Shelley Richmond talks about Rain Rescue and how photos can save furry lives.

November is always an exciting month, as it's our group Annual Meeting….. Which means we get to sing Jerusalem. Our youngest attendee Polly also joined us in song which was wonderful, a future member indeed! 

Kirsty took us through her first presidential address. Laura took us through the highlights of our year which were many. It's so great to look back over the last 12 months and see what we've achieved in our Centenary Year with both a new President and Secretary. Vicky took us through our financial statement and we have a healthy bank balance once again meaning that we can continue to offer the very popular Denmark bursaries. 

After a quick break we were onto our speaker. We were joined by Shelley Richmond, although not to craft with felt as per the programme, but instead to talk about her work with Rain Rescue. 

Rain Rescue are a Registered Charity founded in 2002. They are dedicated to supporting the local community by ensuring the provision of a reputable rescue centre to help pets in true crisis. Rain Rescue has saved the lives of thousands of dogs and cats from crisis situations in and around Yorkshire. Primarily savings dogs due to be put to sleep in the stray kennels and cats abandoned on the street who have no one else to care for them. Shelley showed us some images which were upsetting to some (I may have been squeezing Zoe and Anna's hands a bit tight… sorry about that!) and a few moist eyes dotted the room. 

Shelley’s passion and love for dogs was clear as she told us about a few cases, Colin in particular stuck in my mind. He was in a bad way when Rain Rescue picked him up, with awful injuries inflicted by heartless people. Rain Rescue has nursed him back to full health and Colin is also one of the stars featured in the Rain Rescue calendar which Shelley has taken photographs for. 

Photo by Shelley Richmond

The meeting ended on a high note hearing the recovery stories and seeing the ‘after’ photos. We also got to know about Shelley’s mission to change how people feel about the Staffy breed and their owners through a series of beautiful photos. Thank you to Shelley for her visit and to her and Rain Rescue for all they do for vulnerable animals. 

Sarah Willoughby
Committee member

President's blog: Thoughts on 2015

It’s been another fantastic year for Seven Hills WI. We’re still at maximum capacity for members and we’ve had a brilliant programme to keep us entertained. Personal highlights for me include Cheerleading and Dr Nate Adams. 

Cheerleading in 2015

Fundraising has become such a huge part of our group and I’m happy to say we’ve continued to raise massive amounts of money for our charity of the year, Sayit. Our total this year is £1055.69 so well done to everyone who baked for Sheffield Food Festival or came along to our Centenary event. Next year I would like to organise an extra fundraising event or challenge for our charity so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. 

Sheffield Food Festival 2015

One of my personal goals as President is to make members feel welcome and more included in the group. It can be hard when we have such a large group and when I’m personally very busy trying to get things ready at the start and end of meetings. I think we have got better at making members feel more included. We’ve had more and more newbies get involved, join spin-off groups and even feel like they want to join the committee after one year. I’d like to thank Lucy and Kat for organising a record number of meals out for SHWI Eats. Events like these really help people get to know each other and I think we’ve had much more than the usual faces come to events other than meetings. There is more to do and I hope we can build on this next year. 

Spin-off SHWI eats event at Bhaji Shop

On to the committee. We’ve had a few people stand down this year so I’d like to thank them for their hard work. Caryl Carson, Chella Quint, Leanne Sunter and Carly Sunter - thank you for everything you have done for SHWI and I hope you to see you at meetings in the future.

Our committee for 2016 is:

President - Kirsty Bowen

Secretary - Laura Bainbridge

Treasurer - Vicky Porteous-Medley

Vice President & Programme Co-ordinator - Jennifer Marsden

Assistant Secretary - Grace Tebbutt

Assistant Treasurer - Bex Lissaman

Meeting Attendance Secretary - Jodie Winters

Newsletter Editor - Sam Foster

Programme Co-ordinator - Rachel White

Meeting Co-ordinator - Liz Needes

SHWI Ambassadors - Anna Pilson, Alice Bullas, Sarah Willougby, Karin Safwenberg-Barnes, Chelle Cook

Next year we have a fantastic programme of events - more details to be announced soon!

