A Review of 2017
11 December Rock and Roll Bingo
This was an unusual start to the Christmas season and a trip down Memory Lane. Many of us were able to sing along to these very old songs and it didn’t seem that long ago that we heard them first time round! A lot of fun. Thank you to Jackie Oakley for organising the games.
13 November Annual Meeting and Quiz
Our President, Amanda, was re-elected for another year. We also welcomed 3 new ladies onto the committee, Annie Ward, Sue Kitson and Paula Willcock. Amanda thanked the committee for the work they have done this year and gave particular thanks to Margaret Rice and Angela Docis who are standing down. Janice Meeham was also thanked for the wonderful raffles she has arranged this year. All received gifts from the President as did the Tellers from Camberley WI.
The Financial Report was presented to the meeting by June, the Treasurer, and the Committee’s Annual Report was read out by Caroline, the Secretary. Both were warmly received and accepted by members. Before giving her address, the President read the byelaws of our WI to members and no changes were made. After the President’s address, Judy Campbell proposed an official vote of thanks to the President and members of the Committee for their work this past year and the President gave gifts to her fellow Committee members.
Following the business part of the meeting and refreshments, we enjoyed an entertaining quiz based on the year 2012, the year in which our WI was formed.
9 October Reflexology
Sadly our evening of reflexology with Liz Guthrie couldn’t take place. However, Ken Clark, our local historian, stepped in at the last minute, and despite having no projector, gave a fascinating talk illustrated by several amusing anecdotes and jokes. He took us through some of the most important aspects of our history, from the local highwaymen, the building of the Royal Military Academy and the Staff College to the coming of the railway.
W then enjoyed our special fifth birthday refreshments which included bubbly and a diamond birthday cake made by Sylvia Gardner.
11 September ‘From Moscow to Milk of Magnesia’
It really was a case of Moscow to Milk of Magnesia and what a fascinating talk it was. Sheila joined the Foreign Office in the 1960s when she was a very young woman. During her career, she worked in the British Embassies in Moscow, Saigon and Washington D.C. and in the High Commission in Singapore. She shared some of the many adventures and experiences she had had during that time. Following her marriage, Sheila lived in Germany and Abu Dhabi and subsequently in Guildford, where she worked for Stirling Health who made Milk of Magnesia. Sheila illustrated her talk with props and music and proved to be a very engaging and excellent speaker.
10 July Rock Choir
Danny Gortler and members from the Camberley Rock Choir introduced us to choral singing with a difference which even the most reluctant of us enjoyed. After the choir sang ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ by the Beatles they dispersed amongst the audience. Danny began a workshop to teach us the song by dividing us and the choir members into sopranos, high and low altos and bass – not by voice but by where we were sitting. That was our first challenge! We then practised the various parts section by section. Having the choir amongst us gave us confidence and volume!Danny proved to be a very engaging and dynamic choir leader and it wasn’t long before all of us were singing along and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.
We followed this with a discussion about the local charities that we wished to make donations to. Three were suggested by members: Activity Extra – providing activities for young disabled adults; Homestart –providing support for families with young children; and KatCanDo- a charity that provides resources not supplied by the NHS for cancer patients. Members felt that all 3 local charities were well deserving and so it was agreed that the money would be split between them.
12 June Cream Tea and Social Evening
Before our cream team, we listened to a talk by Kendra and Hilary from the charity KatCanDo charity. This is a local cancer charity which was started in 2004 by Kate Coles when she was having treatment for cancer. She found out that cancer care services could not afford all the latest equipment and services that they needed and decided to do something about it. Sadly, Kate died in 2006 but her family and friends are continuing KatCanDo’s fundraising. Since it started, KatCanDo has donated over £280,000 to local organisations which assist and contribute to the well-being, health and treatment of cancer patients in this area. This is a very worthwhile cause and one that many of our members support.
After last year’s popular cream tea to celebrate the Queen’s birthday we decided to have another one year on. No excuse needed and we all enjoyed the chance to chat with friends.
8 May A Taste of Spain
After discussing and voting for the Resolutions, the President handed over to Chris and Quentin from Majestic Wine for a talk and tasting session about Spanish wine. Chris has visited to us before and he is an informative and passionate speaker. He introduced us to 5 Spanish wines and one sherry which we enjoyed along with some tapas chosen to complement the wines. At the end of the demonstration, the President informed us that Chris had generously chosen to waive his fee for the evening and asked that the money be donated to one of our chosen charities instead.
10 April Camberley past and present
Our original speaker was unable to come to the meeting so Ken Clarke, a local historian, and David Powell, the Chairman of the Camberley Society, stepped in and gave us an interesting talk which left us wanting to learn even more about Camberley. Ken took us through the main events in the history of Camberley, telling us first about the about the two most famous local highwaymen – William Davies, the Golden Farmer, and Claude Duval – who have two local pubs named after them. We then found out about the development of Camberley which began because of the building of the Royal Military Academy and then, later, the Staff College. He followed this by telling us about the coming of the railway to Camberley. His talk was full of amusing anecdotes. This talk was followed by David Powell who explained the purpose of the Camberley Society and updated us on the recent proposals for the development of the town centre.
13 March Craft Evening
The craft evening is always very popular and members can learn another skill while sharing experiences. We signed up for two choices of craft activity from the seven we had to choose from. These included iris folding, sugar craft Easter Bunnies, decopatch, needle felting, floral table centres, cross stitch and a demonstration on making stained glass.
It was a busy evening with everyone joining in and taking great pride in their achievements. We had fun learning new skills whilst chatting with friends although at times we were concentrating so hard the silence was deafening! Most members left with something they had made and some with ideas to start a new hobby. Amanda, our President, thanked Debbie, Katie, Hilary, Margaret, Caroline, Marie and Sylvia for all they had done to make the evening a success and presented each of them with a plant as a token of thanks.
13 February Behind the Scenes at Waitrose
Our speaker, Elliott Currie and his assistant Emily, work at Waitrose in Bagshot. Elliott is 26 years old and the Deputy Manager of the supermarket. He has worked for Waitrose for 7 years, having started when he was 19 at Waitrose in Sunningdale. Since then he has studied for a degree and worked in a number of Waitrose supermarkets around the area. After watching a short video about the history of Waitrose and its founding principles, Elliott spoke to us about its future and the corresponding challenges. His obvious passion and pride for the business shone through in his speaking. Elliott then answered questions from the audience and left us some Waitrose goodies to enjoy. He was a very enthusiastic and interesting speaker.
Amanda, Elliott and Emily with some of the delicious food we sampled
9 January Ballroom and Latin Dancing / WI Resolutions
Sadly we couldn’t start the new year as intended and exercise away the Christmas calories with our own version of Strictly as Carole Hellewell was ill. In true WI spirit President Amanda produced a really enjoyable quiz and of course we were able to catch up with friends over some delicious refreshments – more calories! We also had the chance to vote on the Resolutions; a difficult choice as there were so many deserving causes. Looking at the programme for 2017, we have an interesting and fun year ahead.