Reports
27th November 2018
Annual General Meeting
Agenda:
Annual Report
Financial Statement
Nominations and Ballot for Committee/President
Social Time:
Members Evening
Annual General Meeting
Agenda:
Annual Report
Financial Statement
Nominations and Ballot for Committee/President
Social Time:
Members Evening
After the business was conducted we held our AGM where we went over reports and financials. We then selected our new Committee, with Linda Gammon being voted in for another year of President. More details of individual roles coming soon. Thank you to Barbara Jackson of Byley WI for adjudicating.
The Rose Bowl for competitions through the year was won by Pat Price with Sandra Smith coming 2nd and Thelma Dutton 3rd. Well done ladies. Our raffle for the evening was won by Valerie Quinn and Sheila Buckley receiving the 2nd prize.
The Rose Bowl for competitions through the year was won by Pat Price with Sandra Smith coming 2nd and Thelma Dutton 3rd. Well done ladies. Our raffle for the evening was won by Valerie Quinn and Sheila Buckley receiving the 2nd prize.
23rd October 2018
Speaker: Tracy Traynor
‘Chasing Dreams Against The Odds’
Competition: Bookmark - magic theme
(First 3 winning entries will receive a book by Tracy)
Speaker: Tracy Traynor
‘Chasing Dreams Against The Odds’
Competition: Bookmark - magic theme
(First 3 winning entries will receive a book by Tracy)
Twenty-eight members and one guest gathered for our October Meeting and after the business was dealt with, our President, Linda Gammon, welcomed our Speaker for the evening, Tracy Traynor.
Tracy explained that living with dyslexia meant writing a book was something beyond her wildest dreams as at the age of five her mother realised there was something wrong when she couldn’t read the Janet & John school books, no matter how much time she spent with her there was nothing she could do to get her to remember words from one page to the next. In those days no one talked about dyslexia and so the description given to children like Tracy was, ‘rather slow’.
It grew the belief that she was somewhat stupid, and by the time she reached senior school she gave up on herself and believing there was no hope. She left school and her first job was washing dishes in a restaurant, the only job she believed she was capable of.
She married at twenty-one and had four sons. At the age of thirty, her husband’s job as a head chef took them to Africa. It was whilst living in Kenya that something odd happened to her. One day after driving the kids to school in their dilapidated Beetle (once whilst driving the seat fell through the floor and another time the brakes decided not to work!) she started a day-dream. A woman appeared in her mind; she was wearing a medieval dress and running through a maze. She picked up a pen and notepad and started writing, and just couldn’t stop. Word after word flowed onto the paper until eventually she had written a rather long story.
During the next ten years she got divorced, finished raising the boys on her own whilst working and holding the home together, therefore it was some years later before she picked up the book and decided to write it again but on a typewriter this time. Then at the age of forty she went to college to learn accounting and it was here she was introduced to the wonderful world of computers. With spellcheck she realised there was, after all, a chance so as soon as she could afford a computer set about re-writing it again.
She decided to join a book club on Facebook and there she met David who pushed her to publish, unfortunately he was terminally ill but he wanted to read it before he died. So at the age of fifty she decided to risk everything and seriously chase after the dream of being published. David did get the chance to read her published book before he sadly passed away.
She has now written a series of three fantasy books which centre on Idi (short for ‘idiot’) a young outcast devalued by society. Her new book, inspired by true events in Africa, called Grace in Mombasa is out in December.
After tea and biscuits, Tracy judged our competition of a magic themed bookmark with Pat Price in 1st, Lynda Searle 2nd and Thelma Dutton 3rd, they each received a copy of one of her books.
Tracy explained that living with dyslexia meant writing a book was something beyond her wildest dreams as at the age of five her mother realised there was something wrong when she couldn’t read the Janet & John school books, no matter how much time she spent with her there was nothing she could do to get her to remember words from one page to the next. In those days no one talked about dyslexia and so the description given to children like Tracy was, ‘rather slow’.