Finally I’d like to say it’s been an honour to be President in the Centenary year. I’ve been lucky enough to have some fantastic opportunities and represent you in this year including appearing on the Great British Menu. 

BBC/Optomen Television Ltd/Andrew Hayes-Watkin

I will be stepping down at our AM in 2016 and I hope then, I will be able to look back at another successful year where the WI has enriched our lives and helped people where we can. 

The WI has been a force for good and for change for 100 years. I’d like to finish with a saying inspired by our WI friend, Joanne Croxford’s own motto - "Deeds not Words":

‘Fine words butter no parsnips’

I hope to our WI can continue to make positive change for our lives and our wider community in 2016. 

Kirsty Bowen
President

Annual Meeting, new President and plenty of Henderson's Relish

I wanted to start this month's blog with saying one final thank you and farewell to our founding President and Secretary - Lindsay Garfitt and Kim Whelan. Without them, I probably would't be a member of a WI today and I wouldn't have made the friendships I have made. The success of Seven Hills WI is a testament to the hard work they have put into the group since 2009. So thank you so much.

From left to right: Kirsty, Lindsay, Kim and Laura

Since we waved goodbye to Lindsay and Kim last month, we've had the excitement of our SHWI getaway, our successful Christmas market plus Laura, Vicky and I appeared on Sheffield Live TV. It's been a jam-packed start to my term as President!

November soon came round and it was time for our meeting. Part of being in the committee is to organise our meetings and Lindsay and Kim have always been a huge part of making them run smoothly. That means getting to Electric Works before our members, making sure the tables and chairs are all out and ready, teas and coffees are prepared and any activities set up. It was somewhat daunting to realise that this was down to Laura and I now. I got to Electric Works ridiculously early and was soon met by Laura Bainbridge, our new Secretary. We looked at each other and laughed - our faces both said 'so what are we supposed to do now?'.

Of course we knew. Laura has been a member of Seven Hills WI from the very start. She lives and breathes WI - baking for our food festival, attending federations events and always first to help with our campaigns and activities. Well-respected by other local WI's, Laura will make a fab secretary - she has the pencil skirt and sexy specs down.

Sam Foster, our new meeting attendance secretary, Treasurer Vicky P-M and Vice Treasurer Leanne Sunter had a busy night. It was the last chance for our current members to have their membership guaranteed for 2015 so we had a good turn out of familiar faces wanting to get their place for next year.

It was also our annual meeting - a chance for us to review the highlights of the last year. Laura had spent hours putting together a brilliant presentation running through everything SHWI had done since October last year - that's a lot of stuff! It included our food festival fundraising, the start of SHWI Mad Skillz, ceilidh dancing and our Christmas party. Vicky P-M also gave us a run though of finances where everything is ship shape and shiny. Then we had our yearly rousing rendition of Jerusalem (one member did ask me if we would be singing every meeting from now on but unfortunately I don't think we would be able to fit it in every week!).

Laura's presentation for our annual meeting

Our guest speaker was Jim Connolly, illustrator and artist. Jim grew up in Sheffield but has moved to Manchester now and works freelance at home. He showed us some of his illustrations, prints and commissions which was great to see. I particularly enjoyed seeing the designs he has done for Kelham Island brewery's beer pump clips.

Jim Connolly and one of his most iconic pieces

As Jim has been inspired by Sheffield's favourite condiment, Henderson's Relish in his artwork, we asked him to be a judge for our Hendo's bake-off. Aided by condiment expert, Anna P, Jim got to taste some fantastic bakes including two sets of muffins - one with chedder and the other wensleydale as well as spicy sausage rolls which went down a treat. It was a close competition and Karin Safwenberg was runner-up with her incredible pork pie with cheese centre and hendo's jelly. But the winner once again was Sam Foster with her homemade blinis topped with mozarella, tomato, basil and Henderson's Relish caviar. That's right - CAVIAR. I think we might have to ban her from the next competition, she is just too good. A big thanks to Paul Cocker for donating the prize - a copy of the new Henderson's Relish cook book.

