Twinning Tales by Whiteley WAGs WI

The beginning of it all
Whiteley WAGs became a twin WI in 2012, when we were approached by Brimscombe and Thrupp WI, or The BATs as they are now known (as we are the WAGs).

The WAGs’ founding member, Chloe Bowler, grew up with a family connection to Brimscombe and Thrupp (B&T) WI; her Mum Pat and two of Pat's sisters have been members of B&T for many years.  In the early days of the WAGs, the BATs gave us a lot of useful advice and Pat visited the WAGs whenever she was in Hampshire to visit Chloe and now has dual membership.

When Pat returned to Gloucestershire with stories of the WAGs and what they were up to in Whiteley, B&T thought it would be fun to be twinned with the WAGs and we took them up on their offer.  As an urban new-wave WI, the WAGs are very different to B&T WI who are based in rural Gloucestershire just outside Stroud.  The WAGs celebrate their 4th birthday this year; B&T have been running as a WI for 57 years. However, it is this difference which makes for a good twinning combination….

WAGs road trip to Gloucestershire 
In the summer of 2013, three car loads of WAGs took the 2 hour drive to the village of Brimscombe to meet our twins in person. We got up at the crack of dawn, and, armed with cakes, we hit the road. We were unsure what to expect, but were excited when we noticed that the colours of the buildings had changed from the red bricks of the south to the yellow Cotswold stone - we were getting closer.
We arrived in the beautiful village of Brimscombe and found our way to the hall where the BATs meet. We were greeted by the members of Brimscombe and Thrupp WI who had tea and biscuits waiting for us after our journey. The president Marilyn welcomed us to Gloucestershire, and we were given gifts of personalised notebooks. We also exchanged gifts to mark the beginning of our twinning. The BATs presented us with a lovely pennant depicting the 5 hills which meet in the valley of Stroud, and the sheep that graze on them. In return, the WAGs presented the BATs with some colourful butterfly bunting so they could hang it in their hall at their monthly meetings, as we do at ours. This was made by our craft club and was one of their first projects. We now have the pennant on display on our notice boards, so we have a small piece of Brimscombe and Thrupp at all our meetings.

The BATs provided a lovely lunch and games for us during that first twinning visit. We also had time to chat and get to know our twins; it was wonderful to hear all their stories, the history of their WI and make new friends. After lunch we went for a walk across Rodborough Common, where Winstones ice cream factory can be found, and as it was a beautiful day it would have been rude not to oblige and have one! We sat on the Common, enjoyed our ice creams whilst Chloe picked out the key landmarks of Stroud and the surrounding villages. We also had a bit of time to enjoy Minchinhampton, a small village nearby, before stopping off at Pat’s for tea before the journey home.

The BATs come to the coast
In July 2014, the BATs made the journey down to the coast to visit us. Despite getting slightly lost on some very busy Hampshire roads, the party of 18 ladies from B&T WI arrived at St Faith's Church, Lee-on-the-Solent at the same time as a Family Fun Day was getting underway in the considerable Church grounds.  We convinced our twinning ladies for all of five minutes that of course we had laid it all on in their honour, and it provided the perfect backdrop to our planned day.

After a welcome from our new President, Sue Daish, we distributed hand-crafted bags to all the ladies as a gift from Whiteley WAGs WI.  The bags featured a mix of our motif, pink butterflies, strawberries as a nod to the strawberry-growing in our area, and anchors to represent the ocean (the craft club have become more adventurous since last year!).  The delighted ladies of B&T were very pleased with their WAGs bags and the entrepreneurial ladies of B&T quickly asked for the pattern so they could make up some bags to sell to fundraise for their WI. 

A ploughman's lunch, much chatting and laughing, followed by a walk on the seafront and a paddle in the sea (to cool off from the sweltering heat of the day) ended our time in Lee-on-the-Solent. Some even brought along bottles of chilled wine, which went down nicely whilst sat on the beach! The twinning ladies then travelled to Whiteley for a quick tour of the new town to show the ladies where we hold our monthly meetings.  Following tea and cake at Chloe's house to sustain the ladies on their journey back to Gloucestershire, we waved goodbye to our twins.  Some of the ladies were so enchanted by the area that they are going to consider planning a weekend-long WI trip to Hampshire to take in more of the wonderful sights, sounds and to enjoy some more paddling!

