGM

DITCHINGHAM WI

The November meeting was the last time we meet at the Village Hall this year.  It has been a very busy year for the WI in its 97th year.  We have had some good talks including 3D fabric flowers, a talk by the Dogs Trust, an Antiques Roadshow and an amusing talk by a Tourist Information Officer.  We have tried our hands at a Decoupage workshop and all took home a decorated flowerpot and finally in November had a holly wreath making demonstration.  We entertained several other institutes for our August Meeting where Nick Conrad from Radio Norfolk entertained over 100 members and guests.  For the WI Centenary we went to Earsham Hall for a guided tour followed by afternoon tea - we were all thoroughly spoilt.  For our final meeting of the year we will all be going to Beauchamp Arms Langley for our Carvery Christmas meal.  At the November meeting we also held a brief AGM as all committee members were standing again so everything stays the same.  On a personal note I would like to thank all the members for helping me through this year - but we still seem to have been active!!! We are now looking forward to our 98th year.

Sue Huggins - President.

Our Visit to Earsham Hall in September 2015.

2015 saw every branch of the Womens Insitute celebrate 100 years.  Many different events were planned for this great birthday event.
Thanks to our President Sue all members at Ditchingham celebrated by a visit to Earsham Hall. We were welcomed on arrival by our  guide Annibel who gave us tea and coffee in the lovely entrance hall and gave us the history of the owners through the years.

The tour was approx 2 hours and was really interesting, we then enjoyed afternoon tea in the tea rooms.

A wonderful afternoon enjoyed by every one.

Pam.

www.earshamhall.events.co.uk

Mark Mower - Talk on Suffolk Murders.

The Committee room was bursting at the seams as we started the New Year.  The President informed members of the passing of Violet Webb who had been a long standing member although not for a few years due to illness.  Birthday posies were handed to Pauline and Pauline.  A very good rendition of Jerusalem was sung.  Members were reminded for entries for the Upper Waveney Exhibition.  The speaker Mark Mower was introduced.  His talk on Suffolk Murders proved most interesting with members thoroughly enjoying the afternoon.  Many members won raffle prizes and the competition - something beginning with J - was won by Janet (a photo of herself) second was Jo ( a jar of jam) and third Beryl (juniper berries).  Next meeting 11th February at 2.30 at Village Hall. Speaker - Georgette Vale - 3D   Fabric Flowers. Competition something beginning with F.

Sue