Meeting Speakers – February 2026

Empowering Communities: enhancing 'carbon capability' for climate action.

Dr Briony Latter, from Cardiff University, and her colleague, Dr Sam Hampton, from Bath University, have been working with the WI and the National Childbirth Trust. Briony visited to present a short, ten-minute introduction to the project. They have been looking at climate change and how it effects us. Briony explained that the project has been looking at how climate change impacts on daily life; have seen that it attracts public support; are stressing that individual and societal choices are important; and raising awareness that we do have a personal capability to reduce our carbon footprint. Areas we can examine personally are the use of energy in our homes; transport, in particular avoiding flying; how we shop; citizenship and our influence on others; and food shopping, consumption and waste, such as eating meat less frequently. Briony emphasised the need for people to have conversations about climate change and what differences we can make personally. The project has discovered that conversations at the hairdressers are a good source of everyday influence.

Women of the Titanic: stewardesses, spies and suffragettes.

Michelle Michaelis gave a detailed and interesting talk on the victims and survivors of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. She also brought a fascinating array of photographs, memorabilia and newspapers all connected with the passengers and crew. The Titanic hit the iceberg at night and many passengers had already gone to bed. Some were woken by the impact but simply went back to bed, unaware of the seriousness of the event. Many passengers believed the ship to be unsinkable, and the situation did not become obviously serious for quite a long time, as the staff were reassuring people that everything was alright, and the musicians continued to play. It was also bitterly cold outside and many preferred to stay indoors where it was warm.

There were 2,224 people on board, but the lifeboats could only accommodate 1100. The crew were not well-trained in lifeboat drill, and the boats were not prepared, lacking lights, water and food. It was over an hour after the collision before the first lifeboat was launched. Some passengers were more frightened of being launched from the height of the deck into the sea than they were of remaining on the ship.

Michelle told individual stories of some of the passengers. One elderly coupled stayed in their cabin to go down with the ship, rather than being separated on the lifeboat. Families were separated because the women and children were instructed to board the lifeboats first. One actress who survived the disaster may have been a spy. Molly Brown and several other women were suffragettes. There were 23 stewardesses on board. Three refused to leave the ship, but 20 survived. Michelle gave many interesting facts and snippets of information, such as Edith Rosenbaum's musical toy pig that she played on the lifeboat to entertain the frightened children (sound available on YouTube: 'Titanic pig'.) 

Siaradwyr y cyfarfod – Chwefror 2026

Grymuso Cymunedau: gwella 'gallu carbon' ar gyfer gweithredu ar yr hinsawdd.

Mae Dr Briony Latter, o Brifysgol Caerdydd, a'i chydweithiwr, Dr Sam Hampton, o Brifysgol Caerfaddon, wedi bod yn gweithio gyda Sefydliad y Merched a'r Ymddiriedolaeth Geni Plant Genedlaethol. Ymwelodd Briony i roi cyflwyniad byr, deg munud, i'r prosiect. Maent wedi bod yn edrych ar newid hinsawdd a sut mae'n effeithio arnom ni. Esboniodd Briony fod y prosiect wedi bod yn edrych ar sut mae newid hinsawdd yn effeithio ar fywyd bob dydd; wedi gweld ei fod yn denu cefnogaeth y cyhoedd; yn pwysleisio bod dewisiadau unigol a chymdeithasol yn bwysig; ac yn codi ymwybyddiaeth bod gennym allu personol i leihau ein hôl troed carbon. Meysydd y gallwn eu harchwilio'n bersonol yw'r defnydd o ynni yn ein cartrefi; trafnidiaeth, yn enwedig osgoi hedfan; sut rydym yn siopa; dinasyddiaeth a'n dylanwad ar eraill; a siopa bwyd, defnydd a gwastraff, fel bwyta cig yn llai aml. Pwysleisiodd Briony yr angen i bobl gael sgyrsiau am newid hinsawdd a pha wahaniaethau y gallwn eu gwneud yn bersonol. Mae'r prosiect wedi darganfod bod sgyrsiau yn y siopau trin gwallt yn ffynhonnell dda o ddylanwad bob dydd.

Menywod y Titanic: stiwardesau, ysbïwyr a swffragetiaid.

