May meeting – AGM

The May meeting was our AGM. Thank you to the many members who came along. Claire Atherton came from Glamorgan Federation to oversee the official parts of the meeting. Linda and Nor'dzin were re-elected as co-Presidents. Val took over from Yvonne as Secretary. Otherwise the committee remained the same, other than Gill Irwin standing down after many years of service. She was also a former President. Gill was presented with a bouquet of flowers and our sincere thanks. 

During the interval when the new committee retired to another room with Claire for a short meeting, one of our members, Corina Walker, gave a demonstration of Tai Chi. Then members who attend Corina's weekly classes joined with others new to Tai Chi to perform the moves of Shibashi 1 and 2. Fortunately the committee returned to the hall in time to join in as well (hence no photos of that part, sorry!). 

Newsletter – May 2026

 May 11th meeting:

The May meeting is our AGM and so there is no speaker. One of our members, Corina Walker, will give a demonstration of Tai Chi Shibashi while the new committee convenes with the advisor from Glamorgan Federation.

Events 

The next outing will be to Brecon for a boat trip and afternoon tea. This is on June 29th so we need payment for the trip straight away please. The cost is £35 included transport.

Our charity:

The summer fete on Whitchurch Common is our main fundraising event of the year. This year we are fundraising for Parkinson's UK Cymru. The theme for items to sell is  ‘All things Welsh.’ This can include cakes. If you are bringing Welsh cakes to sell, please put 4 or 6 in a bag with a label listing the ingredients.

Information

    Link to the Glamorgan Newsletters.

    MyWI site (registration and log in required)

Groups:

    Book Group: Wednesday 13th May / 11.00 am / La Cucina da Mara

    Family History: Monday 1st June / 2.00 pm / 113 Pantbach Road

    

    Poetry and Prose Group: Monday 1st June  / 10.45 am

    The Ark coffee bar, Ararat / Topic: humour 

    Craft Group: Monday 18th May / 2 pm / 18 Heol Stradling

    St Mary's Gardens: Tuesday 19th May  / 10 – 12

    Sunday lunch group: 24th May / 1 pm / Llanishen Golf Club 

 

Following meeting:

    Next meeting: Monday 8th June in Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm.
Speaker  :  Nor'dzin Pamo about Period Dancing 

21st Anniversary afternoon tea

On Wednesday 22nd April members gathered at Llanishen Golf Club to celebrate Whitchurch WI's 21st anniversary. A V.E.S.T. minibus was arranged for those whithout their own transport. It was a beautiful day and everyone enjoyed the view across the golf course and into the distance. A splendid spread of sausage rolls, mini quiche, sandwiches, cake and scones was laid on for us. Nor'dzin had devised a quiz of locating images on a map of Whitchurch which each had a go at completing.

Everyone enjoyed each other's company and it was a lovely afternoon.

Blaenafon Cheddar Company and Easter Bonnets – April meeting

Our speaker at the April meeting was Susan of the Blaenafon Cheddar Company. The company began 2006 and has gradually grown over time. On the day they opened customers were queuing in the street. They completely sold out that Christmas, and Susan laughingly told us that they had had to buy the cheese for their own use from a supermarket!

Locally produced milk is transported to North Wales where it is pasteurised and turned into basic cheddar cheese. This then returns to them in Blaenafon, South Wales and they process it into the varieties of specialist cheeses they produce. All the ingredients that are added to process the cheese are natural. For example, the cheeses that contain alcohol, the beer or sparkling wine come out of a bottle, and apple and strawberry are fresh fruits – they are not synthetic flavourings. After processing, the cheese is extruded into long sausage shapes and chilled. Then it is sliced into the familiar round shape of Blaenafon cheeses, waxed, chilled, given a second layer of wax and hand labelled. Each batch is micro-tested and so far they have had no failures and received no complaints. Their cheeses have won a number of awards.

Blaenafon Cheese generously gave a platter of cheese to each table for members to sample. The samples were: Oak Smoked, 1868 Lion Hotel, Strawberry and Prosceco, Bara Brith, Taffy Apple, Capel Newydd, Cymru Crunch, Pwll Ddu, and Dragon's Breath. It was quite a lot of cheese with a whole range of flavours. After the presentation and sampling, members were able to purchase cheeses.

After the presentation, Susan kindly judged the Easter bonnet competition.

Cwmni Caws Cheddar Blaenafon a Bonedau Pasg – Cyfarfod mis Ebrill

Ein siaradwr yng nghyfarfod mis Ebrill oedd Susan o Gwmni Caws Cheddar Blaenafon. Dechreuodd y cwmni yn 2006 ac mae wedi tyfu'n raddol dros amser. Ar y diwrnod y gwnaethon nhw agor roedd cwsmeriaid yn ciwio yn y stryd. Fe wnaethon nhw werthu'n llwyr y Nadolig hwnnw, a dywedodd Susan wrthym yn chwerthinllyd eu bod wedi gorfod prynu'r caws ar gyfer eu defnydd eu hunain o archfarchnad!

