Please note that the NFWI Annual Meeting will take place in St David’s Hall in Cardiff on 25 May 2023. This will be a hybrid meeting, with both virtual and in-person attendance offered.
NFWI News December
THIS IS THE REPORT FROM SHARON GOFF, WHO REPRESENTED US AT THE WI AGM
IT IS A VERY INTERESTING READ
JACKIE
NFWI Annual General Meeting 5th June 2024
For those attending from East Kent Federation meant an early start, we were asked to be at the Wincheap Park & Ride in time to board the coach at 06.55. En route to London we stopped at Sittingboune Train Station to allow a further 10 members to board the Coach.
The event was scheduled to start at 10.30 which we thought would give us plenty of time, but sadly no, we arrived at 10.50 missing the opening of the meeting and Jerusalem. Knowing we would miss the ‘singing’ it was decided that those on the Coach would have our own rendition of Jerusalem at 10.30, which got us in the mood for the meeting.
We arrived in the auditorium whilst Anne Jones, Chair of the NFWI was delivering her ‘address’ and updating on the past year.
She was pleased to announce that there is a new relationship/partnership with a provider for the WI On Line Shop.
On 16th September the WI Lottery will be launched. Its currently in its final stages of development and further details will follow.
Anne informed us that this will be her last AGM as she was retiring after completing three years. Her successor was not named at the event however, it has been announced that Jeryl Stone will be our new Chair.
Next was the Financial update – full financial data has been signed off and will be uploaded onto My WI in due course.
The ‘Theme’ for conference was very much focused on Domestic Violence and Abuse’ and we joined by three main speakers.
Our first speaker was Nazir Afzal OBE
Background - Nazir was Chief Crown Prosecutor for NW England and formerly Director in London. Most recently, he was Chief Executive of the country’s Police & Crime Commissioners. During a 24 year career, he has prosecuted some of the most high profile cases in the country and advised on many other and led nationally on several legal topics including Violence against Women & Girls, child sexual abuse, and honour based violence. He was also involved in the Baby P case.
He had responsibility for more than 100,000 other prosecutions each year. His prosecutions of the so-called Rochdale grooming gang, BBC presenter Stuart Hall and hundreds of others were groundbreaking and drove the work that has changed the landscape of child protection. He is the Chair of Hopwood Hall. He was appointed to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). He is also National Adviser on Gender Based Violence to the Welsh Government. Most recently he joined the advisory board of Google’s Innovation Fund for counter-extremism.
The acclaimed BBC Film “Three Girls” was based on his case & featured Ace Bhatti playing the part of Nazir.
He shared some disturbing statistics:
5,000 women in the UK are forced into an arranged marriage each year 1 in 4 women suffer domestic abuse each week
1 in 5 are sexually abused each week
4 million are violent to their partner each year
2 are killed by their partner each week
10 kill themselves each week
These are worrying statistics and are certainly scary.
He gave a powerful example of how that a heavy sense of justice has
followed him throughout his career, in the late 1990s he was prosecuting
parents for sexual abuse of their child. As part of trial preparations he had
to watch the evidence – some of which included the father raping their
18-month old baby which was being filmed by the mother. he said:
“Then I go home and I've got an 18-month-old baby of my own and I hug
her and think: 'Well, actually, I don't have a job anymore. This is a mission.
This is more than a job. I've got to ensure that nobody suffers like that and
that those people are brought to justice.'
One lesson he has taken from his work is to listen to people, hear what they
have to say as very often victims are ignored .
He is very passionate about this subject and if you want to know more about his journey you can in his published book.
Following Nazir we moved onto the voting for the Resolution: Dental Health Matters.
Fore:
Anne – a WI member addressed the audience to argue for the Resolution. 2024 – Poor Dental Health is the main reason why children are being admitted to hospital.
12 million are unable to access a dentist.
Eddie Couch joined the ‘Fore Camp’ he is the Chair of the British Dental Association. He has 40 years’ experience and holds a Dental Degree.
Since its inception in 1880, the BDA has been the voice of dentistry in the UK. It is a trade union representing dentists and dental students in the UK and brings dentists together, supporting members through advice and education, and representing their interests.
Eddie was very much in favour of the WI supporting this Resolution.
Next we heard from Danielle from a Suffolk branch of the WI.
Not having access to a Dentist is the main reason for severe gum disease. Daneille also shared statistics:
1 in 47 ‘self treat’ their own mouth problems, with one lady removing 13 of her own teeth because she was in so much pain.
Mouth Cancer claims more lives than car crashes each year
50 million appointments have been lost since COVID.
A speaker to present the argument against the Resolution could not be found.
We moved onto Q&As from the auditorium.
A WI member who is also a Dentist shared some of her findings.
She saw a young boy for a routine check and saw ‘injuries’ in his mouth that she had never seen before and referred to her colleagues. It turned out that the boy had been ‘self harming’ to draw attention to him
She has seen an increase in Oral Cancer.
Armed Forces - as the job dictates that they move around, by the time they get up the top of the waiting list they have moved onto their next post.
She stressed that Basic Hygiene should start at home not at school with parents/guardians caring for children in their care.
