I want to thank you for your kind words and feedback to me, over the past two years especially.

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It has kept me lifted and motivated.  And to be honest I’ve loved how we’ve embraced our online adaptations and even grown the membership!

As ever, our meetings are super engaging and hearing how you’ve enjoyed them has been pretty darn heart-warming.

 

I have spent three years as your President, and before that just under four years as part of your committee, and we made a lot of awesome things happen in that time. 

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WI has always been a great thing to focus on, even when my work, family life and addictions to craft have put pressure on me to be super productive.  Personally, for me, the most important thing has been getting to know people and developing common ground and friendships.  I feel proud to have been a person people feel comfortable approaching, but I am also happy that we now all have more opportunity to get to know even more people face-to-face.

 

We’ve also made a decision that the format of our meetings will be determined by what we want to learn and who can best teach or deliver that to us – and that will sometimes mean we take a monthly meeting back online as part of our programme – pandemic or no pandemic. 

 

Your WI has a great committee that has delivered behind the scenes to bring you awesome meeting content and has really supported one another.

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I would just like to start a round of applause for them! We wouldn’t have a WI without our committee. 

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• For Bron our Treasurer, and Mary as Assistant Treasurer, taking on new learning, keeping our accounts in check and making sure our understanding of our budget is clear. 

• For Maeva as our Secretary, working with me on our membership, comms and even loving doing our minutes!

• For Sheena who is our social queen, hosting our committee meetings, volunteering here there and everywhere. 

• For Kate, our campaigns manager, and for her great speaker input for our programme!

• And Jane, who’s input is always there for many of our discussions – she’s looking forward to getting back to her old cake fairy ways.
   

All of them have contributed immeasurably to the job I have to do – we make decisions together and share the work.

 

When the time comes later in this AM process for the new committee to form, I am expecting us to all stand again and keep going for the coming year.

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But what I really, really would LOVE, is more of our membership to join the committee tonight.  To come and get a feel for what we are doing to bring you a WI every month.  The WI will only ever be what you make it and the more of us there are, then the better ideas we have, and understanding of what you want.  It sounds trite but it’s so true, “more hands make lighter work”, so do stand up!

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Not going to lie, there will be personal challenges ahead for a few of us on committee in the next year, and I do not want to be in a position in May 2023 where all the fun has to stop because our membership has not stood up to take a turn in supporting it. 

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It’s a very real scenario that many a WI has suspended in the past two years, but even before the pandemic every WI always has an internal struggle to ensure their committees are strong enough and dynamic enough to keep going.

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So, I’m crossing my fingers that you want to join committee and help take Cam City WI into its next decade!  In October this year, Cam City WI will be 10 – double digit birthday guys!!  We will be needing a volunteer to make a mahoosive cake! 😉

 

We have a lot to look forward to in the coming year but I want to celebrate the contributors that really keep us going – for all the regulars of our clubs, embracing smaller interest groups.

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Thank you to Sarah for leading Book Club!  We have a forward plan for the coming year so plenty of time to get involved and plan your book worming.

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Thank you to Bron, Lisa and Yvonne (our sister from Blue Belles) for regularly leading our Walking Club.  They have been so much fun, especially when finished off with a roast.

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And to Kate for introducing Documentary Film Club (she promises she will always make sure I’m watching the right documentary – that’s friendship!)

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And to all who come along to Craft Club – we have to get onto ‘Mission Pom Pom’ in the summer for our hopeful Mill Road Winter Fair stall!  If everyone could be on the hunt for White, Black, Brown, Green, Red and grey wools – we’d really appreciate it 😊

 

So, in closing before we move on to the next part of the AM, I wish you another fantastic year of Cam City WI, enjoy the cake and don’t forget to sign up to the new rota and to stand to join your committee!! Honestly it is mega fun 😉 promise.