ON Thursday, June 4 it was the WI 100th birthday and the big AGM in the Royal Albert Hall.

Members enjoyed seeing the action on Jenny’s TV and as it was such a fine day they were able to indulge in her lovely garden for a Bring and Share lunch plus wine and strawberries. There were problems with the connection and just as the Joy Choir were performing the WR2 area had a 15minute power cut. Doreen Dyson from Callow End was the representative and came to the meeting in June to inform members about the bits they had missed.

Julia Roberts a previous Worcestershire WI president gave details of the finances. The Royal party the Queen Princess Ann and the Duchess of Wessex were present at the Albert Hall. The Queen received the baton that has been travelling around England and then cut a cake and spoke of the achievements of women in the last 100 years. Jerusalem was sung and the Royal party left.

The first speaker was Lucy Worsley the curator of the unoccupied Royal palaces and her office is in Hampton Court Palace, She spoke of inspiring women and is making a TV documentary on BBC 2 called Cake Makers and Trouble Makers.

The second speaker was Tanni Grey Thompson who is involved with wheelchair racing and is now a Baroness in the House of Lords and she spoke of women reaching their goals.

The last speaker was Helena Morrisey CBE who felt that more women ought to be on the board of firms and take a more active part in management. She was very forthright and apart from being a high flyer she has nine children.

Trouble with the sound system caused confusion about the resolution as the wording was changed. The meeting concluded with a fashion show.

Janet Bowen was our representative at the Buckingham Palace garden party and we received photos and a thanks you from her as she could not be at the meeting.

The speaker for June was Brenda Crump a florist and lecturer at Pershore College. She and students were summoned to London to decorate the Royal Barge for the Queen’s jubilee celebrations. For a week they were wiring flowers to make 25 garlands for the side of the barge. Lots of red velvet and gilding were used and roses peonies, carnations and lavender on moss. At the back of the barge was a knot garden to cover up the life jackets. They were sworn to secrecy and the security was very strict and working flat out for a week the wires hurt their fingers.

The TV coverage of the barge did not really show all the work that went into the event and of course the weather on the day was terrible.

The next meeting on July 8 is pottery 7.30 at The Orchard Club.