With the Q&A section finished we left for the lunch break. Results will be read out once we are back from lunch.
Resolution Outcome:
Fore 4,578
Against 214
Motion carried to support this important Resolution.
Next we were joined by Melanie Brown MBE (Spice Girls) and Victoria Derbyshire in a ‘fireside chat/interview’ Victoria as the interviewer asked some pretty probing questions.
We listened to the horrendous coercive control and emotional abuse she suffered during her marriage. Her husnabd had even drawn her away from her mother & father and they hadn’t spoken for years, a bridge she has since built with her mum.
She told us about when she was a judge on X Factor when she could not join her fellow judges due to personal reasons then the following evening she joined the panel but was heavily made up to try conceal the injuries to her face, but wanted to prove she won’t be frightened to show the world the abuse she suffers.
The couple divorced in 2017 after 10 years of marriage, with Mel revealing last year that she now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which can lead to flashbacks.
Mel said she didn't realise how traumatised she was until after the release of her book Brutally Honest when she struggled to speak about the alleged abuse during interviews. It also highlights the abuse she suffered and her suicide attempt, and said she has no regrets about anything in the book,
including her revelations about her ex-partner.
She said: 'I didn't even realise for so many years that I was in a coercive relationship. It was only through doing my book that she began to fully understand the situation she had been living in for ten years. And she knows she is not the only one like that.'
The pivotal moment that turned her life around was her father’s ill health. She was in the US performing when she received a call to say her father’s health had deteriorated so she rushed back to the UK and went to see her father and saw how ill he was, she arranged for him to go into a Hospice with the expectation that he had days left. He stayed with the family for a further 3 1⁄2 weeks and the Doctors were amazed he had lasted so long and they felt he was holding on for something. Seeing her father so ill she bent over him and said ‘It is okay to go Dad and if you go now I promise I will leave my marriage, she said he then took his last breath. She returned to the US collected her children and came back to the UK and she never went back to him. You could hear a pin drop in the auditorium we were so intent on hearing her story.
One thought I had was how can someone who in the public eye appeared to be a very strong character can allow herself to be treated like this. It just enforces what people put up with and hide without family and friends even being aware of what is going on. A very strong lady.
As a result of what she experienced and her fight to escape, Mel B was asked to be the Patron of Women’s Aid where her daughter also works.
Mel finished by saying that she welcomed the introduction of The Domestic
Abuse Bill into law, with the new Act setting out the definition as being
beyond just physical violence and including coercive control and emotional
and sexual abuse.
Following Q&A’s from the audience we then moved onto the Prize Giving
Lady Denman Cup
WI members were encouraged to craft a letter, within a 500-word limit, in which they shared how the Women's Institute has shaped their individual journeys and influenced their personal development. In their letters,
members had the opportunity to reflect on the transformative power of the WI in their lives, illustrating how it has contributed to shaping them into the women they are today. The letters were encouraged to explore how their narratives could serve as a source of inspiration for other women and girls, ultimately motivating them to become part of the WI. These letters could either be addressed to a specific recipient or left open-ended to reach a broader audience.
From 77 entries across 38 Federations the winner was Susan Keefe from Wiltshire.
Recruitment Awards.
There are three categories for WIs in England and the Islands reflecting the increase membership as follows:
WIs with 24 members or under - Hayling Island 21 to 64
WIs with 25 to 50 members – Codicote 39 to 115
WIs with 51 members and over -Frinton by Sea from 147 to 198
We moved onto the final speaker, Timothy Watson who was joined by Theresa Parker who is Head of Media Brand and Relationships for Women’s Aid and interviewer Melissa Green who Ann Jones affectionally
called ‘Mel G’.
Timothy is a well-known and widely-experienced British actor. Since training at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, he has worked extensively in the West End, at The National Theatre. He has made countless TV and Film appearances and is a prolific voice artist.
Timothy talked about his experience on the Archers as Rob Titchener in the high-profile domestic abuse storyline between 2013 and 2016. The storyline followed Rob Titchener as he abused Helen Archer and used coercive control which alienated her from family and friends. His portray of this character as the abuser saw a different side to the abuse which Melanie Brown experienced during her marriage and Nazirs role as a Lawyer.
The theme of ‘Domestic Violence and Abuse’ chosen for the AGM was certainly a powerful one and saw three different sides to how this can have a lasting effect on those affected.
Women’s Aid is the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children. As a federation they provide life-saving services across England while building a future where domestic abuse is not tolerated. This year marks 50 years since the Women’s Aid federation in England was founded officially making this their golden anniversary.
While there’s been a lot of positive change since 1974, the reality for countless women and children today is still far from golden. We will not stop until women and children are safe from domestic abuse.
We ended the conference with final words from Ann Jones as her final speech as Chair of the NFWI. She reflected on the past three years, membership has increased by 82,000 making a total of 180,000 members. Ann said she was sad to be retiring but will leave the role of Chair in the capable hands of the next successor.
She finished by asking us to Reflect on our personal WI experiences and how we can use them to shape our own WI.
A very good AGM.
I won’t bore you with the journey home, but many of the members on the Coach from Canterbury area reached home around 9pm!
Sharon Goff
President Chestfield WI.