Association of Irish Floral Artists

Dear Secretary,

A meeting of the AOIFA Executive was held via Zoom on 18th June with a view to regulate for the

Association, in these unprecedented and unpredictable times. It was unanimously decided that, due

to Covid - 19, AOIFA gatherings should cease until the AGM in March 2021, when the new

Executive will take over. It is envisaged that such activities will return to normal in 2021. Ways of

delivering  some of the Judges’ Course on line are being investigated.

This decision was made in order to secure the health and safety of our members and to bring some

degree of clarity to the current uncertainty. In the interim, the current Executive will remain in place

and manage the Association’s affairs with the help of the incoming Executive.

As each club is autonomous it may make its own decisions regarding its activities and is advised to

do so based on HSE and Government Guidelines. Please refer to www2.hse.ie as how to protect

yourself and others.

It is hoped to keep in touch with members by providing short virtual demonstrations and features by

our members. Please keep an eye on the AOIFA website for updates and reports.

Booking fees for the March 2020 AGM and Individual and Club membership fees, already paid, can

be forwarded to next year.

Your much appreciated fund raising money was donated to Pieta House recently. It was very

welcome in these difficult times. I acknowledge the hard work that all clubs put in to raising this

much needed money for our charity.

As we look forward to returning to normality in the spring, the AOIFA Executive joins with me in

wishing you good health and wellbeing.

Kindly convey this information to ALL your members.

Yours sincerely,

Mary O’Brien

Chairperson

We are in a very fast moving situation and following consultation with our President and Secretary I have decided that we should follow the advice issued by NAFAS earlier today. While England / Scotland may be a bit further along as far as the spread of the virus I think we need to be sensible,  and for all of us the bottom line is the health and well being of members. 

The Mock Demonstrators Test is going ahead tomorrow however we are 

advising you follow the guidelines below. I am sorry if some of you have got some of this information via social media, however it does take a little time to deal with such a situation. 

Be sensible, look after each other and hopefully we can at least get into the garden and enjoy flowers while the many restrictions are in place. 

LIZ MANNING

CHAIRMAN NIGFAS

NAFAS Statement on Coronavirus

Attached is an updated statement on NAFAS position on Coronavirus. This will be added to our website today.

 

The Board are extremely concerned about the rapid pace of the developments surrounding Coronavirus and we are receiving a number of enquiries from members asking for advice. Our recommendations are:

• Cancel all meetings planned in April 2020.
• Give careful consideration to all meetings planned between now and the end of March.
• Do not arrange any future meetings or events until further notice.

FULL ADVICE STATEMENT - 

Do not arrange any future meetings or events until further notice.

Please note, these are recommendations only, and all decisions made are the responsibility of the Club or Area. There may be local considerations to be aware of, for example, a member of a club may contract the virus. Please contact Head Office should you have any concerns or for full information and guidelines about Coronavirus (COVID-19) please visit the NHS website – www.nhs.uk

It is the responsibility of the Club and Area Chairman to fulfill their contractual obligations to a Demonstrator if a meeting is cancelled at short notice, especially if flowers have already been purchased. Please 

NAFAS UPDATE

March Newsletter

During the last few weeks, having been plunged into uncertainty, we have all been focusing on keeping our membership safe and well as our priority. We are aware of members concerns about the future of the Association. It’s true, these are testing times for us all, but we want to reassure you that the Association has the resources to come through this crisis and we will be there throughout to support our Areas, Clubs and Members.

Here for You

As your NAFAS Board of Directors, we have held our first Virtual Board meeting via an online conference facility.

The meeting was very constructive and positive, where we looked at how, as a oard, we can support you.

Step one – each of the Board Directors will be in touch with 3 Areas and so will be contacting your Area Chairman to help and support them through this uncertain period. To hear your issues, then work on how we can help you.

The other communication tool which has been dysfunctional for some time is the NAFAS website, As this is our main form of communication we have decided to proceed with the design of a new site that we hope will bring flowers and floral design back into all our lives. Our grateful thanks go out to those Areas who have made contributions to this project.