The benefits of twinning
The two WIs have lots of differences, not just in location, but the types of activities we do, the age of the groups and types of meetings we hold. However this works to both our benefit; the WAGs learn from the masters and we keep the BATs up to date with new ideas. We stay in contact during the year and often exchange cards and gifts. We like to know what the BATs are up to, in case there is anything that inspires us, or that we could adapt for our group.
Since becoming twins the BATs have almost doubled in size - they have now attracted some younger members and are soon investing in a Facebook page, as they have been encouraged by the WAGs. The WAGs loved the idea that the BATs kept a scrapbook showing the history of the BATs and now we keep our own scrapbook as we start to build our own WI history.
The BATs also adapted our very successful idea of holding a bake sale to raise funds, as we did in Whiteley Shopping Centre in March, and took their baked goods to the Stroud show which was a huge fundraising success for them.  We don’t mind them stealing our ideas as I am sure we will be stealing some of theirs in the future and have done in the past! Working together and learning from each other is an important part of the WI to ensure both groups continue to be successful and grow in the future.

If any WI has thought about twinning but not got round to doing anything about it, then get on with it!  The friendship, shared laughter, swapping of ideas and camaraderie is wonderful to be part of. Both WIs are more than happy to boast that they have a twin; different in so many ways, yet sharing a common love of life.

Thanks to Amy Middleton - Secretary of Whiteley WAGs WI - for sharing this story.

Starting the Big Conversation

The WI’s Time to Talk Campaign is about making sure we all know what our loved ones’ wishes are about organ donation. The decision to be a donor is up to each of us (you can become Registered Donor here if you like), but in the end, it’s left to thousands of families every year to turn those wishes into actions.

We know talking about donation with our loved ones can sometimes be difficult. So we've come up with a way to use WI members’ talents to show their leadership in finding the Time to Talk.

We’re starting the Big Conversation, which means we’re asking each and every WI member to:

1. Find the Time to Talk and have a conversation with their loved one about their organ donation decision
2. Get creative and make something through craft or illustration to show who you spoke to
3. Take a photo and send it to us

Did you sit down to a cup of tea with your husband? Did you mention it to your children when you were cooking dinner in the kitchen? Maybe you mentioned to a close friend after getting your driving license renewed? Perhaps reading a story about donation in the paper prompted you to talk to a family member. Transform who you spoke to (or are going to speak to) and the context of that conversation into whatever craft or creative project you like. It can be as skilful (crochet, pottery, decoupage, quilling, embroidery) or basic (spell out their name in icing or take a selfie spelling out who you told!) as you want.

Take a photo of it and post it to social media using the hashtag #WITimetoTalk. Or email it to the NFWI Public Affairs team (publicaffairs@nfwi.org.uk) and we'll publish it for you.

The results will be shared online over the next year on Twitter, Facebook and an online photo gallery. At the end, we will create a massive mosaic of photographs of all the WI members’ crafts for a special exhibition as part of the WI’s centenary year.

With each photo representing a real conversation, together they will show how WI members have found the Time to Talk, and inspire others to do the same. Remember every single discussion about organ donation is part of a bigger conversation.

You have until Friday 27 March 2015 to share your conversation photos with us. Get crafting! 

More detailed instructions and some ideas to get you thinking creatively are here

MPs call for more effective action to protect bees

Try to imagine a world without bees; it’s not only honey that we would have to do without.  The fruit, vegetables, flowers, nuts and seeds that many of us take for granted all depend on honeybees for pollination.  The pollination services that bees currently provide would have to be replaced by hand pollination; a costly and time consuming process which, with an estimated cost of up to £1500million a year, would be prohibitive, and add to our food bills. It’s unsurprising then that the WI’s SOS for Honeybees campaign has resonated so strongly with WI members and their communities. 

The evidence on the multiple challenges facing bees has been growing over a course of years. The government is finally taking steps towards the action that’s needed with the development of a National Pollinator Strategy, published in draft in March, and currently being finalised.

