Oaksey W.l. President’s Report 2014-2015
This report covers the period Nov 2014 – Nov 2015 and represents my first year as President of Oaksey W.l.
2015 was a big year for the Wl.It was our Centenary Year.
We celebrated the Centenary in a number of ways throughout the year.
1.The Baton,after travelling around England and Wales,passed through Oaksey and was taken onto Kemble by Liz&Tony Fleming in their classic car.
2. We made a scrapbook which provided us with a great deal of laughter. This was then put on display in Cheltenham Town Hall for other Wl’s to view.
3.The GFWI Annual Council Meeting was held at Cheltenham Town Hall.The Baton arrived and was passed around officials,delegates and members.
4.Liz Fleming represented Oaksey Wl at the Wl Garden Party held at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the Duchess of Cornwall.
5.A county WI picnic was held in the grounds of Highnam Court and a musical history talk was given in Highnam Church.
6.Kay Kay Gage represented Oaksey Wl at the Albert Hall Celebrations.
7.A garden party was held at Margaret Dakin’s house where we celebrated the 100 years with tea and a special cake made by Liz Adey.A picture of this can be seen in this month’s Nov/Dec County Newsletter.
8.A history of the Wl was displayed at the Folk Museum in Gloucester.
Our own Oaksey Programme provided us with entertainment throughout the year:
The first event we held was a successful Christmas lunch at the Mayfield Hotel,Crudwell.
JAN – Nellie Bennett gave a talk on her time as a nurse in London.
FEB – Liz Fleming gave us a talk on her Mexican Adventure.
MARCH – We debated the Resolution:Failing to care-assessment of need in long term care. We also brought in delicious recipes and Rona Hope won with her G&T cake!
APRIL- Di Whitaker gave a talk on The Mitfords.
MAY- We discovered Chedworth Roman Villa and were joined by the History Group on this occasion.A follow-up trip to the Villa was then organised by Fred Price.
JUNE- We enjoyed a fantastic trip to the Wyvern Theatre,Swindon to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Hannah from Lifestyle gave a Health and Beauty talk and demonstration.This event was well supported as an Open Meeting and everyone enjoyed the cheese and wine refreshments afterwards.
JULY- Our summer outing to Westonbirt House and Gardens.
The Oaksey Fete where we organised the Cake and Jewellery stalls and were rewarded with £175.
A fun afternoon playing croquet at Cheltenham Croquet Club.
A Wl County Walk from Southam up Cleeve Hill.
AUGUST- Our Garden Meeting at Margaret Dakin’s house.
SEPT- A very successful charity evening for the Great Western Air Ambulance. We collected £141.50 from ourselves and members of the Parish Council- amazing,since we are such a small group!
OCT- Lynda Warren provided us with a Magical Musical Evening- the World of Cameron Mackintosh.
A midweek County Walk at Elkstone followed by lunch at The Highway Man.
NOV- Our AGM with a delicious lunch and talk provided by Liz Adey.
DEC- Looking forward to our Christmas Lunch at The Wheatsheaf Inn,Oaksey.
Margaret Dakin and Jenny Moody have both attended training courses for Wl Treasurer and President respectively at Wl House in Gloucester.
Many members have enjoyed visits to our Group Wl Open Evenings for certain popular events eg the Emma Bridgewater event at Minety.
With regard to our membership,we said goodbye to Janet Ryder who moved to Surrey in the summer and hello to Wendy Castle,Angela Gee and Gerda Hayes.
New Initiatives
Jean Bennett,our secretary, now emails our minutes to our members.
We meet up for coffee and a chat on the 4th Friday of each month at Liz’s Tearooms
These follow on from the very successful Walking Group that started 2 years ago on the 3rd Tuesday of each month under the leadership of Liz Fleming.
Oaksey Wl has had an extremely busy,entertaining and stimulating year and one we can all be very proud to have been part of.Finally,l would like to thank all the committee for their hard work this year particularly our officers.We wish Val our previous treasurer every happiness in Australia.
Jenny Moody. Nov. 2015.