Rhoddodd Michelle Michaelis sgwrs fanwl a diddorol ar ddioddefwyr a goroeswyr suddo’r Titanic ym 1912. Daeth hefyd â chasgliad hynod ddiddorol o ffotograffau, cofroddion a phapurau newydd i gyd yn gysylltiedig â’r teithwyr a’r criw. Tarodd y Titanic y mynydd iâ yn y nos ac roedd llawer o deithwyr eisoes wedi mynd i’r gwely. Deffrodd rhai gan yr effaith ond aethant yn ôl i’r gwely, heb sylweddoli difrifoldeb y digwyddiad. Credai llawer o deithwyr nad oedd modd suddo’r llong, ac ni ddaeth y sefyllfa’n amlwg o ddifrifol am amser hir gan fod y staff yn sicrhau pobl fod popeth yn iawn, a pharhaodd y cerddorion i chwarae. Roedd hi hefyd yn oer iawn y tu allan ac roedd yn well gan lawer aros dan do lle’r oedd hi’n gynnes.

Roedd 2,224 o bobl ar fwrdd y llong, ond dim ond lle i 1100 oedd yn y badau achub. Nid oedd y criw wedi'u hyfforddi'n dda mewn ymarfer badau achub, ac nid oedd y cychod wedi'u paratoi, gan fod diffyg goleuadau, dŵr a bwyd yno. Roedd dros awr ar ôl y gwrthdrawiad cyn i'r bad achub cyntaf gael ei lansio. Roedd rhai teithwyr yn fwy ofnus o gael eu lansio mewn bad achub o uchder y dec i'r môr nag yr oeddent o aros ar y llong.   

Adroddodd Michelle straeon unigol rhai o'r teithwyr. Arhosodd un cwpl oedrannus yn eu caban i fynd i lawr gyda'r llong, yn hytrach na chael eu gwahanu ar y bad achub. Gwahanwyd teuluoedd oherwydd bod y menywod a'r plant wedi cael cyfarwyddyd i fynd ar y badau achub yn gyntaf. Mae'n bosibl bod un actores a oroesodd y drychineb yn ysbïwr. Roedd Molly Brown a sawl menyw arall yn swffragetiaid. Roedd 23 o stiwardesau ar fwrdd. Gwrthododd tri adael y llong, ond goroesodd 20. Rhoddodd Michelle lawer o ffeithiau diddorol a darnau bach o wybodaeth, fel mochyn tegan cerddorol Edith Rosenbaum a chwaraeodd ar y bad achub i ddifyrru'r plant ofnus (ar gael ar YouTube: 'Titanic pig'.) 

Newsletter – February 2026

 January 12th meeting:

We have two speakers at the January meeting. First is a short talk by Dr Briony Latter of Bath University about Climate Change and Social Transformation. This will be followed by our main speaker, Michelle Michaelis, who will be talking about Spies. Suffragettes and Stewardesses.

Also at this meeting will be voting on the National WI Resolutions for this year (see at end of this post). Committee members will introduce each resolution, and voting taken by then members a show of hands. Please note that a) only members can vote, and b) you can only vote once.

Our charity:

We were due to present a cheque to Emma from Velindre, but unforeseen circumstances have postponed this until our next meeting on March 9th.

We will also vote on our new charity next meeting. The short list is: RNLI, Salvation Army, Parkinson’s UK Cymru, Crisis and Banardo’s.

Many thanks to all members for your contributions to our charity fundraising. 

Information

    Link to the Glamorgan Newsletters.

    MyWI site (registration and log in required)

Groups:

    Book Group: Wednesday 11th February / 11.00 am / La Cucina da Mara

    Family History: Monday 23rd February / 2.00 pm / 113 Pantbach Road

    

    Poetry and Prose Group: Monday 23rd February / 10.45 am

    The Ark coffee bar, Ararat / Topic: love

    Craft Group: Monday 16th February / 2 pm / 18 Heol Stradling

    St Mary's Gardens: Tuesday 3rd March  / 10 – 12

 

Following meeting:

    Next meeting: Monday 9th March in Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm.
Speaker singer : Christine Purkiss – Gilbert and Sullivan 

WI Resolutions 2026

1. Accessible public toilet facilities to promote dignity, health, and social inclusion.

This resolution is a call for accessible, clean, free public toilets which are fundamental to inclusion and wellbeing, especially for women, older people, disabled individuals, parents and carers. It invites WI branches to take meaningful action—through advocacy, partnership, and community engagement—to support local authorities and civil society in reversing the closure trend and ensuring dignity for all.

