On Wednesday 20th March Evelyn and Maureen attended the Hampshire Federation Spring Council Meeting at Winchester Guildhall.

The agenda consisted of an introduction to the Board of Trustees, and information on new and retiring members, as well as an update on WI Advisers.

The Standing Orders and Minutes of the last meeting were proposed and adopted, and the Annual Report and Financial Statements were run through.  These had previously been issued online and copies were displayed in print for perusal.

Helen Carter, the outgoing Chairman gave her address, and ran through the past year’s activities.  Sue Crump then gave details of future events, and full details of these will appear in due course as they occur.

An interesting talk was given entitled “Neurodiversity is a superpower” based on her experience of a career in theatre lighting.  As someone who had struggled at school with neurodiversity,  it was inspiring to hear how aspects of her personality were real strengths in her work.

A raffle was held, and winners of bursaries announced.

The afternoon’s entertainment was a talk by two representatives from DSI London, the company who make the dresses for Strictly Come Dancing.  They gave an entertaining and informative talk about the history of the company, alongside the evolution of the TV programme, telling us about the designing of the dresses and how they are made.  We were told that the company do receive visitors at their workshops in Croydon.  Towards the end of the presentation, several WI ladies were given the opportunity to try on some of the dresses, and they all looked very glamorous.