Chair's Letter - November 2025

November is here, named from the Latin “novem” for nine. It marks the transition from autumn to winter, bringing shorter days and leads into the holiday season – the word that starts with C and ends with S! Celebrations include Guy Fawkes Night and “Stir Up” Sunday which is traditionally when the Christmas pudding was made.

Talking of celebrations – the Federation has been successful in securing funding from the Denman Grant Scheme. This sum of money will allow us to run several workshops which will include hand sewing and alteration skills, Sashiko and Boro techniques, using a sewing machine to create garments or home accessories from preloved fabrics, creative dyeing and fabric painting techniques as well as designing and sewing lap quilts from scrap fabrics! It has been a huge piece of work – the application had to be in by the end of April, and it was a few months of keeping fingers crossed. A big thank you to Jane Finnerty and Sarah Griffey for leading on this. The Treasurer and I will have an operational involvement but fear not, I won’t be tutoring or partaking in a workshop, but I do make a mean cup of tea!!! In all seriousness – this is a huge coup for the Federation, and I am very proud of the team that has made this happen! Full details of the workshops and details about booking will be available soon but we are aiming to get this off the ground early next year.

Another celebration is the online system for booking of events. Again, this was a huge step forward for us to move to booking events in this way. So, thank you to those of you who have used this method over the last few years – we had to book onto the online Zoom talks during Covid, so it seemed sensible to keep the momentum going. But never fear, if this method is not for you, our lovely staff are always on the end of the phone or perhaps you can find a friend!

Plans are also going well for the Annual Meeting at Worton Hall next March and I hope Presidents, that my invitation has reached you and you have the date firmly in the diary. As

you know, it is my wish for all WIs to have the opportunity to attend and be part of our WI family. Don’t forget that members tickets are also available. It’s one of the rare

opportunities we can be together. Help me out and be part of something very special. And…….Drum roll! …...Our speakers are……………….

We are delighted to welcome Natasha Buckle from NFWI, Professor Ciaran Martin, former CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and currently Professor of Practice in Management of Public Organisations, along with Michael Rosenblum, a television producer and video journalist (VJ) who built the first major VJ-driven local TV news operation at NY1. Exciting!! Make sure the date is in your diary and tickets booked when the time comes.

With love and best wishes.

Tracy

Tracy Strain

OFWI Chair

01235 765285

tracy.strain@oxfordshirewi.co.uk