Many thanks to everyone who came to our Harvest Supper on Tues 11 October. The huge spread of delicious food was marvellous and we all enjoyed an evening of laugher, friendship and full tummies.

In a departure to the norm we decided to fund raise at our Harvest Supper for local charity Yellow Submarine. Yellow Submarine was started by a young couple who live in Fulbrook, initially to provide holidays for adults with additional needs. From this first holiday has grown a charity of regional significance – with three cafes, hubs in Witney, Abingdon and Didcot and a whole range of youth clubs, holiday clubs and holidays for both children and adults with additional needs.

One of our members has particular experience of Yellow Submarine and the support they give to her son who has autism, ADHD and learning difficulties. The NFWI this year is campaigning to raise awareness of the difficulties of getting a diagnosis of autism or ADHD, especially for women and girls, and the general lack of support for all individuals with the conditions.

We have been kindly invited by Burford Bowls Club to come to a taster evening on Tuesday 23 August at 7pm. It is being arranged for The FaB WI and is open to all members and guests as well as their families and friends. The bowls club members will be on hand to show us how the game is played, and the club house bar will be open for refreshments too.

I know personally that I’m interested to learn more about bowls and Richard and Joe will be coming along too. It’ll be great for the WI to support another local Club, and who knows we may discover some bowling talents amongst our members!

Please email Jennie if you’d like to come along

Some gentle Qigong breathing exercises with movement, a massage demonstration, a discussion on useful tools and techniques to aid well being, a goodie bag to take home and of course delicious cake – what more could you want from a well-being evening at WI?

Many thanks to Helen Blantz of The Tai Chi Room for the calming Qigong breathing routine and to Pat Ferret for sharing shoulder massage techniques. Jennie Craven expertly led the discussion sessions and hopefully everyone went away with ideas to try out at home or a new book or POD cast suggestion to follow up.

Helen has a new Tai Chi beginners course starting in September for anyone who is interested to learn more about this ancient practice.

Personally I’m going to start a gratitude journal each morning to help begin the day in a positive, focused mood.

Next month we are taking a break from the usual meeting as it is Burford Festival, but it’s all WI hands on deck to run the teas and cake stall at Burford Open Gardens on June 11 and 12.

April’s meeting gave a fascinating insight into the world of stone sculptor Martin Cash. From sourcing the stone and transporting it to his workshop through to his initial design ideas and scultping techniques, Martin transfixed the audience with his photos and words. We are lucky at The FaB WI to be located close to Burford Garden Company, the only outlet to exhibit and sell Martin’s work.

We loved the details and inspiration behind Martin’s most recent piece. The sculpture is about being twisted in a tightening hold – but despite the pressure there’s a hole that allows us to see right through to the other side…as Cohen eloquently sang:
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in

The FaB WI enjoyed a super talk by Heather from Medical Detection Dogs at our first face to face meeting of the year. It was wonderful to be back together and to learn about the trully amazing skills of both bio-detection and medical alert dogs. Heather brought her dog Edward along to demonstrate some of the techniques used by the dogs, and he was beautifully behaved througout.

WI members contributed to a generous collection in aid of Medical Detection Dogs after the talk.

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