Just like the women who belong to them, Women’s Institutes are to be found in every corner of the UK and in all types of communities.
The organisation, about to celebrate its 100th anniversary, has 2,500 members in West Yorkshire alone, in 70 groups, and clearly has a winning formula.
It is this success and diversity that the WI is currently celebrating by passing a ceremonial baton from group to group in the run-up to the 2015 centenary year.
Yesterday, the baton, which has been criss-crossing the country, arrived in Huddersfield, making its way from Marsden WI, where it was greeted by Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney and Clr Donna Bellamy, to Upper Hopton and a welcome from the Mayor of Kirklees, Clr Martin Bolt, with members of Stockmoor, Farnley Tyas and Kirkheaton WIs. In the evening, the baton completed its tour, ending up at a meeting of one of the area’s newest groups, the town centre-based Tea & Tarts WI.
The WI is the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK, with more than 212,000 members nationally, and has a long history of campaigning for the public good. It is, says Gillian Swift, WI adviser for West Yorkshire and a member of the Farnley Tyas WI, “one of the few organisations of ordinary people with consultative status at Government level.”
She added: “Every institute is different and each one enjoys a great degree of autonomy. And while it’s a craft orientated organisation, it’s also an organisation with a lot of public interest behind it. In the 1920s, for example, the WI was campaigning for school meals and the formation of the ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ in the 1960s was a WI initiative. We are asked for our opinions by decision-makers.”
Although the WI has earned a reputation for being an organisation of formidable bakers and jam-makers, many groups enjoy a wide range of other activities as well - anything from mountain climbing to axe-throwing.
Rebecca Cobb-Kilner, a young mum from Lowerhouses, is the founder of Tea & Tarts, which has become one of the West Yorkshire federation’s new breed of youthful, innovative groups.
Launched back in October 2010 with just six members, its numbers have now swelled to 78. Rebecca says she was initially surprised by the response, given that she only started the group in order to improve her social life.
She explains: “I worked in Sheffield and had just left work to be a mum and didn’t know anybody here. I wanted to make new friends and thought we might get about 15 people in the group and could potter along and do a bit of knitting.
“It’s certainly fulfilled what I wanted for me, I’ve made some fantastic friends. Our monthly meetings are very well attended and we run all sorts of activities as well. We’ve been taught axe throwing by the European knife throwing champion who teaches people in Hollywood; we’ve had a visit from a burlesque performer who is also a ninja; we’ve danced the Charleston and had the ‘No More Page Three’ people come to talk to us from London.”
Gillian Swift’s WI in Farnley Tyas is one of the more traditional groups, reflecting the origins of the organisation, which had the initial aim of revitalising rural communities and involving women in the production of food. It is 29-women strong and, says Gillian, works to support the local community. She explained: “The WI went through a 30-year patch when people became insular, but now they are getting more community minded and want to feel part of something and that’s why the WI has taken off again – it offers so much.”
Chair of Marsden WI Anna Logue, whose group held a coffee morning to celebrate the event, said: “It’s a privilege to be selected to host the baton and our 20 or so members have been looking forward to this day for some time.”
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