We were inspired to see on Wednesday evening an online demonstration by John Paul, a member of Londonderry Flower Club in the NIGFAS Area. Members of the club were joined by many of us from around the world. What an excellent initiative. We are certain that knowing how creative you all are, as we settle into isolation you will come up with many innovative ideas. The strength of our Association is the creativity of the membership.

Ideas

So, start letting us know your ideas so that we can circulate, enable peer support, and as one big NAFAS Team we can work together.

 Concern

We are obviously concerned about our Demonstrators, Speakers and Teachers whose work has been severely affected by the call from the Government to isolate ourselves. We hope that the recent information regarding the ‘self-employed’ will help to support those who earn a living from our industry. We will keep abreast of all Government initiatives to support you.

Communication

In this period, when we cannot physically meet, all forms of communication are even more important than normal. By reinforcing this national process, we want to encourage you to do whatever you can to keep in touch, remember for many you might be a lifeline.

We are certain that, with the kindness and generosity of spirit in this world, in drastically changing times, we can make a floral mark on our communities to show that flowers and nature lift our spirits and become the medicine we all need.

We ask clubs and Areas to keep your Facebook and website pages up  to date with comments about your club and flower arranging pictures, maybe from your clubs past events.

Chrissie Harten’s latest video, “Alternative Mechanics – Using Chicken Wire” is available on the NAFAS website.

Finally, let us draw your attention to Let Hope Bloom. Launched by the  flowercouncil.co.uk this project fits well together with our own ethos of  bringing people and flowers together.

 

Keep safe

From the Directors of NAFAS,

Dr Christina Curtis, Craig Bullock, Ellie Meaking, Peter Mathers,

Ann Harding, Pam Ferguson and Kathy Lee 

NAFAS Coronavirus ( COVID 19 ) Statement Update

NAFAS – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Statement (updated 9th April 2020)
Over the last few weeks, since our last statement, there has been much change to the COVID-19 guidelines set by the Government, the World Health Organisation and the UK NHS. 
The health and safety of our members, staff and visitors is our priority. 
We, as your National Association’s President, National Officers, CEO, Directors and staff have continued to work on your behalf to provide support for the whole membership. There are two ways that we have enabled our continued support and communication:
1) Our Head Office staff are working from home following the Government Guidelines, so you are still able to communicate with Head Office in the normal way by phone and email.  
2) We, your Board of Directors are now holding weekly Virtual Board meetings, every Friday at 11am thereby increasing the frequency of these meetings, so that we can lead the way forwards and respond to the everchanging circumstances.
After each Board meeting, we are releasing the Minutes from the previous week to the Area Chairmen, to aid swift communication of decisions, guidance and help.
In addition to those meetings, through technology, interim discussions and decision making is taking place. We are constantly investigating how we can aid communication to and from your clubs and Areas to NAFAS, and indeed between your Areas, encouraging peer support. We acknowledge that the website is not functioning at an appropriate level, so we have prioritised the design and build of a new website, about which we will keep you informed.
Recently we have postponed or cancelled NAFAS events for the foreseeable future. This decision has not been taken lightly, but bearing in mind that, even if we were to come out of this period of lockdown, many will initially, quite rightly, be very reticent at coming together in large numbers. We are also not clear of timescales and whether there might be a second wave of infections leading to another lockdown. As you will appreciate, it’s difficult to offer advice about future meetings while the Government lockdown remains in place. Once this has been lifted, we will be able to start making plans again and rescheduling our meetings.”
Please note, all decisions made are the responsibility of the Club or Area. There may be local considerations to be aware of too, for example, a member of a club may contract the virus. Please contact Head Office should you have any concerns or for full information and guidelines about Coronavirus (COVID-19) please visit the NHS website – www.nhs.uk  
It is the responsibility of the Club and Area Chairmen to fulfil their contractual obligations to a Demonstrator if a meeting is cancelled at short notice, especially if flowers have already been purchased. Please honour your responsibilities.  
In addition to communication, your Board really encourages you to be creative in the strange situation we find ourselves in. There are lots of ways online that we can show to the world our love of flowers to brighten outlooks and lift spirits. Technology is providing an important way of virtually meeting together to share this passion, so please go to the following Facebook Pages:
•NAFAS       •Friends of NAFAS       • Flower Arrangers       • Your Area  Your Club
 Also follow     •The Flower Arranger social media  
Don’t forget to view your own Area websites and Newsletters. 
Stop Press - *The Flower Arranger is out this week. Remember it does come out in digital form as well*
If there are any changes to the current recommendations from the Government or the World Health Organisation, we will review, react to and communicate their instructions promptly.   

