Hoath with District WI
Hoath Women's Institute meets in Hoath village hall on the third Thursday of the month (except August) at 7.30 p.m.
With 40 members and an average of 30 each month, there is still room for more. Our members come from all over the surrounding district including Marshside, Chislet, Beltinge, Herne Bay, Sturry and even as far a field as Birchington.
Our current President is Barbara Milne, who with her committee of 12 meets the Thursday prior to each meeting to discuss past meetings and plan our future events. At our meetings on the 3rd Thursday of the month, except for August, we cover the record of the previous meeting; any correspondence from the National Federation, as well as our local office in Canterbury, and record our financial status.
We inform members of forthcoming events, social activities and hear reports from our sub-committees. Members whose birthdays fall in the current month receive a posy of flowers, made by one of our committee members. Refreshments are provided by our members each month, which are always delicious. We are keen supporters of Fair Trade products, as much as possible and this year some of us have taken up the carbon footprint challenge to help reduce their footprint.
At every meeting, apart from our AGM in November and our Resolution meeting in May, we have a guest speaker. Recently we have covered a wide range of subjects including local history, hypnotherapy and Monet’s garden. Mike Inkster of the Gate Inn has also enthralled us with tales from his jungle marathon adventure. We always have one of our meetings during the year as an open meeting: when anyone who is not a member can attend and we even let the men in, so look out for that one, this year it’s December.
Our monthly competition enables members to show off their many skills and it usually relates to the speakers topic that month, but it must be their own work. We are always surprised at how many of our members have hidden talents in various crafts, painting, flower arranging, photography and cooking.
Our craft group, which meets at a member’s house on the 4th Thursday each month are currently working on a mural of Hoath houses, which seems to have adopted the title, The Hoath Hanging. It’s coming along well and hopefully it will soon be available for all to see.
We arrange various outings for our members to the Marlowe and have visited Restoration House in Rochester and recently enjoyed a very pleasant walk in Hythe. Our ladies that lunch group, also meet each month and have tried and tested many local eating houses with great success.
Each of our members has to pay an annual subscription of which we keep a proportion for our funds. Our subscription this year has risen to £27, which did raise a few eyebrows but does include a monthly magazine that is delivered directly to all our members. East Kent Federation also produces a monthly newsletter for all members, which gives information about the many activities and events within East Kent.
We have always taken an active part in the village, supporting events like the Village Market, Flower Festival and Fetes in Hoath and Chislet. Quite a few of our members also belong to the Gardening Club and take part in all their shows and events.
We have our own WI College in Oxford, where any of our members can sign up for one of the many 3,4 or 5 day courses available. Some of our members regularly visit each year and report they always have a great time learning new skills and making new friends. Every 2 years we award a bursary via a ballot, which gives one of our members a chance to go to the college.
Now and again we need to do some fundraising and this year we had a Nosh and Knowledge, which was well attended, as always.
In June the National Federation holds an annual meeting, this year it is in Liverpool and one of our members is attending. Each year National WI put forward resolutions to urge the government of the day to take action on a wide range of subjects, which in the past have included, care of the elderly, mentally ill and many environmental issues.
Our East Kent Federation holds an annual meeting every year in March.
This is always well attended by our members, as it’s a good opportunity to meet up with friends and fellow members. This year was no exception, mainly due to the speaker in the afternoon, which was Simon Weston, the Falklands veteran who was brilliant and very humbling.
Several of our members are volunteers for the WI Emergency group, which is part of the KCC Emergency Group. We may be called upon at short notice in the event of a local disaster or crisis, so far this year we have not been needed.
I have mentioned only a taster of what we do and there is so much more to discover. There is plenty of opportunity to learn something new as well as make new friends. I hope I have given you a taster of what the WI is all about and we like to think we are a lively, friendly group and that some of you will come along and join us for a cuppa.
Rosemary Crippin
President of Hoath & District WI
