EKFWI 100th Annual Council Meeting
Wednesday 16th March 2022 Leas Cliff Hall Folkestone

Our Chairman, Gill Crone, welcomed members and visitors and gave a resumé of the past year and was glad to report that many institutes were beginning to meet up again in person. She said how sad it was that Denman College had closed but hoped that members were able to use the online courses that are now available. She then said how much she had enjoyed her time as Chairman and that she would be continuing her involvement with the WI as a WI Adviser.

Dorothy Douse gave her Financial Report and was able to tell members of a bequest of £150,000 which had been made to Federation. £100,000 had been invested and the rest was available for general use especially as the Federation expected to make a £15,000 deficit this year.

Our next speaker was a financial adviser who gave us an update on the investment of the Beer Cart Lane sale proceeds and the legacy just mentioned. She assured us that none of the portfolio included any Russian involvement which brought some applause.

One of the Trustees then spoke about the need for the Federation to have Charitable Incorporated Organisation status as opposed to Unincorporated status which we have now. The change would mean that Trustees would in future only have limited liability. Members will be asked to vote on this soon. If the change is approved lawyers will be engaged to ensure the correct procedure is undertaken and this will cost between £5,000 and £6,000. The Charity Commission will issue a change of registered number and I asked the Trustees if this would affect any application for Gift Aid. They did not have the answer and will get back to me.

This was followed by two speakers from Kent University. The University is the first centre in the country for integrated therapies for Parkinson’s disease. The first speaker outlined the aims of the centre and the second speaker spoke about the research she was doing using vestibular stimulation. Although the number of patients investigated so far is only 20, the results have been most encouraging and it is hoped that a much larger clinical trial will soon be undertaken leading eventually to the NHS becoming involved with treatment.

A lunch break followed allowing members to vote for the Tree of Life, inspect the cupcake entries and purchase baskets and other items for sale.

After lunch various presentations were made and much to our delight Jane’s cupcakes were awarded first prize as was our Tree. Well done to Jane and to all those members who contributed leaves.

The afternoon speaker was the astronaut Helen Sharman who told us how she became involved with the astronaut training and the actual experience of going into space. I think most of us felt a bit dizzy listening to her recounting the experiences she had to undergo to ensure that she could cope with the discomforts that space travel imposes on the human body.

After the raffle there were presentations and thanks to Gill Crone and Dorothy Douse who is also leaving her post as Treasurer.

The National Anthem closed the meeting and this was followed by the announcement that Carol Evans will be our new Chairman and Elizabeth Lansman our new Treasurer.