RHS CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW 19TH - 23RD MAY

The show has been cancelled due to Coronavirus

It will be available through virtual images

Is your Garden as good as Chelsea Flower Show ????

Could you have a, winning garden? The RHS and BBC1's The One Show are joining forces to launch My Chelsea Garden, a competition encouraging gardeners across the nation to share images of their green spaces and growing efforts at home in search of the very best.

The charity and broadcaster are asking people to enter pictures of their garden in one of the following four categories:

Back Garden,

Front Garden,

Indoor Garden
(Houseplants, window sills, balconies, etc),

Kids' Corner Garden.

you can only enter one image in one of the categories. Pictures must be of people’s own indoor or outdoor gardens and must be taken between Friday 1 May and Monday 18 May 2020.

The best gardens will be shortlisted by a team of researchers and horticultural experts and selected to go before a panel of judges based on their suitability and the information supplied by the nominee. A winner from each of the four categories will be selected and will win four tickets to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2021 and a special RHS Award commending their garden.

Entries open at 7pm on Friday 1st May and close at midnight on Monday 18th May. The winners will be revealed on The One Show and across RHS social platforms and their website on Friday 22nd May

https://www.bbc.co.uk/…/SyXWtjtkKSvBRw9lT…/my-chelsea-garden

 

Rings of Hope & Appreciation

 

Flower Arrangers all over the country are creating door rings to show their appreciation of the NHS staff and essential workers during this emergency. They are decorating them in green and blue, with ribbons, flowers and foliage.

 

The ring symbolises unending and everlasting love, the cycle of life and hope. Green is for renewal, balance and progress, and blue for the NHS.

 

Gloucester based NAFAS member and Master Florist Katherine Kear, whose idea this was, thanks all who have already decorated their doors and encourages the public to find creative ways to take part in this gesture of thanks.

 

Step by step ideas, suitable for beginners and children, can be found on the NAFAS Facebook page @NafasFlowers and also Katherine Kear’s Facebook page @KatherineKearFlowers. A ‘How to’ video is available on the nafasflowers YouTube 

Obituary to The Rev Mac

NIGFAS members have been very saddened by the death of the
Very Rev. William McMillan MBE, MA on 19th. January 2020.
This is a tribute to our wonderful friend who is so sadly missed by everyone.
With affection he was called “Mac” by all who knew him and in a strange way he didn’t need the title “Rev” to indicate his Christianity and his love and respect for all aspects of God’s Creation. When Mac left school, his teacher said he would either end up on the stage or the pulpit. She underestimated him. He did both.
Mac said that he became involved in flower arranging by accident! His first love of flowers stemmed from gardening and he was a member of Suffolk Garden Society. Observing the Floral Art Competitions, he expressed his opinions on the matter of drapes and was challenged to do better. He accepted the challenge and joined a class taken by the late Mrs Betty McCrory. He used to arrange the flowers for special events in church and pretend that his wife Sheila had done them. It was not long before the Newry congregation realised that it was Mac and not Sheila who did the flowers. To quote his son” Dad, it is bad enough having to be the son of a clergyman, but a flower arranger as well?”
On moving to Dunmurry he ‘discovered ‘Julia Clements and Betty, recognising his particular talents, encouraged him to enter competitions. He was then persuaded to take his Area Demonstrator’s test. It wasn’t long until he undertook his National Demonstrator’s Test and was asked to demonstrate at the next National Show in Bournemouth. More National Shows followed. He has travelled the world demonstrating from Mexico to India, Barbados to Bangkok and many places closer to home. He used many of these events to raise funds for charities at home and abroad seeing every invite as a privilege and feeling that he learnt so much from the different cultures that he could not take a fee for himself.
He was chairman of NIGFAS from 1978-1980.
In Northern Ireland he worked to establish cross community nursery schools, places that did not exist at that time. At the 1978 Congress in Oxford he was awarded the IARF Albert Schweitzer Award for his work in breaking down barriers and in promoting religious freedom.
He was appointed a Special Associate of Honour of NAFAS in 1989.
He received the MBE in 1999 in recognition of his charity work.
Garden Clubs of America made him an Honorary Member, their highest award, granted only to 4 people outside the United Sates.
He lectured on several occasions in the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