It grew the belief that she was somewhat stupid, and by the time she reached senior school she gave up on herself and believing there was no hope. She left school and her first job was washing dishes in a restaurant, the only job she believed she was capable of.
She married at twenty-one and had four sons. At the age of thirty, her husband’s job as a head chef took them to Africa. It was whilst living in Kenya that something odd happened to her. One day after driving the kids to school in their dilapidated Beetle (once whilst driving the seat fell through the floor and another time the brakes decided not to work!) she started a day-dream. A woman appeared in her mind; she was wearing a medieval dress and running through a maze. She picked up a pen and notepad and started writing, and just couldn’t stop. Word after word flowed onto the paper until eventually she had written a rather long story.
During the next ten years she got divorced, finished raising the boys on her own whilst working and holding the home together, therefore it was some years later before she picked up the book and decided to write it again but on a typewriter this time. Then at the age of forty she went to college to learn accounting and it was here she was introduced to the wonderful world of computers. With spellcheck she realised there was, after all, a chance so as soon as she could afford a computer set about re-writing it again.
She decided to join a book club on Facebook and there she met David who pushed her to publish, unfortunately he was terminally ill but he wanted to read it before he died. So at the age of fifty she decided to risk everything and seriously chase after the dream of being published. David did get the chance to read her published book before he sadly passed away.
She has now written a series of three fantasy books which centre on Idi (short for ‘idiot’) a young outcast devalued by society. Her new book, inspired by true events in Africa, called Grace in Mombasa is out in December.
After tea and biscuits, Tracy judged our competition of a magic themed bookmark with Pat Price in 1st, Lynda Searle 2nd and Thelma Dutton 3rd, they each received a copy of one of her books.
25th September 2018
Speaker: Chris Smith
‘The Northern Lights’
Competition: Group tba
Speaker: Chris Smith
‘The Northern Lights’
Competition: Group tba
28th August 2018
Speaker: Judy Popley
‘A Prospect of Arley’
Competition: Prettiest Handkerchief
Speaker: Judy Popley
‘A Prospect of Arley’
Competition: Prettiest Handkerchief
24th July 2018
Speaker: Norma Walmsley
‘The Colossus of Roads’
Competition: Acrostic Poem from COLOSSUS
Tuesday 24th July 2018 saw 22 members and 2 guests gather for our August Meeting. After the business was dealt with, our President, Linda Gammon, welcomed our Speaker for the evening, Norma Walmsley. We did have a change of talk at the last minute but it was nonetheless enjoyable as she told us of her life as a Governess to the children of the Sultan of Brunei.
Norma is a retired teacher and after teaching in this country for several years, she travelled overseas and first taught the children of the Omani Royal family. In 1990 she moved to Brunei where she took up the post of Governess to His Majesty’s children.
She worked very closely with the whole family and had access to various cars and planes. She showed us pictures of the many palaces, including one that had 1700 rooms and is listed as the largest palace in the world. Also, his collection of cars is quite extensive to say the least!
After tea and biscuits, Norma judged the competition with Pat Price in 1st, Jean Jepson 2nd and Linda Taylor 3rd.
26th June 2018
Speaker: Dr Claire Mather-Dodd
‘Chiropractor’
Competition: War Memorabilia
President, Linda Gammon, welcomed nearly 30 members and visitors and as usual went through the business of the evening. She then introduced our Speaker for the evening Dr Claire Mather-Dodd a Chiropractor who is based in Northwich.
Claire explained that Daniel David Palmer founded chiropractic in the 1890s and the word Chiropratic is from chiro ‘hand’ plus Greek praktikos ‘practical’, and from prattein ‘do’.
Claire told us she was brought up in Northwich and graduated from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic in 1995 and her interest in chiropractic began when her father was treated for a back problem by a local chiropractor. Following her first associate position she set up Central Cheshire Chiropractic Clinic in 1997 initially working from a GP surgery. The clinic has expanded over the years and has moved twice to accommodate this!
Her day to day work is mainly filled with regular maintenance patients but she has special interest in treating young children and pregnant ladies but also in providing long term preventative/wellness type spinal health care. With the aid of her trusty skeleton she showed us the musculoskeletal system and helped us understand the various areas and how we could look after ourselves and avoid injury.
