History of Scarning WI
Registered Charity No. 1018273I
President: Linda Jones Tel 01362 288742
Secretary: Jo Urquhart Tel 01362 690183
Scarning Women’s Institute was founded in 1952.
The
formation meeting took place on 20th February 1952 at 7.30pm at
Scarning Village Hall. 42 ladies were present. A resolution was
proposed by Mrs Duigan and seconded by Mrs Roper to form an institute
in Scarning and was unanimously adopted. The following bye- laws
were passed-
1.That the monthly meeting should be held in the
parish room, Scarning on the last Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm. The
annual meeting should be held in November.
2. There should be 12 members elected for committee.
3. The Vice Presidents to be elected by the committee.
4. The age for joining should be 16 years.
It
was agreed to hold the first institute meeting on Wednesday 5th March
at 7.30. (curiously not the last Wednesday of the month!!) Nominations
for committee were received by Mrs Broke.
On March 5th 56
members attended the meeting and a ballot was held to elect the
committee. Tea was served and a discussion of future events took place.
The meeting closed with Auld Lang Syne.
The first ‘proper’
meeting of Scarning Women’s Institute took place on 26th March 1952. 53
members were present. Mrs Allwood the president was in the chair.
The
10/- effort to support county funds was discussed and entered into as
was the London AGM although a delegate was not sent. It was agreed to
hold a monthly competition and a bowls club was formed.
A talk and
demonstration on the art of glove making took place. This was followed
by tea and charades. The meeting closed singing the national anthem at
9.40pm.
Scarning Women’s
Institute
Today
Much of Scarning WI remains the same today. We still hold our
meetings
at 7.30 on
the last Wednesday of the month in the village hall apart from June and
December when the date is moved. We don’t have quite such a large
membership but still have about 36 members. We don’t always manage 12
committee members but we do have sufficient people to share all the
tasks out and other members that will help on special occasions.
Sadly we cannot boast any 16 year olds amongst our ladies but any
wishing to
join would be made most welcome. We do have a reputation for being a
friendly outgoing group of people.
We have a visiting speaker most months who give talks and
demonstrations on a wide
range of topics. We no longer have a bowls club but we do have two Ten
Pin Bowling teams which compete with other institutes.
In addition to the bowling we have a scrabble group, a craft club, quiz
team
and during the summer months a gardening club.
Tea is still an important part of our meetings but we now also offer
coffee and
squash and of course the famous WI cakes.
We
have a bursary available for any member/members who wish to go to
Denman College in Oxford for a course. These can be on any subject from
crafts to history, cooking to walking so something to suit every taste.
If
you would like to come along to a meeting you would be most welcome and
you can come for three visits free of charge to see if you like us.
The
annual subscription for is £33.00 per year. Visitors can come to three
meetings before having to pay. There are no othermeeting costs unless
you wish to purchase a raffle ticket.
Please call our secretary Jo Urquhart
Tel 01362 690183 before visiting just
to
check that we haven’t booked a meeting away from the hall.
Scarning Village
Hall
 
Cator Cup
Here is a picture
of our last Cator Cup entry.
The subject was "A night at the movies". We chose to
depict
the film "Chocolat".
Our entry came 18th. 
The ladies of Scarning WI have been
entertained by
the St Withburga hand bell ringers.
The bells belong to Dereham church and were made to match the church
bells.
Each church had a set of hand bells to enable the bell ringers to
practice making their tunes on the more manageable and quieter small
bells before going on
to ring the large bells.
The ladies explained how the music was converted to numbers and
demonstrated the various ways in which the bells could be rung then it
was time for the WI ladies to 'have a go'.
We found that it took a great deal of concentration to keep up with
the music and play at the right time. 
This beautiful banner was embroidered several years ago by WI
member and
former bell ringer Ruby Gill.
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Last Year's entry for the Cator Cup
The competition
is held in April at the Norfolk Showground alongside
the Norwich Spring horticultural show.
The theme this year was A Season and competitors are given a selection
of eight items from which five are chosen to display.
The competition is a team effort and must be done by at least three
members
of a WI.
Scarning decided to depict Autumn and chose to display a floral
exhibit, a seasonal preserve (chutney), an item of hand knitting, a
greetings card and biscuits.
Competition is fierce. This Year there were 36 entries and Scarning
were very proud to take fourth place. There were just 1 1/2 marks
between first and fourth place.
Judging is very precise and we were very proud of Heather Hewson's
floral exhibit
as she achieved the maximum marks of 20. Jacquie Fenn gained 19 marks
for her chutney
and we were awarded 19 points for staging and 19 1/2 points for
interpretation.
Altogether a job well done.
60th Birthday
2012
In March Scarning
WI celebrated it's 60th birthday.
Members were treated to a fish and chip supper followed by birthday
cake and were entertained by Rev Sally Theakston who gave an
interesting and amusing talk on her
years spent as a naval chaplain aboard various different vessels.
The evening ended with a raffle and all members being presented with a
commemorative china mug.
Here are some
pictures of the Birthday party.
Birthday cake
Competition table
Fish and chips
Fish and chips
Here are some Christmas party
pictures.
Selecting vintage grape juice
Competition table
more Competition entries
Cheers
Two hands two drinks!!
Pass the parcel
In June 2009 we took
a guided walk around Norwich looking at the
architecture of George Skipper and took the opportunity to view the
beautiful interior of the former Norfolk and Norwich
building.
It is so easy when dashing from shop to shop not to stop
and look up at the wonderful buildings in the city.
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