MPs on the green watchdog, the Environmental Audit Select Committee have been scrutinising the strategy and taking evidence on its potential efficacy from a range of experts including Defra’s Chief Scientist, Ian Boyd, the NFU and Friends of the Earth.  The NFWI’s Marylyn Haines Evans, Public Affairs Committee chair also gave evidence to the Committee’s inquiry, setting out WI concerns that while it’s a good start point, there is room for improvement.

The Select Committee’s report was published last week, and like the WI they felt that the strategy is lacking in several important areas. MPs expressed particular concern that much needed research into pesticides, and their impacts on bees, will be funded by pesticide companies with the risk that the needs of bees risk being undermined by commercial interests.  Committee Chair, Joan Walley commented: “When it comes to research on pesticides, Defra is content to let the manufacturers fund the work. This testifies to a loss of environmental protection capacity in the Department responsible for it. If the research is to command public confidence, independent controls need to be maintained at every step”.

With bee numbers in sharp decline, securing unbiased, transparent research in which the public can trust – and on which policy makers can act – is a priority for the WI; this should be a priority for the government too. 

Hate the wait, make the time, let them know

Cancer waiting times have been in the news recently. So too has GP access. Waiting for healthcare seems so very wrong when the NHS has been designed to be been there for us from 1948 for every day of our lives.

Some 7,000 people are waiting for treatment on the NHS, but this time we can’t blame the funding deficit/workforce issues/service configuration or anything else that puts pressure on the NHS.

They are waiting because we are afraid.

NHS Blood and Transplant Public Behaviour Change Strategy 2014

On average, eight families in the United Kingdom today will be asked about donation of their loved-one’s organs after suffering the loss of a family member. Four of those families will have no idea how their loved felt about donation. Their loved one didn't put their name on the Organ Donation Register. They never spoke about donation, they didn't want to tempt fate, they didn't want to talk about death. And now it’s too late. These four families face this decision with no idea what to do. The burden is enormous, and they are bearing it at the most difficult time.

Emma is a WI member, and when discussing Organ Donation in her WI, she shared the story of her friend Samantha. Samantha's family suffered a sudden loss when her father passed away. Their world was in turmoil. But that day, they ended the wait for six people (including three children) who’d been waiting for organ and tissue transplants, because they’d overcome those barriers and discussed organ donation as a family in advance. Here Samantha describes what happened, in her own words:

Dad collapsed with a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage on the 17th November 2003. He was fit and healthy and we were in the gym when he collapsed and was rushed to hospital. He never regained consciousness. He was kept on life support for two days before they did the brain stem tests to pronounce him brain dead on the 19th November. An adored Dad to my sister and I, he was still head over heels in love with my mum since they had met 25 years ago. He was 47 when he died.

I can't remember if it was before or after he was pronounced brain dead that they asked us about donating (patients must be kept 'alive' to keep the organs working before the transplant surgery takes place), but whilst he was still on life support we were asked if organ donation was something we had talked about and would we consider speaking to a transplant co-ordinator.

We knew it was something he wanted so we said yes to finding out more.

I don't remember it being more stressful [because we were asked]. Our world had already been so suddenly turned upside down that we just somehow accepted this I think. But knowing we could help some people was a comfort.

We met with Tracey, the coordinator. The first thing she asked was what was Dad like as a person and she was interested in who he was. I think we chatted for ages about him and Tracey was so empathetic throughout.

Once we had decided she told us how the recipients would be contacted, getting the call they had been waiting for, them getting ready to come to hospital etc and it we certainly felt a sense of excitement and hope for them - and we knew Dad would have felt the same. We had all talked about it as a family and all of us said it was something we would do if we could.

It does help knowing that six people were saved and are hopefully living happy, healthy lives ten years on. We did receive a thank you card (through Tracey) from one of the gentlemen which was amazing to read. We are immensely proud of Dad and for being part of something so significant.

Imagine if, instead of being afraid, we talked to our families, like Samantha’s Dad did. Imagine if, instead of only 57% of families saying yes to donation (as is currently the case), 80% of families said yes because they knew what to do, like Samantha's family did. The wait would finally be over for almost 1,500 people on the transplant waiting list. They’d get the organs they so desperately need.