Before the evening ended Linda announced that one of our members, Françoise Rothery had won 2nd prize at the Royal Cheshire Show in the Individual Craft category for her bowl ‘Rainbow’s End’. Well done Francoise.
Whilst we were enjoying our tea and cake Claire judged our competition, which was ‘War Memorabilia’. This was won by Freda Jones, with Thelma Dutton in 2nd place and Linda Taylor in 3rd.
Speaker: Dr Claire Mather-Dodd
‘Chiropractor’
Competition: War Memorabilia
President, Linda Gammon, welcomed nearly 30 members and visitors and as usual went through the business of the evening. She then introduced our Speaker for the evening Dr Claire Mather-Dodd a Chiropractor who is based in Northwich.
Claire explained that Daniel David Palmer founded chiropractic in the 1890s and the word Chiropratic is from chiro ‘hand’ plus Greek praktikos ‘practical’, and from prattein ‘do’.
Claire told us she was brought up in Northwich and graduated from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic in 1995 and her interest in chiropractic began when her father was treated for a back problem by a local chiropractor. Following her first associate position she set up Central Cheshire Chiropractic Clinic in 1997 initially working from a GP surgery. The clinic has expanded over the years and has moved twice to accommodate this!
Her day to day work is mainly filled with regular maintenance patients but she has special interest in treating young children and pregnant ladies but also in providing long term preventative/wellness type spinal health care. With the aid of her trusty skeleton she showed us the musculoskeletal system and helped us understand the various areas and how we could look after ourselves and avoid injury.
Before the evening ended Linda announced that one of our members, Françoise Rothery had won 2nd prize at the Royal Cheshire Show in the Individual Craft category for her bowl ‘Rainbow’s End’. Well done Francoise.
Whilst we were enjoying our tea and cake Claire judged our competition, which was ‘War Memorabilia’. This was won by Freda Jones, with Thelma Dutton in 2nd place and Linda Taylor in 3rd.
22nd May 2018 Resolutions Meeting
Members’ Evening
Competition: Pill Box
Members’ Evening
Competition: Pill Box
24th April 2018
Speaker: Manchester Blood Bikes
‘The Work Of Manchester Blood Bikes’
Competition: Anything to do with the Beatles - Group
On Tuesday 24th April over 30 members and visitors attended our April meeting, this month overseen by our Vice-President, Wendy Morgan. Wendy went through all the business and then introduced our speakers for the evening, Alan Redfern and Kevin Barratt, from Manchester Blood Bikes.
They explained that back in December of 2011, a few friends decided that being members of a motorcycle club just wasn't enough so decided they would put their passion for motorcycles and riding to good use by forming what was then Northwest Blood Bikes Manchester but now rebranded as Blood Bikes Manchester.
In January of 2012, the charity formed and by July of the same year, the team had managed to achieve 3 bikes, 1 support car and a hospital willing to trial the charity. Going live with Tameside Hospital's Pathology Lab delivering the first batch of blood escalated throughout the region and they are serving the majority of our regions hospitals and hospices.
How it works –
This is a totally free service, and is a volunteer-based charity with no costs involved (no paid staff) but it still costs £55K annual running costs, for bike maintenance, uniforms etc. You probably haven’t seen many around as they work from 7pm to 6am, so they are busy whilst we’re sleeping. And it isn’t just blood they deliver as Donor Breast Milk is available to all NHS Neonatal units throughout the region and they are thrilled to be involved with the safe and secure transit of this. They said it still puts a lump in the throat of their riders and drivers when they get to see the babies they have helped.
A very worthwhile charity, one we all hope we never have to have use of.
The competition of ‘Something to do with the Beatles’ was won by Sandra Smith, second was Linda Taylor and third Deirdre Thompson. Sandra’s entry will be entered into the Dane Valley Group competition at their Spring meeting.
