A COMMUNITY stalwart has handed over the baton as President of Dovestone Women’s Institute after four years in the role.
Jessica Moreland has been replaced by Michelle Petruzelli as head of the group of women, who host social, educational and charitable events and activities to benefit the community.
She said: “After four years of being the founding President of Dovestone WI, I’ve made the decision to hand the reigns over to someone else.
“Dovestone WI was born in 2019 by a group of women who wanted something and somewhere of solidarity, sisterhood and sanctuary.
“So that’s what we made! And it gives me immense pride to know that I was an integral part of this creation.
“However, after giving almost two decades of my life to volunteer work, community projects and fundraising, it’s now time to focus and prioritise my personal life.
“I’m blessed to have worked alongside some of the most loyal, hardworking, driven and passionate women, both members and committee members. We have achieved so much in a very short space of time.
“It gives me great pleasure and privilege to hand these reigns over to Michelle, who has been with DWI since the day it began and is absolutely the right person to take over as Captain of this awesome ship, along with an incredible crew.
“But I’m not disappearing altogether as I’ll still be heading up the Christmas Markets.”
The group was born in April 2019 and since then has organised initiatives such as Christmas Markets, Give a Gift, coffee mornings, quiz nights and balls, slept rough in Manchester with the homeless community and tackled the Pretty Muddy 5K challenge.
Their Countryside Safety Marshal Scheme was acknowledged and encouraged by Sir David Attenborough.
And when Covid-19 hit, they sprang into action helping people who were isolating with their shopping, prescriptions, dog walking and other errands.
They distributed three tonnes of food across the community, delivered 1,000 Easter Eggs to Manchester Children’s Hospital, made more than 500 ‘Button Ears’ for NHS staff, sourced 600 safety visors for medical clinics and nursing homes and made over 600 surgical scrub gowns for Royal Albert Infirmary in Wigan.
And they launched their own ‘Turning Fabric into Food’ initiative, where more than 5,000 fabric face masks were made by members from left over bedding, raising £11,000, which was spent on food for local food banks.
Dovestone WI received the prestigious Paul Harris award from the Rotary Club of Saddleworth in October 2021 to recognise its extensive work across the community, particularly during the pandemic.
The group meets at The Royal George, Greenfield, in the Wimberry Suite on the last Wednesday of each month, starting at 7.30pm.
They also put on a variety of interesting speakers, walks, meals and trips out, theatre visits and craft activities for members.
Find out more about membership and events on their website: www.dovestonewi.com
