The Annual Meeting 4th Feb 2019

This year The Annual Meeting was held at the Carreg Bran Hotel in Llanfairpwll. They accommodated for us very well with use of their room which had amazing candelabras hanging from the ceiling.

The room was full with each WI represented with approximately 120 people in all. The Federation Secretary opened the meeting with health and safety information followed by a role call. Jerusalem, the WI anthem was sang with gusto, first verse in Welsh and the second verse in English.

The Federation Chair, Yvonne Tatam, introduced guests from other federations and past Chairs. After a minutes’ silence for members who had passed on during the year, Mrs Tatam spoke at length. Last year, the £25 challenge had been a big success and this year she announced the 500 club was being relaunched.  She then covered the sub committees and all the successful events they held throughout the year.

This was followed by the Treasurer, Christine Linford reporting on last year’s finances followed with 2019 projected forecast. The Vice Chair, Audrey Jones, MBE, then informed us about membership and stressed the importance of spreading the word that the WI is still a great place to belong to, with many benefits.

Yvonne Tatam spoke about The National Council and Wales Committee conferences she had attended throughout the year and what they do, and the benefits for the federation. Edwina Morris-Jones, was next to stand and gave information about the various training courses at Denman. This was followed by The Denman Bursary draw. The winner was Judith Scholfield from Rhosneigr WI, who won a course of her choice. The reserve was Margaret Thompson from Trearddur Bay WI.

The Federation Secretary gave a summary of events for the forthcoming year and the speaker was Sheila Maxwell from Harlech WI. She spoke about the wonderful charity ACWW – Pennies for Friendship. The Associated Country Women of the World supports women and children from all over the world. It was very informative, and although many people knew about them, it was interesting to find out its origins and exactly what the charity does.
 
The Presentation of the Cups followed with representatives from the winning WIs being presented with a certificate and have their photograph taken. For the Darts Tournament, Llangefni was the winner. The Rose Bowl was presented to Amlwch and Lynne Coulson from Menai Straits had the highest points in the Annual Show. This year the  best programme was won jointly by Llangoed and Llanfaelog WIs.

Last year, every WI was challenged to increase their membership by at least one new member. One WI had worked hard - in March they only had ten members but increased thir membership to seventeen by October 2018. The Chair talked about the AFWI website and Facebook page and explained the MCS System and the importance of keeping it up to date.

A vote of thanks was given to everyone including Sheila Maxwell and everyone retired for a tasty lunch of soup and a sandwich in the restaurant/bar area.

The afternoon speaker was Mr Arwel Hughes, a Funeral Director from Amlwch. He spoke at length about his business, how he started and with many amusing stories. He opened the floor to questions, and the afternoon continued and finished with much laughter.

A vote of thanks was given and everyone agreed it had been a very enjoyable day.