Wayfoundation

Our AGM in Oxford on March 6 took on a much more informal feel than in previous years. Instead of starting the event on Friday evening, it officially began at 11am on Saturday, allowing many members to arrive on Saturday.

For those who had to travel from further afield though, our Oxford group arranged a great night out on Friday at a local pizzeria and we celebrated one member’s birthday with a delicious cake baked by one of our WAY guys! The regulars from our online chatroom, SWANS, also met up for dinner and drinks.

On Saturday we gathered in the hotel for coffee from 10am and the hum of conversation grew louder and louder as people were introduced, got to know each other and some caught up with old friends.

The first session of the day was a confidence building session with trainer Mike McClement. All of us who have lost a partner will know how shattering that experience can be for our confidence and the aim was for Mike to give us some tips on how to act and feel more confident, useful for both social and work situations.

After lunch we gathered again for a singing workshop with the inspirational Roz Walker, who formed a WAY choir from scratch and within an hour had us singing in amazing harmonies. It really lifted the spirits and even those who chose to listen rather than sing said it had been great fun. If you’d like to join a similar sort of group, check out the natural voice network.

Getting ready to sing

Then we had our business section when Caroline (chairman), Martin (general secretary) and Susan (treasurer) gave their reports and five new members were elected to the committee. We also had a question and answer session.

Then it was time to break up into small discussion groups, where we covered topics such as widowed with teenagers, dealing with the in-laws, widowed without children and new relationships.

After a well-earned break, everyone gathered for drinks in the bar then sat down to eat dinner and later let their hair down on a packed dance floor – which remained packed until the music stopped late at night!

The AGM is a unique event in the WAY calendar and goes from strength to strength every year. It is certainly one of the best examples of the amazing organisation WAY is, and the effect it can have on people’s lives.

Thank you for a weekend of support and fun, to see all those widows singing and laughing was very empowering….

I can’t wait for the next one now and I’ll be signing straight up for it. Well done to the whole of the committee because it was light hearted, fun and very well planned out.