WeyBay continues with their AGM and a new year of activities and friendships.  Minutes of the April meeting and the AGM are published in the Meetings pages.  Many thanks to the committee and those members who have organised the amazing array of events during the past year.  And there are plenty of plans for the coming year.  Members will be emailed with details of upcoming dates and how to book.

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.

The year has started with a cold chill but WeyBay has a lot to look forward to in 2024.  The first meeting welcomes Anna Kent. She will talk about her experience as nurse and midwife working with Medecins Sans Frontieres.  A full programme of speakers for 2024 is now available to view on the Meetings page.

The members are also invited to consider the resolutions set by the NFWI.  All members are asked to make a choice and vote.  Subjects this year include dentistry, gambling, women in prison and poor housing.  Full details are on the Meeting page.

Christmas is a busy time for Weybay members.  They held their Annual Christmas Party at the Angling Club where 60 members attended .  The theme was sparkle and the ladies did sparkle. They were served delicious food by the Committee which was provided by Loose Mose Catering ,   Afterward the members danced the night away with music from Paul and Abbey.  The raffle was generously supported and a £100 was donated to the Weymouth Food Bank.  Members commented on what a great evening and thanks also go to Angling Club Staff for their support .

Dorset Federation of Wis hold two carol services at Wimborne Minster and Sherborne Abbey.  A group from WeyBay joined other Dorset WI’s at Wimborne Minster this year.  The Minster is a beautiful venue for a service to start the Christmas celebrations with history going back to Saxon times and decorated for the season with lights and natural foliage.  The WI choir led the singing of the traditional seven carols and readings from members. 

Christmas Greetings to all.

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