Women's Institutes (British)
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The Women's Institutes (WI) are membership organisations for women in England and Wales. A separate organisation, the Scottish Women's Rural Institute exists in Scotland.
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[edit] Organisation and membership
Individual Women's Institutes are self-governing and serve particular towns or districts. They are grouped into 70 county and island federations. Both the individual WIs and the regional federations are members of the National Federation of Women's Institutes. In 2006 approximately 215,000 women were members of 7,000 WIs.
[edit] Activities
WI members take part in local programs that may include sport, drama, education, cooking and community projects, in addition to campaigning on matters of local, national and international importance including human trafficking, the environment children's diets, and supporting local shops.
[edit] History
The first WI was founded in Wales in 1915, inspired by the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada, and especially Margaret Rose Watt, generally known as Mrs Alfred Watt, an activist for the interests of rural women who in 1930 went on to found the Association of Country Women of the World (ACWW). In the circumstances of the First World War the Government of the United Kingdom's Board of Agriculture, with the belief that the WI could play an important role in the countryside, particularly in domestic science and the production and preserving of food. The first meeting of a British WI took place in Llanfairpwll (aka Llanfair PG), Anglesey, Wales, on Wednesday June 16, 1915.
After the First World War, the Board of Trade withdrew its sponsorship, and by 1923 the Women's Institutes had become fully independent. The National Federation was headed for many years by the formidable Gertrude Denman, who in 1930 went on to found the Associated Country Women of the World, and the Institutes rapidly became an essential part of rural life. One of their features was an independence from political parties or institutions, or church or chapel which encouraged activism by non-establishment women, particularly Quakers, which helps to explain why the Institutes has been extremely reluctant to support anything that can be construed as war work, despite their wartime formation, and in World War II they limited their contribution to such activities as jam-making, contributing to their misleading stereotype.
The first Women's Institute Market took place in Lewes to sell surplus produce in 1919. WI County Federations supported the spread of WI Markets. In 1932 the Markets were registered as co-operatives under the Industrial Provident & Friendly Societies Act. Their combined annual turnover reached £1m in 1972 and £10m in 1992. The Markets separated from The National Federation of Women's Institutes in 1995 and became self-financing. In 2004 the company was renamed Country Markets Limited.
In 2003 a new style urban WI was opened in Fulham, London Fulham WI[1]. This WI has been successful and the press attention it has generated has led to new WIs with younger female members opening steadily in its wake, all over the UK. The new history of the WI is currently in the making.
[edit] "Jerusalem"
During the 1920s, many WIs started closing meetings by singing Hubert Parry's setting of William Blake's words And did those feet in ancient time, known as "Jerusalem", and this caught on nationally. Although it has never actually been adopted as the WI's official anthem, in practice it holds that position.
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
- UK topics
- Calendar Girls — 2003 film based on the nude calendar produced by the Rylstone WI.
- Federated Women's Institutes of Canada
- Country Women's Association (Australia)
- Merched y Wawr — Welsh language women's movement similar to the Women's Institute.
- Fulham WI[2]