If you want to be an organ donor, join the Register here and talk to your family today. Don’t leave it too late. The 7,000 people on the transplant waiting list have been waiting long enough.

Pride of Place

Guest post by Ed Wallis, Head of Editorial at the Fabian Society.

This autumn, politicians and diplomats will meet in New York to roll up their sleeves and try to come up with solutions to the world’s greatest collective challenge: how to catalyse action on climate change. Whether anyone else will take much notice is another matter entirely. And it’s pretty understandable why.

According to new Fabian Society research, conducted with the WI, RSPB, Woodland Trust and Groundwork, people struggle to engage with large scale environmental issues. Instead they feel a much greater attachment to their local environments.

When people think of the environment, they tend to think of the place they live and the people they live there with. In a series of in-depth focus groups we conducted, climate change was hardly mentioned at all, even when participants were prompted to think about global environmental issues. And in an opinion poll carried out by YouGov to support the work, over twice as many people regarded anti-social behaviour as their biggest environmental concern than climate change.

This poses a huge challenge to the environmental movement, most of whose energies have traditionally been focused on lobbying for legislative change in Westminster or Brussels. This approach hasn’t been without its successes but the environment has slipped off the political agenda in recent years and feels increasingly remote from most people’s lives, particularly as they struggle with ongoing economic hardship.

In order to reconnect, we need to start from what people really value. As the huge public opposition to the coalition government’s botched attempt to sell-off the nation’s forests showed, people care deeply about their local areas and wish to see the environments they have grown up in conserved. What’s more, many would be willing to get involved in ‘community action’ to help improve their local environment.

So the challenge for environmentalists in Britain should be spend less time in New York or Paris and more time in the UK’s towns and villages helping to restore a sense of community about the local environment.

To do this, a broad set of barriers must be overcome. We must ensure there are enough well-paid jobs and affordable housing to allow people to afford to live in the places they grew up in. We need to protect, and extend where possible, the amount of free open spaces like parks and woodland where people can rub shoulders with one another.

And we need to help to change the balance in people’s lives away from work towards being more centred on strong community life. Our polling revealed that over 68 per cent of people felt that community spirit had declined over lifetime, rising to 81 per cent amongst the over 60s. When asked why this might be the case, the answer was clear: people are too busy and working too hard.

One of the key proposals we make, therefore, is a new ‘Community Day’ bank holiday, to provide a focal point for campaigners to highlight local environmental projects. Local residents would be encouraged to take part in activities like litter picks, community events and street parties.

A new bank holiday would only be a start. Something fundamental needs to change for people up and down the country to feel ownership of their local, and ultimately the global, environment. One thing is for sure: if environmentalists only keep their eyes on New York, Paris or Copenhagen, environmental politics is certain to become more distant than ever before.

This article also appears in the July/August Edition of WI Life

Making a buzz about bees

There’s barely a week that goes by when bees aren’t featured in the papers, on the TV or in parliamentary proceedings. This week was no exception, with one key difference; Marylyn Haines Evans, Chair of the NFWI Public Affairs Committee was up in front of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, giving evidence on their future survival.

The inquiry presented an opportunity for the 16 MPs who sit on the Environmental Audit Committee to question individuals from across the scientific, charitable, business and farming community about the strengths and weaknesses of the draft National Pollinator Strategy (the government’s ‘Bee Action Plan’), investigate how concerns are addressed and aspirations are met, and feed back to government on the issue.

Marylyn gave evidence alongside the National Farmers Union, Friends of the Earth, and civil servants from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Whilst welcoming the strategy and Defra’s leadership developing it, Marylyn outlined the NFWI’s unease that the strategy was too reliant on voluntary measures, and fell short on issues such as planning, monitoring and insecticide use. Defra will be reflecting on the Committee’s findings before the final strategy is published this autumn, and we hope that they give these the due consideration that’s needed.

