In this section, you can read about any news relating to the Forest Group, CFWI or NFWI. Don't forget to keep an eye on emails from Avril who circulates all communications from CFWI and NFWI.
CFWI Annual Council Meeting, 23rd March 2026
Six members of Kelsall WI attended the CFWI annual council meeting at Nunsmere Hall Hotel on Monday 23rd March 2026. The formal business of the meeting was completed briskly and efficiently by the chair Selina Prescott. Each subcommittee chairwoman gave a brief report of their past and upcoming events. Cheshire is the largest federation in the country and our trustees provide a very varied and comprehensive programme. We were informed that the WI presence at the Royal Cheshire Show will be back to the pre- 2025 format but on a smaller scale. Members were encouraged to support it.
Cheshire federation receives a share of the profits from the NFWI raffle. In 2025 money from our share was donated to the Countess of Chester Hospital towards the purchase of three new blood bikes.
The morning speaker was Cllr. Sherin Aktar, the Lord Mayor of Chester. Sherin is the 808th mayor of Chester, the youngest and the first British Muslim woman to hold office. She was inspirational: she gave a synopsis of her political career and an insight into her year in office. Her two main charities have been Women's Aid Chester and the Heath Youth Club. She was very complementary about the contribution WI makes in the community and she plans to join Upton WI at the end of her term of office.
The afternoon speaker was Will Kirk; his talk was delivered in the form of a question-and-answer session with Wendy Morris, CFWI's social and media chair. It was a lively and interesting discussion, followed by some interesting questions from the attendees.
At the close of the meeting Selina Prescott was given a gift in recognition of her hard work and leadership over the past four years. Our new chair is Anne Beckett and Anne Pye will take on the roll of Country Treasurer. See below for a photo of Pat receiving her signed copy of Will Kirk's book Restore.
Words/Photo: Pat
Six members of Kelsall WI attended the CFWI annual council meeting at Nunsmere Hall Hotel on Monday 23rd March 2026. The formal business of the meeting was completed briskly and efficiently by the chair Selina Prescott. Each subcommittee chairwoman gave a brief report of their past and upcoming events. Cheshire is the largest federation in the country and our trustees provide a very varied and comprehensive programme. We were informed that the WI presence at the Royal Cheshire Show will be back to the pre- 2025 format but on a smaller scale. Members were encouraged to support it.
Cheshire federation receives a share of the profits from the NFWI raffle. In 2025 money from our share was donated to the Countess of Chester Hospital towards the purchase of three new blood bikes.
The morning speaker was Cllr. Sherin Aktar, the Lord Mayor of Chester. Sherin is the 808th mayor of Chester, the youngest and the first British Muslim woman to hold office. She was inspirational: she gave a synopsis of her political career and an insight into her year in office. Her two main charities have been Women's Aid Chester and the Heath Youth Club. She was very complementary about the contribution WI makes in the community and she plans to join Upton WI at the end of her term of office.
The afternoon speaker was Will Kirk; his talk was delivered in the form of a question-and-answer session with Wendy Morris, CFWI's social and media chair. It was a lively and interesting discussion, followed by some interesting questions from the attendees.
At the close of the meeting Selina Prescott was given a gift in recognition of her hard work and leadership over the past four years. Our new chair is Anne Beckett and Anne Pye will take on the roll of Country Treasurer. See below for a photo of Pat receiving her signed copy of Will Kirk's book Restore.
Words/Photo: Pat
FOREST GROUP CAROL CONCERT 1st December 2025
Methodist Church, Kelsall
FOREST AUTUMN MEETING 2025
Monday 13th October at 2.30 pm at Tarporley Community Centre.
Being keen on sewing myself, I found Debra Drake's talk, who was a finalist on the Great British Sewing Bee 2022, very interesting. Debra explained she had started sewing when she was 9 years old and with this love of fashion went on to gain an HND in Fashion and Design, but chose not to pursue this as a career. After 20 years working in the corporate world of Communication and Events and when her son was older, she took up sewing again. Debra was amazed when she applied to go on the Sewing Bee and was accepted to go on the show. She won garment of the week three times and was a finalist. Debra now specialises in making "Chanel" type jackets and runs workshops on how to construct these bespoke jackets. She has recently been offered a job at a top fashion and design college.
Susan Vincent
Methodist Church, Kelsall
FOREST AUTUMN MEETING 2025
Monday 13th October at 2.30 pm at Tarporley Community Centre.
Being keen on sewing myself, I found Debra Drake's talk, who was a finalist on the Great British Sewing Bee 2022, very interesting. Debra explained she had started sewing when she was 9 years old and with this love of fashion went on to gain an HND in Fashion and Design, but chose not to pursue this as a career. After 20 years working in the corporate world of Communication and Events and when her son was older, she took up sewing again. Debra was amazed when she applied to go on the Sewing Bee and was accepted to go on the show. She won garment of the week three times and was a finalist. Debra now specialises in making "Chanel" type jackets and runs workshops on how to construct these bespoke jackets. She has recently been offered a job at a top fashion and design college.
Susan Vincent
CFWI AUTUMN MEETING 2025 at the Storyhouse, Chester
The meeting didn't begin well - there were huge problems in the region with travel on road and rail meaning that many didn't arrive at 9am as planned but drifted in as traffic allowed! But 800 members still made the journey to support our wonderful speakers.
The morning session was filled with inspiration due to three incredible women - Charl Tinne from Cale Green WI who shared how the support of her WI empowered her, Samantha Phillis, also from Cale Green who told funny stories about her busy life, and finally NFWI Chair Jefyl Stone who joined us with a look at how WI is evolving to inspire the members of the future.
Our meeting was made extra special by our Afternoon Speaker, Aled Jones. He was warm, friendly and engaging, sharing stories from his incredible career, meeting remarkable people and embracing exciting new opportunities, whilst staying true to his roots. He wasn't able to stay as long as planned as he had to get back to London for rehearsals for the musical Elf at the Aldwych Theatre, but we're so grateful he was able to join us and we're sure all our members left with smiles on their faces.
There were a dozen Kelsall WI members at the event and if you're sharp eyed you might spot 3 familiar faces in the third row on the right. The others are not so easy to find but they all enjoyed the day.
Fiona
The meeting didn't begin well - there were huge problems in the region with travel on road and rail meaning that many didn't arrive at 9am as planned but drifted in as traffic allowed! But 800 members still made the journey to support our wonderful speakers.
The morning session was filled with inspiration due to three incredible women - Charl Tinne from Cale Green WI who shared how the support of her WI empowered her, Samantha Phillis, also from Cale Green who told funny stories about her busy life, and finally NFWI Chair Jefyl Stone who joined us with a look at how WI is evolving to inspire the members of the future.
Our meeting was made extra special by our Afternoon Speaker, Aled Jones. He was warm, friendly and engaging, sharing stories from his incredible career, meeting remarkable people and embracing exciting new opportunities, whilst staying true to his roots. He wasn't able to stay as long as planned as he had to get back to London for rehearsals for the musical Elf at the Aldwych Theatre, but we're so grateful he was able to join us and we're sure all our members left with smiles on their faces.
There were a dozen Kelsall WI members at the event and if you're sharp eyed you might spot 3 familiar faces in the third row on the right. The others are not so easy to find but they all enjoyed the day.
Fiona