Speaker: Manchester Blood Bikes
‘The Work Of Manchester Blood Bikes’
Competition: Anything to do with the Beatles - Group
On Tuesday 24th April over 30 members and visitors attended our April meeting, this month overseen by our Vice-President, Wendy Morgan. Wendy went through all the business and then introduced our speakers for the evening, Alan Redfern and Kevin Barratt, from Manchester Blood Bikes.
They explained that back in December of 2011, a few friends decided that being members of a motorcycle club just wasn't enough so decided they would put their passion for motorcycles and riding to good use by forming what was then Northwest Blood Bikes Manchester but now rebranded as Blood Bikes Manchester.
In January of 2012, the charity formed and by July of the same year, the team had managed to achieve 3 bikes, 1 support car and a hospital willing to trial the charity. Going live with Tameside Hospital's Pathology Lab delivering the first batch of blood escalated throughout the region and they are serving the majority of our regions hospitals and hospices.
How it works –
- NHS or Hospice call the switchboard number
- A fully trained duty controller will take the job details, which are then input into their TomTom Telematics system for audit purposes. All job details are then sent directly to a fully trained rider/driver’s despatch system.
- Riders/drivers will use a navigation dispatch system to navigate to their destinations. Also, the system will tell them exactly the type of job, ie - Please collect samples from ward 36 etc.
- They are fully tracked at all times and not only shows what street they are on, but also gives a time of arrival at their destination. Ideal if a porter needs to meet them.
- They then obtain signatures for both collection and delivery of items.
This is a totally free service, and is a volunteer-based charity with no costs involved (no paid staff) but it still costs £55K annual running costs, for bike maintenance, uniforms etc. You probably haven’t seen many around as they work from 7pm to 6am, so they are busy whilst we’re sleeping. And it isn’t just blood they deliver as Donor Breast Milk is available to all NHS Neonatal units throughout the region and they are thrilled to be involved with the safe and secure transit of this. They said it still puts a lump in the throat of their riders and drivers when they get to see the babies they have helped.
A very worthwhile charity, one we all hope we never have to have use of.
The competition of ‘Something to do with the Beatles’ was won by Sandra Smith, second was Linda Taylor and third Deirdre Thompson. Sandra’s entry will be entered into the Dane Valley Group competition at their Spring meeting.
27th March 2018 Birthday Party
Speaker: Barbara Depledge
‘Fantastic Food & Drink from Garden Herbs’
We celebrated our 88th birthday with a cheese and wine evening along with our speaker Barbara Depledge, whose talk was entitled ‘Fantastic Food and Drink from Garden Herbs’.
Barbara qualified as a pharmacist back in the 1970s from the University of Manchester School of Pharmacy. The mystique of the apothecary was still in place as they had to read prescriptions in Latin and learn how to prepare every conceivable form of pharmaceutical product at the lab bench. Back in those days pharmacognosy was a large part of the syllabus. What on earth is Pharmacognosy? Well it is the study of the chemical and biological properties of drugs and potential drug substances from plant sources all around the world.
An optimistic gardener for 40 years with a passion for growing herbs and flowers for cutting, her herb garden with box hedge is her pride and joy. She grows culinary, medicinal and fragrant herbs and is a former Chairman of the Herb Society UK and served on the Council governing that charity for three years and has been a member for 22 years. So well qualified to give us details of the some of her favourite recipes, many being Mediterranean, middle-eastern or Asian in origin. She showed us some delicious looking cocktails, canapés, starter or light bites, main courses, desserts and teas/syrups.
After all that talk of food and drink we were ready for our cheese and wine, followed by a cup of tea and beautiful cakes made by the Committee. Well done ladies they were delicious.
Speaker: Barbara Depledge
‘Fantastic Food & Drink from Garden Herbs’
We celebrated our 88th birthday with a cheese and wine evening along with our speaker Barbara Depledge, whose talk was entitled ‘Fantastic Food and Drink from Garden Herbs’.