Over the last few months the NFWI has received thousands of postcards from WI members telling Lord de Mauley, the Minister with responsibility for pollinators, just why bees are important to them. Thanks to the five thousand WI members who have written to us, following the Environmental Audit Committee, Marylyn, alongside former Vice Chair of Public Affairs Committee, Sybil Graham, was invited to meet with the Minister to hand-over the postcards, and crucially, share the NFWI’s concerns about the National Pollinator Strategy directly with the Minister.

The Minister was open to our concerns, and was keen to explore how Defra and the WI can work together to ensure our pollinator populations revive and thrive. The NFWI will of course work with Defra in order to protect our bees and pollinators, but ultimately we believe that there is a huge role for government to implement policies that go above and beyond existing measures if they are to ensure the strategy is fit for purpose and the long-term. WI members have made their views on bee decline explicitly clear, but we are still not convinced that the government’s strategy is as strong as it can be. We will continue to make the case for a strong Bee Action Plan. The NPS provides a unique opportunity to address the multiple challenges our precious pollinators face, let’s not let them down.

Time to Talk

The journey from the WI’s HQ in London to Leeds for our Annual Meeting took around 2 hours from King’s Cross. But the journey for our Public Affairs team has actually taken a lot longer…

Back on 16 September 2013, 51 ideas for a new campaign had been submitted our Public Affairs team by WI members. These ideas, called resolutions, were on all manner of topics from state pensions to FGM and the regulation of funeral directors. From that point onwards, each idea was subject to a rigorous shortlisting process and the successful ones were put to members for their votes. By the time we got to the First Direct Arena on 7 June 2014, one idea was left standing. It was up to WI members to hear the arguments one last time and decide whether the WI should throw its weight behind this campaign.

And they did: the resolution passed with a 98% majority. The newest mandate in the WI’s 99-hear history reads:

The NFWI notes that three people die every day whilst waiting for an organ transplant. We call on every member of the WI to make their wishes regarding organ donation known, and to encourage their families and friends, and members of their local communities to do likewise.

Laureen Walker from Standon and Cotes WI proposed the idea, which was then seconded by Barbara Hidson of Codsall Wood WI. Sally Johnson, Director at NHS Blood and Transplant spoke for the resolution, while Georgia Testa, Lecturer in medical ethics at Leeds University, set out points for the opposition. Their quotes will give you a flavour of the debate:

“The major barrier to getting consent from families for transplants is that they often have no idea of the wishes of their relative…Statistics show that when families know that their loved ones want to donate their consent rate is 88%. When they don’t know it is only 46%.” Laureen Walker

“Will more open discussion translate the approval rate into numbers actually on the Organ Donation Register? There will still be people who just don’t get around to it, even if there is a climate in which family and friends discuss donation more openly and frequently.” Georgia Testa

“Letting families know what you've decided makes it much easier for them to support your decision to be a donor. The WI is renowned for achieving results. This resolution is down to you.”Barbara Hidson

“Every day, some one in this country who could be a donor dies, and their relatives, in the midst of grief, shock and distress, are asked to allow their loved one's organs to be used to save the life of someone they don't know. Imagine it was your relative: what would you say? If you hadn't talked about organ donation as a family, then it's quite likely you'd say no. You might think it was the safer option. You might come to regret that decision later. It would be so much easier if you knew what your relative wanted: if they wanted to be a donor then you could take comfort from that decision and be proud of them.

“We hope everyone in the UK will be proud to donate their organs, when and if they can. But we know this won't happen without some inspirational leadership. We are asking you to provide this leadership: to talk to your families, your friends and your communities so that no family is left to guess what their loved one wanted.” Sally Johnson

Many WI members spoke of their own donation stories, sharing experiences of being recipients of kidneys and corneas, or being a member of a family who was asked about donating the organs of a loved one. Others mentioned living wills and old donation wallet cards as ways to formalise family consent and get families talking. It was a thought-provoking and emotional debate.

So what happens now?

The NFWI Public Affairs team will begin working on a campaign based on the mandate so watch this space for updates on Time to Talk about Organ Donation.

The best thing about the WI resolutions process? Once we’ve got a mandate, we’ve got it forever. So in that way, the journey for a resolution never ends.