Annual Report 2009 - 2010

Executive Member, President and fellow members.

It gives me great pleasure to present the Annual Report of Ballyblack Institute for 2009-2010. The number of members this year reduced to forty-six having lost some members as a result of other commitments and having sadly lost two of our longest serving members Mrs Connie Purdy who passed away on 20th January 2010 and Mrs Bessie Martin who passed away on 18th August 2010. These ladies had a combined membership of eighty-seven years during which they made a very real contribution to the life of our Institute and we will sadly miss the fun, fellowship and friendship which we enjoyed with them.

We were glad to welcome a couple of new members during the year and are always on the lookout for new recruits.

The Institute continues to meet on the second Tuesday of the month from September to April in the Newtownards Sailing Club and is out and about during the months of May and June.

Our Federation motto states that we involve ourselves in social and educational activities. How did we achieve this in the past year?

In November we asked ourselves were we “Well Women” with nurses Hilary and Janice from the local Health Clinic. December saw us making jewellery, stocking fillers with Ali Faye. The start of the year in January was a good time to test how physically fit we were with some gentle, or not so gentle, aerobics with Debbie Quinn. We all felt good at having burnt off some of those excess festive calories. Beauty tips from Boots was the topic for February and March saw the ladies kurling, not hurling as may have been reported, stones along a plastic mat.

The Sailing Club was seated to capacity for our Hospitability Night in April where we and guests from fourteen other Institutes, Newtownards Inner Wheel and the Soroptomists were entertained to a very interesting talk on the conservation of Mountstewart House, were mesmerized by a beautiful display of dolls houses and enjoyed a lovely supper provided by the members.

May and June saw the members hunting for treasure around the highways and byways of Ballyblack and Cunningburn and enjoying a well-earned barbeque at the Church Hall. The final meeting before the summer gave thirty-eight members and friends an opportunity to admire the recently refurbished Belfast City Hall. The tour was of course followed by supper this time in the Urban Soul Café attached to May Street Presbyterian Church.

After the summer break the members enjoyed watching Alan Coffey from Portavogie cook prawns and mussels to perfection adding lashings of cream despite the cholesterol consequences.

Successes were enjoyed at Federation level in the following competitions:-

Our own crafty lady Barbara Kane completed twenty-four crafts and was awarded her gold full circle,
Vera Niblock, at a first attempt, gained second place in two classes at the Speech Festival,
Eleanor Johnston won the open and novice classes in the Good Handwriting Competition,
Joan Cochrane gained a third place and highly commended for her Calligraphy entry,
Elizabeth Rankin again won the trophy for the Decoupage Competition.
Our Scrapbook Page was awarded a second place, and
Last but not least the Choir again had a very successful Music Festival winning a total of six trophies.

At Area level members represented the Institute at the Bowls Competition and the Area Quiz where we enjoyed a very useful financial return for having undertaken the catering. The Spring Area Meeting also saw Ballyblack appearing among the prize winners when Joan Moore attained the runner-up place for her floral art entry in the Maud Boyd Trophy. Seven members attended the Area One Day School in March and learned a little more about photography, bead work and dance.

During the year the members enjoyed hospitality from the Inner Wheel, Newtownards Soroptomists and Killinchy W.I., attended the International Day of Rural Women and the Autumn Council Meeting in Armagh City Hotel, the Jingle Bells Event, the Annual General Meeting in the Kings Halls Conference Centre, helped to serve tea and buns and wash endless dishes at Balmoral Show and again took part in the Belfast City Marathon Walk.

Finally, amidst the busyness of the year, the members thought beyond themselves in continuing to collect stamps for ASSISI, assisted on the weekly rota for the Newtownards and Bangor production of The Sound Around Ards,
generously contributed gifts at Christmas time to the Salvation Army Appeal as well as contributing financially to Federation and ACWW funds and one outside charity.

As I conclude my report may I pay tribute to our very conscientious President, Joan who this year, despite her own loss, has expressed our sympathy and concern to so many of our members during the year and who has made the life of the Institute Secretary so much easier.

This concludes my report.