July in WeyBay WI is usually a beach party but this year the monthly meeting took on a different idea, with over 50 members enjoying a Tea Dance to celebrate the 80 years D-Day Commemorations. The theme was to dress in 1940s vintage outfits, which ranged from lovely tea dance dress to land girls, music was by Glen Miller and a delicious cream tea with Prosecco was provided in boxes for members. Everyone said it was good to do something differently, to mix it up a bit, and they had enjoyed a wonderful time.
The Weymouth Angling Club has proved to be a popular town centre venue for WI members and ideal for meetings and other get togethers. On Saturday 6 July 2024 the WeyBay WI ladies had a cake and coffee fundraiser for Weldmar Hospice. A total of £420 was raised. A big thank you to everyone who contributed and all the help from the Angling Club.
For the first time this year, members were able to sit in the sun overlooking the harbour boats, to enjoy a drink before the start of the June meeting. Steve Belasco, local press former photographer gave a talk on his varied career with a selection of wonderful photos. At the May meeting, with speaker Charlie Wheeler from Abbotsbury Swannery, the president Sheila Vogwell listed a series of future events; a walk with an herbalist around Portland, special card making craft session, a coffee morning to be held at the Angling Club. The usual tradition of having a special outdoor meeting in July is going to be in a different form this year, to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day the meeting will be a cream tea and dance with members encouraged to dress in the style of the era. An informal get together will be organised on the beach in place of the August meeting. Details of all events and those from Dorset Federation WIs are sent to members by email. The town is getting busier, and summer feels as if is finally here. Enjoy the celebrations have a good summer.
Photo Steve Belasco showing his books on Dorset with President Sheila Vogwell
Hats! February's meeting of WeyBay Wi was a fun evening of modelling hats and finding more about the millinery trade. What a great way to cheer up miserable time of year. Full details of the evening are on the News pages and lots more photos in the Gallery.
Thank you to Sue Snook from Snooks Hatters and Outfitters of Bridport.
Thank you to Helen Stones who made the Fishing Cup Cakes, very creative.
WeyBay hosted a coffee morning in support of the Weymouth Angling Club Juniors. The club has been a great venue for WeyBay to hold their meetings and workshops, and the staff and committee have been very helpful, so it was felt apt to give the Angling Club some support. It was fortunate that it was a lovely day and there was a good turnout of club members and friends along with the Angling Club members. The club made a donation of £550. Sheila Vogwell WeyBay President thanked everyone for their contributions and passed on thanks from the committee of the Angling Club.
Committee members got their aprons on and supplied a magnificent display of cakes for a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. A big thank you to Sue Murray for her wonderful strawberry cake – very scrummy, Gwyneth Brewster for her beautiful cake and Lesley Bryne for the donation of champagne. We had some very happy prize-winners. The morning raised £360.00 for the charity.
Autumn arrived with vengeance, schools have gone back and WeyBay member enjoyed getting back together for their first meeting after the summer break. The committee has constructed a full programme of meetings and trips to look forward to. The September meeting, at the usual venue of the Angling Club on Commercial Road, was a talk from the Medical Detection Dogs charity. Medical Detection Dogs trains dogs to detect the odour of human disease with the aim of developing faster, more efficient and less invasive diagnostics that lead to better patient outcomes. Many people will have heard of their work during the Covid epidemic but they do an awful lot more than that. The dogs are surprising the scientific world with their abilities. https://www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk/ The charity is supported by our Queen who has a particular love of dogs and has raised a huge amount of sponsorship.
The October meeting was the traditional Country Fayre with a theme of Beautiful Dorset. Details and photos of the popular event are in the News pages. This year's new category was to write a poem and it attracted several entries. What talented members! Check out the winning entry from Gwyneth Brewster.
Some members have joined with other Dorset WI members for a talk by Ann Widdecombe with a lunch. She is a very lively and amusing speaker with a host of stories to tell of her time in Westminster and on the television. A further lunch at the RNLI in Poole was a great success. Details and photos are in the News pages. The annual DFWI meeting in Poole on 12 October had Ann Jones NFWI Chair and Rev Kate Bottley as speakers. A team on members will be representing WeyBay at both events.
Along with the usual walking groups and lunch clubs and charity coffee mornings there is plenty in the autumn calendar. Details are emailed to members.
With summer receding, we couldn't help reliving the wonderful July meeting, which traditionally takes place at a local outdoor venue. For this year's gathering, over fifty members joined in the festivities at the delightful Greenhill Beach in Weymouth. The event was nothing short of magical on a lovely summer evening in July.
The attendees were treated to a delicious spread of fish and chips, perfectly rounded off with refreshing ice cream. They brought their own drinks and chairs to sit on. The relaxed atmosphere was a far cry from the usual summer commitments of visitors and traffic congestion. Some of the braver members were even encouraged to take a refreshing swim.
ANNIVERSARY ALBUM
The celebrations for the ten-year anniversary of WeyBay WI in April 2020 were suddenly and very disappointingly put on hold (it is still hoped to have some celebrations in 2021) but it was decided to put together the memories of the first ten years into a photo book. What a lot of memories and a lot of work to put them together into a coherent format to reflect the diverse activities, and the fun that everyone had. The photo book is now published and will be available to see when the WI is able to have its next meeting. But reminiscing over the past years has reminded us again of how important WeyBay has become for so many members and the certainly that it will continue to provide this support to members again as we come out of the pandemic.
Photo shows the original poster in March 2010 inviting everyone to come to the first meeting and a memory of the first venue at The Clipper in St Thomas St.
PRIVACY NOTICE
Your privacy is important to WeyBay WI. This privacy notice provides information about the personal information that we collect and the ways in which we use it.
When do we collect personal information about you?
We will collect personal information from you when you join or communicate with us by any means.
What happens to your personal information?
a. Contact details will be input into the NFWI Members Communication System (MCS) which is password protected.
b. We will also hold details of current members for administration and communication purposes.
c. For non members we will only capture the minimum amount of information that we need in relation to your visit or enquiry.
Who will hold the information?
Information will be held securely by designated person/s, usually an Officer, who requires it for administration purposes. Electronic files will be password protected and paper copies will be held securely.
How do we use your personal information?
There are legitimate reasons to hold personal information for running the WI, to comply with legal obligations or to carry out a contract to which you are a party. For any other purposes we will request your consent.
Do we share your personal information?
We will not sell, rent or lease your personal details to a third party but reserve the right to disclose personal information for legal or regulatory obligations or proceedings and for auditing purposes.
How long do we keep your personal information?
We will erase your personal information immediately when you cease to be a member, hold office, your enquiry is complete or you wish to withdraw your consent, other than for that held for administrative and financial purposes.
What are your personal rights?
You are entitled to ask us to see your personal information, correct it or have it deleted. You have the right to be forgotten. You can also ask us to restrict how we use it.
What about personal details on websites?
We will not use your personal information on our website or within any form of social media, without your consent, but we will not be responsible for the privacy practices of the the web or content of linked websites.
Who do I contact about personal information that has been collected?
Firstly contact our WI Secretary and/or DFWI Federation Secretary about your concern. If they cannot resolve it you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commission’s Office at www.ico.org.uk/concerns
Our contact email: reception-dfwi@uwclub.net