THE NFWI AGM , BOURNEMOUTH 5th JUNE 2019
In June 2008 the NFWI passed a resolution calling for an end to the inappropriate detention of people with mental health problems and in 2011 NFWI formed the Care not Custody Coalition with the Prison Reform Trust and this year’s AGM morning guest speaker was the The Rt. Hon. Lord Bradley of Withington, Chair of Care Not Custody. Lord Bradley gave an update on the Care Not Custody campaign and it was encouraging to hear how much has been achieved over the past ten years. The first resolution up for debate in the morning session was “A call against the decline in local bus services” proposed by Jackie Housham, Burniston and Cloughton WI and seconded by Valerie Stevens, Maiden Castle WI. The expert speaker who spoke in favour of the resolution was Darren Shirley, CEO of the Campaign for Better Transport and the expert who spoke against was Paul Buchanan, Partner at Voltera, a consultancy specialising in the economics of transport and property development. After comments from the floor the vote was taken. The resolution passed with a 96% majority.
The morning session also included a video showing a training event attended by some of the WI Climate Ambassadors who spoke passionately and eloquently about why they thought it is important to promote the NFWI’s climate change campaign in their local communities. There was a reminder to join the “The time is now “ mass lobby for climate and environmental action on Wednesday 26th June, 1pm Westminster, London.
After the lunch interval the second resolution “Don’t fear the smear” was debated. It was proposed by Sheila Knotts, Disley WI and seconded by Anna Kidd, N1 Islington WI. The expert speaker was Rob Music, CEO of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust. Due to the sensitivity of the topic there was no expert speaker to speak against the resolution but Hilary Haworth, a NFWI Trustee, put forward some points against the resolution. After comments from the floor the vote was taken. The resolution was passed with a 97% majority.
The afternoon speaker was Maggie Philbin, Broadcaster and CEO of the award winning organisation TeenTech. She touched briefly on her job as a presenter on Swap Shop and Tomorrow’s World but most of her talk was about TeenTech, an award winning organisation which helps young people see the wide range of career opportunities in science, technology and engineering. She is particularly interested in encouraging girls and young people from schools in disadvantaged areas. It was a very funny and heart warming talk.
(Avril Butler June 2019)
The morning session also included a video showing a training event attended by some of the WI Climate Ambassadors who spoke passionately and eloquently about why they thought it is important to promote the NFWI’s climate change campaign in their local communities. There was a reminder to join the “The time is now “ mass lobby for climate and environmental action on Wednesday 26th June, 1pm Westminster, London.
After the lunch interval the second resolution “Don’t fear the smear” was debated. It was proposed by Sheila Knotts, Disley WI and seconded by Anna Kidd, N1 Islington WI. The expert speaker was Rob Music, CEO of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust. Due to the sensitivity of the topic there was no expert speaker to speak against the resolution but Hilary Haworth, a NFWI Trustee, put forward some points against the resolution. After comments from the floor the vote was taken. The resolution was passed with a 97% majority.
The afternoon speaker was Maggie Philbin, Broadcaster and CEO of the award winning organisation TeenTech. She touched briefly on her job as a presenter on Swap Shop and Tomorrow’s World but most of her talk was about TeenTech, an award winning organisation which helps young people see the wide range of career opportunities in science, technology and engineering. She is particularly interested in encouraging girls and young people from schools in disadvantaged areas. It was a very funny and heart warming talk.
(Avril Butler June 2019)