2. Action on women’s homelessness.

The NFWI echoes the calls of homelessness charities and urges all levels of government to take action to reduce women’s homelessness, reduce the number of women at risk of homelessness, and improve the quality of temporary accommodation. We call on WI members to support homelessness organisations in their communities and campaign to ensure that all women have a place they can safely call home.

3. Every child needs a friend.

We call on all WI members, the care system, and government to raise awareness of the independent visitor system for children in care in order to increase the number of volunteer Independent Visitors and the children in the care system who are befriended by them. We want every child in care to be offered the opportunity to have an adult figure in their life who chooses to spend a few hours a month with them.

4. Nearer to Nature.

There is a growing body of evidence that getting closer to nature is of great benefit to physical and mental health as well as to the environment. This is called ‘green health’. We call on WI members to work locally to improve access to local green spaces and support others to access it too. We call on health promotion services to increase public awareness of the use and benefits of ‘green health’, and health and care commissioners to support ‘green social prescribing’ in every GP practice.

5. Love Your Vulva.

Self-checking is your best defence against vulval cancer. Self-checking your vulva is important in ensuring the earlier detection of vulval cancer and to enhance survival chances. We call upon WI members to work together to raise awareness of the importance of self-checking and seeking medical advice as early as possible, to help highlight this rare cancer to GPs to promote prompt referrals to medical specialists when needed.

Celebration and Circle Dancing – January 2026

Whitchurch WI enjoyed a celebratory buffet at the January meeting. Our usual buffet at the December meeting was postponed until the new year because the hall was unavailable. The hall was still not available in January, as the new roof was not yet completed, but we were able to enjoy our meeting in the cafe area. A splendid feast was offered through the generous contributions of the members.

Before enjoying the buffet, we were entertained by Pat Adams, who introduced us to Circle Dancing. She enthusiastically declared that it was fun, good exercise, and had 'gorgeous music'. Pat explained that circle dancing is an ancient tradition practised in many parts of the world, including Britain. Most of the dances practised these days come from Eastern Europe. Most villages would have four or five dances that they practised regularly with the whole community coming together to dance -- from infants to the elderly.

For her demonstaration for our WI group, Pat introduced several simple walking dances. Most of the dances included arm movements relating to the theme of the dance, and she encouraged those who remained seated to join in with these upper body movements. She taught seven dances: the first from Armenia; the second from Ukraine; the third dance was a seed sowing dance from North America; the fourth was a tweed-makers dance from the Hebrides; the fifth a Scottish sea shanty; the sixth a Turkish stamping dance, and the last one a selkie dance from the Scottish islands.

The dancing was most enjoyable, and, followed by the buffet, it was a perfect meeting.

Should anyone wish to join in with more circle dancing, Pat has several regular groups and she can be contacted at adamsp37@aol.com for details. She can also be found on Facebook: Circle Dance in Cardiff. The groups are: Insole Court , Thursdays, 11:00 to 12:00; in Fairwater on Fridays; U3A group meets at the Tabernacle in Cardiff, 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 11:00 to 12:00; and quarterly gatherings in Bedwas.

Dathliad a Dawnsio Cylch – Ionawr 2026

Mwynhaodd Whitchurch WI bwffe dathlu yng nghyfarfod mis Ionawr. Roedd ein bwffe arferol yng nghyfarfod mis Rhagfyr wedi'i ohirio tan y flwyddyn newydd oherwydd nad oedd y neuadd ar gael. Nid oedd y to newydd ar y neuadd wedi'i gwblhau eto, ond roedden ni'n gallu cael ein bwffe yn ardal y caffi. Cynigiwyd gwledd ysblennydd o gyfraniadau hael yr aelodau.