It was soon time to end the meeting and our members did a fab job of clearing away tea cups, tables and chairs. We were out of the door in record time so thanks very much ladies!

Hope to see lots of you at our Christmas Party on the 4th December at Haggler's Corner. If not, see you next month for Secret Santa, Christmas food and our annual quiz!

Kirsty Bowen
President

Four Ladies Go to Leeds - SHWI at the WI Annual Meeting

A damp and grey Saturday morning dawned and four SHWI ladies braved the inclement weather on the M1 North to Leeds for the WI Annual General Meeting. Over five thousand ladies were present from all corners of the United Kingdom brought together by a mutual bond and a love of bunting.

The AGM took place at the Leeds First Direct Arena

The meeting was opened, business discussed and the resolutions raised. This year, the resolution proposed highlighting and promoting the importance of making friends and relatives aware while living of your wishes after death, specifically the donation of organs and tissues. A delicate subject, handled with the decency and gravitas it deserved. All speakers were informed, eloquent and thought-provoking, even the lady tasked with the difficult assignment of arguing against organ donation found it hard not to support the resolution. The floor was opened then to members of the delegation, I think it would be fair to say there were few WI members not moved to tears as we heard tales of a mother who consented to her 10 year-old son's organs being donated, or the lady who was able to see because of a double cornea transplant and the lady who’s donated kidney allowed her to live. With this, the resolution was passed with a 98% majority. Given that the UK has one of the highest family refusal rates in Europe, this motion has such a fantastic potential to save a huge number of lives.

Following the resolution debate was a talk on poetry, literature and the importance of saving our nation's countryside from Sir Andrew Motion. His passion for improving the housing crisis through the use of brown field sites rather than encroaching on our ever-diminishing green belt was almost palpable.

The lunch break came soon after and the SHWI ladies nipped off for a refreshing beverage and cheap lunch at a local Wetherspoons. Luckily, other WIs had the same idea and the Hedley Verity pub was soon invaded by members of Tea and Tarts WI, Cambridge Blue Belles WI, Cookridge Crumpets WI, Holmfirth WI and more. 

WIs from around the country gathered for lunch

The afternoon commenced with a harrowing talk on the worldwide effects of deforestation by Dr George McGavin, failing to protect the nation's rainforests will ultimately lead to their complete destruction, the loss of entire ecosystems and the extinction of species we have yet to discover. The knock-on effects of this would be catastrophic for us in ways we are as yet unable to imagine, but it is within our powers to prevent it. As Dr McGavin highlighted, Plan A is to protect as much natural environment as possible, which will take an immediate, co-ordinated, international effort. This is of such importance because there is no Plan B.

The next item on the agenda was exciting for all - the plans for the WI's Centenary year. Wheels are already in motion to celebrate this auspicious event with the Baton relay underway, the history/cookbook (a double threat and a must for any bookshelf) being published, the documentary due to air and the centenary AGM to be held in the Royal Albert Hall. Each and every WI was encouraged to celebrate our 100th birthday in their own way. If any SHWI-ers have ideas for how this can be done please let the committee know!

The final speaker of the day was the ever effervescent Bill Turnbull, talking about the art of reluctant beekeeping, working at the BBC, sequins and Strictly Come Dancing and how to use the punchline 'hung like a donkey' infront of HRH Queen Elizabeth. An entertaining, light-hearted talk to round off the day - and apparently even the most experienced of television presenters still fears the infamous WI slow clap.

Kirsty, Sarah and Sam from SHWI

Five thousand ladies singing Jerusalem rounded off the day, reminding us all that the WI is more than just making friends and learning. We are part of a movement, we are part of history, and in our own way we have the power to change the country for the better. It was a moment that brought goosebumps out on the skin of even the most sceptical delegates. Roll on our centenary and here's to the next 100.

Sam Foster
SHWI Member