Monthly Meeting - 'From Cons to Scones'
Tuesday 13 April 2020
Anne Artis welcomed members and friends from near and far before Helen presented the treasurers update reporting that fees for 38 members, including 2 new members have been remitted to head office. She thanked members and friends for the additional donations which had been received. Anne reminded us that the Federation meeting coming up with Ann Muirhead speaking, plus Perth and Kinross Federation are holding a Zoom quiz on 14th (Liz can circulate the link). She also confirmed that the Ruskie SWI AGM voting this year will again be by SurveyMonkey (with paper copies circulated to those who prefer it) – the link will be circulated soon.
Anne also shared the latest Ruskie competition – each member will be given a seed potato to nurture and grow over the summer until September when prizes will be awarded to the biggest potato, the most potatoes and the heaviest weight!
Our speaker for the evening was then introduced – Raymond Pratt General Secretary of the SWI. He regaled us with the stories of his journey from joining Strathclyde as a police cadet at the age of 16 years and 1 month before joining the regular police force in 1979 moving from Maryhill to PossilPark then working in the jungle where only the fittest survived! We were equally horrified and entertained with Raymond’s encounters from samurai sword wielding maniacs to neighbour disputes involving dirty nappies! Also ‘Jimmy Backwards (stealing cars and driving forwards!) and missions to disarm local ‘gangsters’ from their guns … when the police were armed with a wooden truncheon and handcuffs! The method of dealing with firearms has moved on a long way since then! Raymond’s experience of working at Lockerbie was a moment that he will never forget, for very different reasons.
Later in his career he became involved in the Police Federation, looking at 7500 officers in Strathclyde before sitting on the Olympics committees for London 2012, including travels to the Winter Olympics (learning about transport which a key issue for London with a ‘critical’ threat level because of Osama Bin Laden) and a training course about firearms from the FBI in Milwaukee (and learning not to take directions from strangers in the downtown!). Raymond was then the first Scottish Chairman of the Police charity, and chaired the Health and Safety Committee. He retired form this on 12 January to 2012 and subsequently applied for the position at the SWI, delighted to accept the position and be involved in conversations about Victoria Sponges (whether jam and cream or cream and Jam) – rather than biological warfare and terrorist threats! From one extreme to another!
When Raymond joined the SWI the Central Council was 61 people and meeting attendees could bring friends resulting in meetings of 130 people! It was not effective to run and as seen the membership reduce from 57000 to c12000 – losing 1,000 members a year over the past 30 years, requiring a dramatic change in order to save the organisation. This is a challenge to develop a strategy to drive us forward and the Board is committed to saving the SWI and ensuring it stays around for the future.
Lockdown has enabled the SWI staff to work from home, and this may continue going forward – along with other possible changes to secure the future of the organisation. The office in Heriot Row is a significant asset for the organisation, a Grade 1 listed building, and was built as a show house in 1830, with different fireplaces on each floor to showcase the available styles! It enables us to keep a substantial archive eg letters from Catherine Blair was a prolific writer, in spite of not being the first chairwoman of the organisation! There is significant storage in the ‘servants quarters’ and ‘under the road’! Mrs Kennedy and Mrs Evelyn Baxter had the foresight to start the financial funds for the organisation; followed by the ‘help Ourselves Fund’ which raised £372,000 for the organisation and bolstered the reserves and allows us to accommodate the reduction in the levy next year. The Rural Magazine has always been a choice for members to purchase but currently runs at a loss, supplemented by diary and calendar sales – it may be more practical to give it to all members which will reduce the production costs however that is a decision for the ladies on the communications committee. Raymond closed by explaining the background to the choice of logo – the gold is to symbolise new membership and the blue is for current membership and the joining together and the band represents ‘Women Together’ - he reminded the group that the online shop has pin badges, masks and teddies for sale!! Although he is retiring from the SWI at the end of December it is unlikely he will turn his hand to baking, flower arranging or knitting in spite of being inspired by some of the incredible talent he has encountered in the organisation.
Anne thanked Raymond for joining us and sharing his stories, generating more interest in the changes for the future of organisation and wished him all the best for his own future, and the future of the SWI!
