February 2025
What we are loving this month.

The HMS Oardacious Valkyries have successfully completed their 3,000 Mile row across the Atlantic Ocean becoming the first ever All Women’s Royal Navy team to row across any ocean. They have completed the famous World’s Toughest in 46 days, 12hours, 26 Minutes. They faced 40 foot waves, salt sores, sleep deprivation (rowing 2hours on 2hours off, all day every day), sea sickness all whilst dealing with the emotions of being away from their loved ones over Christmas.
The HMS Oardacious – Valkyries crew consisted of skipper Lieutenant Commander Izzy Rawlinson (Marine Engineer – Submariner) and Petty Officer Aaby Aldridge (Survival Equipment Technician) , Lieutenant Commander Nic Hall (Warfare Officer) and Lieutenant Commander Ali Aindow (Mine Clearance Diver Officer).

Membership

January has seen a bumper month with 18 new members, our highest number since April 2024. We WELCOME each of you to our wonderful Association. Our membership renewals are coming in thick and fast! Do you have an annual membership? Have you renewed for 2025/2026? If not don’t delay, last year’s annual memberships will expire on 31st March 2025.

Events

Naval Servicewomen’s Network
What a fantastic event we attended. So many insights into the great support available to our veterans, servicewomen and women married to service personnel. We have come away with great ideas as to how we can support them and also how they can help support our members. Very excited to see what’s to come.

Out of Town Meeting – Portsmouth 10th May – Royal Maritime Hotel
We have seen lots of attendee requests coming through – Don’t forget to let us know you are attending!

Action Required

Church Service at St Anns – Sunday 11th May 2025
All members either attending the Out-of-Town Meeting or local on the 11th May 2025 are welcome to attend the Church Service held 10am at St Anns within HM Naval Base Portsmouth. Please let the office know by the 18th ofApril if you would like to attend as access to the base will need to be requested by us.

Military Women’s Health & Wellbeing Conference – 23/24 Apr 25
Location: Anglia Ruskin University Campus, Cambridge UK
Date: 23/24 Apr 25
The Centre for Military Women’s Research (CMWR) at Anglia Ruskin University is holding its second conference in April themed around the health and wellbeing of women in the military community. The first day of this international conference includes a wide range of speakers and panel discussions on women’s experiences during and after military service, ending with a drink’s reception. The second day comprises a choice of four workshops on different aspects of the theme, concluding with a review and plenary.
For Information (timings, schedule, sign-up etc): Go to this website- www.centreformilitarywomensresearch.com

AOW vs RN Womens Dev XV – Inaugural Walking Rugby Match – 9th April 2025
HMS Temeraire hosts our first AOW Members vs RN Womens Dev XV Walking Touch Rugby match on Wednesday 9th April at 13:00, kick off 13:30 after some stretching and warm up – Let us know at [email protected] if you are interested in playing or spectating

News

Keep up to date with all the latest news from the Association via our website. www.wrens.org.uk/news

The Wren Magazine

Deadline for articles for the Spring 2025 edition is Monday 3rd March. We already have lots that didn’t make it into the Winter edition so looking forward to a bumper edition! Please ensure your article is with the office by this date [email protected]

Don’t forget,

you can let us know anytime if you would like your names added to the Wimbledon, Buckingham Palace Garden Party or Cenotaph ballots. We again hope to be lucky enough to receive tickets for all of these events again this year.

If you did not receive this newsletter via email, it is either because we do not hold an email address for you, or we do not have your GDPR agreement – please email the office if you would like to receive future editions – [email protected]