It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

it was the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity……..”

Address by Hay on WI President, Trish Richardson

"Here in Hay on WI we have had the best of times this year, celebrating our tenth anniversary year by enjoying ourselves and having lots of fun along the way but all good things have to come to an end, however incredulous that might sound!

Who would have thought that as we were celebrating our ten years, that in November we would be putting forward a resolution to close down our WI?

I want to thank your committee who have given us such dedicated service for so long. Each one in their own way has contributed something unique …

Steph Rosser has been with us since the beginning, she was our first Vice President and also Treasurer , Secretary and President. Here I must pay special tribute to the way she led us through COVID, keeping everyone together and supporting members individually where needed.

Now to Sue Hagan our current Treasurer. Sue was also our Secretary for many years and instrumental in starting up our Craft Club. I dare anyone to find more ingenious ways for using up scraps of material, bits of wool and beads!

Likewise, Shirley Smith prior to Sue was our Treasurer for several years and with her prudent, fiscal management kept us in good order. We will always be grateful to Shirley for loaning us her house and garden for most of the years we have been together for our annual Summer Buffet.

Anne Skilbeck has served on the Committee twice, she escaped once and then came back for more. Always pragmatic and full of good sense especially when it comes to discussing refreshments, particularly the wine and Prosecco!

Last but not least we are indebted to Sue Hodgetts. No one could have contributed more to making our group such a success. She has taken on every role except Treasurer (how did she escape that) and took over as President during a difficult time for us as a group. She built us up again with lots of ideas for our programme and we went from strength to strength. During COVID she kept us all in touch with her wonderful “Connections” publication.

It has been my pleasure and privilege to be your President this year and I leave you with those immortal lines;

Walk on, walk on

With hope in your heart

And you’ll never walk alone …..

With the friendships we have made by being members of Hay on WI

- none of us will ever walk alone!

Trish Richardson

9 November 2022