In 2000 Mac was asked by Father Finnegan to design a festival to celebrate the Millennium at Dromantine House, Newry, Co Down and 120 of his friends from 26 different countries came to Design 2000- An International Symposium of Floral Art. Delegates gave him a standing ovation and Mac quoting his beloved Yeats ‘Tread softly / Because you tread on my dreams’ said simply ‘You have made my dream come true’. This international gathering was repeated in 2006.
A prolific writer Mac penned books, articles and pamphlets on many subjects. His writings displayed both a depth and breadth of knowledge presented in a style that was eloquent, accurate and instructive. ‘Floral Designs – A Celtic Way’ and ‘Beyond Mere Words’ are examples of his published Floral Art books
To celebrate his 80th Birthday and the contribution he made to flower arranging NIGFAS arranged to have a plant named after him and in 2011 the name HOSTA
‘Reverend MAC’ was registered.
He won Best in Show at WAFA in Canada and in 2014 Mac won the special WAFA award for the MOST INNOVATIVE design at the 11th World Flower Show held in Dublin, and this was after he supposedly retired!!
MAC was a true friend to many, had a great interest in history, a wonderful command of language, worked tirelessly to unite communities in Northern Ireland and served Dunmurry First Presbyterian (Non- Subscribing) Church faithfully. We in NIGFAS are so proud to have known this outstanding man.
He is survived by his wife Sheila who over the years had to stay at home because of work, family commitments and to ‘mind the shop’ but was his rock and constant support.
Our Thoughts and prayers are with Sheila and the family at this sad time and he will be missed by all in the Flower Arranging world.

Liz Manning

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Rev William McMillan MBE died  peacefully this morning. Rev MAC was a Special  Associate of Honour of NAFAS , a past Chairman of NIGFAS and a friend to many and will be greatly missed . Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this sad time. 

Liz Manning 

World Show Jaipur India
On behalf of everyone at NIGFAS can I wish everyone travelling to Jaipur, India for the 13th World Show 24th February - 1st March a safe journey and a great fun and flower filled experience through the wonderful world of flowers.
Sandra Abbott will be staging the NIGFAS Honorary Exhibit and we know she will be a wonderful ambassador for us.
Best wishes to everyone who has entered the competitions, to Joan Magee who will be judging and to Margaret Abernethy, Chairman of the Board of Directors WAFA as she carries out many roles over the time of the show.

Message from Christina Curtis National Chairman

The Malvern Spring Festival 7, 8, 9, 10th May 2020

Good Morning 

Please find here with attached the schedule and entry form relating to the RHS Malvern Spring Festival for your information.

The theme this year is Wanderlust and Wonder.

Present day horticulture is a result of mankind’s wanderlust. For centuries people travelled the world discovering new plants and their special qualities striving to enrich lives and experiences.

Wanderlust is what drives us to explore, learn and find inspiration to create. It reflects an urge for self-development by experiencing the unknown, confronting unforeseen challenges, getting to know cultures and ways of life. As in gardening it helps us heal.

The concept of wanderlust could be taken literally; to create exhibits inspired by a voyage or more deeply as exhibit reflecting the journey of self-discovery, the longing for yet another new experience or vision.

Successful entries will be entitled to a £700 bursary (issued in instalments), however,  entries are limited. As ever please ensure that you examine the regulations as these are updated from time to time.

With kind regards.

Christina Curtis