Cyn mwynhau'r bwffe, cawsom ein diddanu gan Pat Adams, a gyflwynodd Ddawnsio Cylch i ni. Dywedodd yn frwd ei fod yn hwyl, yn ymarfer corff da, ac yn cael ei ymarfer i 'gerddoriaeth hyfryd'. Esboniodd Pat fod dawnsio cylch yn draddodiad hynafol a ymarferir mewn sawl rhan o'r byd, gan gynnwys Prydain. Mae'r rhan fwyaf o'r dawnsfeydd a ymarferir heddiw yn dod o ranbarth Dwyrain Ewrop. Byddai gan bob pentref bedair neu bum dawns a ymarferir yn rheolaidd gan y gymuned gyfan – o fabanod i'r henoed.

Ar gyfer ei harddangosiad i'n grŵp WI, cyflwynodd Pat sawl dawns gerdded syml. Roedd y rhan fwyaf o'r dawnsfeydd yn cynnwys symudiadau braich yn ymwneud â thema'r ddawns, ac anogodd y rhai a arhosodd yn eistedd i ymuno â'r symudiadau corff uchaf hyn. Dysgodd saith dawns: y gyntaf o Armenia; yr ail o Wcráin; y drydedd ddawns oedd dawns hau hadau o Ogledd America; y bedwaredd oedd dawns gwneuthurwyr tweed o'r Hebrides; y bumed yn sianti môr o'r Alban; y chweched yn ddawns stampio Twrcaidd, a'r olaf yn ddawns selkie o ynysoedd yr Alban.

Roedd y dawnsio yn bleserus iawn, ac, wedi'i ddilyn gan y bwffe, roedd yn gyfarfod perffaith.

Os yw unrhyw un eisiau ymuno â mwy o ddawnsio cylch, mae gan Pat sawl grŵp rheolaidd a gellir cysylltu â hi yn adamsp37@aol.com am fanylion. Mae hi hefyd i'w chael ar Facebook: Circle Dance in Cardiff. Y grwpiau yw: Insole Court, dydd Iau, 11:00 i 12:00; yn Fairwater ar ddydd Gwener; mae grŵp U3A yn cyfarfod yn y Tabernacl yng Nghaerdydd, yr ail a'r pedwerydd dydd Mawrth, 11:00 i 12:00; a chyfarfodydd chwarterol ym Medwas.

Newsletter – January 2026

🎆 🎇 🎉 Happy New Year! 🎉 🎇 🎆

January 12th meeting:

Our new year speaker is Pat Adams who will be talking to us about Circle Dancing. There will be an opportunity to join in and try it out.  We will also enjoy our celebratory buffet postponed from the December meeting.

The repairs being undertaken to the roof of the hall are not completed, so once again the meeting will be held in the coffee bar area.

Our charity:

It is time to start thinking about which charity we will support in 2026. A cheque will be presented to Velindre next month for the 2025 fundraising. Thank you all for your contributions. 

Information

    Link to the Glamorgan Newsletters.

    MyWI site (registration and log in required)

Groups:

    Book Group: Wednesday 14th January / 11.00 am / La Cucina da Mara

    Family History: 26th January / 2.00 pm / 113 Pantbach Road

    

    Poetry and Prose Group: Monday 19th January / 10.45 am

    The Ark coffee bar, Ararat / Topic: communication

    Craft Group: January 19th / 2 pm / 18 Heol Stradling

    St Mary's Gardens: Tuesday 13th January / 10 – 12

 

Following meeting:

    Next meeting: 9th February in Ararat Church Hall (hopefully!), Whitchurch Common, 2 pm. Michelle Michaelis will be talking to us about ‘Spies, Suffragettes and Stewardesses’.

December 2025 meeting

🎅🎄 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!🎄🎅

Ararat Church are having the roof of the hall renovated so Whitchurch WI gathered in the Ark coffee bar area for the December meeting. This made for a less celebratory event than is usual for our December meeting as we could not share a buffet, but this will happen in January instead.

We were entertained by musicians from Ysgol Glantaf who played a selection of Christmas songs.

 Members sang along and the young people played beautifully. There was also a quiz, guessing the titles of Christmas songs from their initials. It was a joyful and enjoyable meeting.