Mae llaeth a gynhyrchir yn lleol yn cael ei gludo i Ogledd Cymru lle caiff ei basteureiddio a'i droi'n gaws cheddar sylfaenol. Yna mae hwn yn dychwelyd atynt ym Mlaenafon, De Cymru ac maent yn ei brosesu i mewn i'r mathau o gawsiau arbenigol maent yn eu cynhyrchu. Mae'r holl gynhwysion sy'n cael eu hychwanegu i brosesu'r caws yn naturiol. Er enghraifft, mae'r cawsiau sy'n cynnwys alcohol, y cwrw neu'r gwin pefriog yn dod allan o botel, ac mae afal a mefus yn ffrwythau ffres – nid blasau synthetig ydynt. Ar ôl prosesu, caiff y caws ei allwthio i siapiau selsig hir a'i oeri. Yna caiff ei sleisio i siâp crwn cyfarwydd cawsiau Blaenafon, ei gwyro, ei oeri, rhoi ail haen o gwyr iddo a'i labelu â llaw. Mae pob swp yn cael ei brofi'n ficro ac hyd yn hyn nid ydynt wedi cael unrhyw fethiannau ac nid ydynt wedi derbyn unrhyw gwynion. Mae eu cawsiau wedi ennill nifer o wobrau.

Rhoddodd Caws Blaenafon blât o gaws i bob bwrdd yn hael i'r aelodau ei flasu. Y samplau oedd: Oak Smoked, 1868 Lion Hotel, Strawberry and Prosceco, Bara Brith, Taffy Apple, Capel Newydd, Cymru Crunch, Pwll Ddu, ac Anadl y Ddraig. Roedd yn dipyn o gaws gydag ystod eang o flasau. Ar ôl y cyflwyniad a'r samplu, roedd yr aelodau'n gallu prynu cawsiau.

Ar ôl y cyflwyniad, bu Susan yn garedig yn beirniadu cystadleuaeth boned y Pasg.

Newsletter – April 2026

 April 13th meeting:

We are delighted to welcome Blaenavon Cheese to tell us about their company and offer samples of their products to taste.

Are you making an Easter bonnet? Hopefully there will be an vast array of members wearing Easter bonnets at the meeting. There is a prize for the best one.

Membership Fees: Membership fees are now due for renewal. The cost is £54 for the year's subscription. You can pay by bank transfer or give Liz cash or a cheque at the meeting.

Our charity:

A table has been booked at Whitchurch Festival on Saturday July 4th to raise funds for our charity. Our charity for this year is Parkinson’s UK Cymru. Do please let the committee have your suggestions for this event and fundraising ideas.

Events:

On Wednesday 22nd April we will be celebrating our 21st anniversary. This is an afternoon tea at Llanishen Golf Club at 2:30. A VEST bus has been booked for transport and there are still a few spare spaces available.

Information

    Link to the Glamorgan Newsletters.

    MyWI site (registration and log in required)

Groups:

    Book Group: Wednesday 15th April / 11.00 am / La Cucina da Mara

    Family History: Monday 27th April / 2.00 pm / 113 Pantbach Road

    

    Poetry and Prose Group: Monday 27th April / 10.45 am

    The Ark coffee bar, Ararat / Topic: food and drink

    Craft Group: Monday 20th April / 2 pm / 18 Heol Stradling

    St Mary's Gardens: Tuesday 5th May  / 10 – 12

    Sunday Lunch Group: Sunday 26th April / 1 pm / Pendragon

 

Following meeting:

    Next meeting: Monday 11th May in Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm.
This meeting is our AGM where members vote in the new committee.

        There will be a demonstration of Tai Chi by Corina Walker during the time that the committee have a short meeting with the Glamorgan Federation representative. Corina teaches a set of movements called Shibashi on Wednesdays through Age Cymru.

A Girls' School in South Sudan – March 2026

Caroline Noall kindly stepped in at the last minute to speak at our March meeting as the scheduled speaker had to cancel because of ill health.

She told us about Ibba Girls' School which was opened in 2014. There had been many years of civil war in Sudan and South Sudan was granted independence in 2011. South Sudan is quite a large country – about 31 times the size of Wales. Transport is difficult because of the poor quality of roads and transport networks. Caroline informed us that she had noticed, whilst living in South Sudan for three years in the 1980s, that women and girls did most of the work and had few opportunities for education. 90% of women are illiterate and are more likely to die in childbirth than complete their education. A residential school was established to increase the possibility that girls attending the school would be able to fully concentrate on education, rather than constantly being kept at home to work and care for family members.

South Sudan has a system of nine years of primary education and four years of secondary education. After three years of primary, girls are chosen to attend Ibba School if considered suitable. The school began with one class of fourth years, and has then added a class every year until they were able to offer the complete range of primary and secondary education. They have a principle of 'the pen and the hoe', meaning that the girls learn practical skills as well as traditional academic education subjects. They are taught in English.

The school faces many challenges. Although Ibba is not in a particularly volatile area, security is an issue. A large staff is needed to teach and support the students, and classrooms and other buildings have to be built as the school develops. The school grows much of its own food, but there can be food shortages. South Sudan suffers from hyperinflation which creates financial strains. Nevertheless, every year the number of students who graduate increases. The benefit of education filters down throughout the social network, such as students learning about the importance of hygiene which is then passed down to the home situation, learning how to behave with boys to avoid pregnancy, and the practical uses of numeracy.

Caroline presented a most interesting talk which everyone enjoyed. She donated the speaker's fee to the school and they wrote a thank you letter to our WI. If anyone wishes to support the school they can make a donation on their website.