Barbara qualified as a pharmacist back in the 1970s from the University of Manchester School of Pharmacy. The mystique of the apothecary was still in place as they had to read prescriptions in Latin and learn how to prepare every conceivable form of pharmaceutical product at the lab bench. Back in those days pharmacognosy was a large part of the syllabus. What on earth is Pharmacognosy? Well it is the study of the chemical and biological properties of drugs and potential drug substances from plant sources all around the world.
An optimistic gardener for 40 years with a passion for growing herbs and flowers for cutting, her herb garden with box hedge is her pride and joy. She grows culinary, medicinal and fragrant herbs and is a former Chairman of the Herb Society UK and served on the Council governing that charity for three years and has been a member for 22 years. So well qualified to give us details of the some of her favourite recipes, many being Mediterranean, middle-eastern or Asian in origin. She showed us some delicious looking cocktails, canapés, starter or light bites, main courses, desserts and teas/syrups.
After all that talk of food and drink we were ready for our cheese and wine, followed by a cup of tea and beautiful cakes made by the Committee. Well done ladies they were delicious.
27th February 2018
Speaker: Gill Adlington
‘Painting for Everyone - a Seascape’
Competition: Photograph of the Seaside
On a very cold and snowy evening 17 members and visitor braved the weather to enjoy our February meeting which included a lovely talk and demonstration by Gill Adlington.
Painting was always a struggle for Gill until, about thirteen years ago, when she found the Bob Ross method of painting and has never looked back since then – Wet on Wet method. She also took the decision to train to teach others in this method because she was pleased that she had achieved so much and wanted to help other people do the same. And she is still learning – she is now at University.
The theme of the painting was a Seascape and our competition ‘Photograph of the Seaside’ was won by Karen Glendining, Ann Stafford came second and Valerie Quin third.
Speaker: Gill Adlington
‘Painting for Everyone - a Seascape’
Competition: Photograph of the Seaside
On a very cold and snowy evening 17 members and visitor braved the weather to enjoy our February meeting which included a lovely talk and demonstration by Gill Adlington.
Painting was always a struggle for Gill until, about thirteen years ago, when she found the Bob Ross method of painting and has never looked back since then – Wet on Wet method. She also took the decision to train to teach others in this method because she was pleased that she had achieved so much and wanted to help other people do the same. And she is still learning – she is now at University.
The theme of the painting was a Seascape and our competition ‘Photograph of the Seaside’ was won by Karen Glendining, Ann Stafford came second and Valerie Quin third.
23rd January 2018
Speaker: Peter Turner
‘Through the Eyes of a Magician’
Competition: Magic themed item
Holmes Chapel WI held their first members’ evening of 2018 on Tuesday 23rd February which ably presided over by our newly elected President – Linda Gammon.
The Speaker for the evening was Peter Turner, a professional magician who started off by mysteriously making a piece of silk cloth disappear! And then went on to explain how he used the psychology of the mind by way of misdirection to make this happen. This received a lot of scepticism amongst the ladies, but also a lot of puzzled conversation in trying to understand exactly what Peter had done. He then went to demonstrate a couple more 'tricks’ involving a pack of playing cards and portrait pictures that were not all that they seemed to be. It was a very a lovely evening, enjoyed by everyone.
We finished off the evening with tea and biscuits and Peter judged our competition of a ‘A Magic Themed Item’ and our winner was Sandra Smith.
Speaker: Peter Turner
‘Through the Eyes of a Magician’
Competition: Magic themed item
Holmes Chapel WI held their first members’ evening of 2018 on Tuesday 23rd February which ably presided over by our newly elected President – Linda Gammon.
The Speaker for the evening was Peter Turner, a professional magician who started off by mysteriously making a piece of silk cloth disappear! And then went on to explain how he used the psychology of the mind by way of misdirection to make this happen. This received a lot of scepticism amongst the ladies, but also a lot of puzzled conversation in trying to understand exactly what Peter had done. He then went to demonstrate a couple more 'tricks’ involving a pack of playing cards and portrait pictures that were not all that they seemed to be. It was a very a lovely evening, enjoyed by everyone.
We finished off the evening with tea and biscuits and Peter judged our competition of a ‘A Magic Themed Item’ and our winner was Sandra Smith.