President

Mrs Sonya Leaman

sonyaleaman@northwootton.com 

Secretary: Mrs Faith Brown

faithbrown@northwootton.com

 

GAMES & GATEAUX EVENING

One of the warmest days of the year so far helped ensure that the Games and Gateaux event held on Friday 30th June went extremely well. A number of visiting WI's passed comment on the beautiful setting here in North Wootton and everyone had a good time. Here are a few Photographs that I took.

Faith Brown.

 

BOAT TRIP

The boat trip organised by the Women's Institute from Dartmouth to Totnes that took place on Friday 23rd June was a great success. Thank you to all those that came along to make it such an enjoyable and memorable day. Here are some photographs of our day.  Faith Brown.

Click to enlarge

 

 

A Brief History Of the WI

The Women's Institute all began in 1897 in a place called Stoney Creek in Canada. Since that time the Women's Institute (WI) has become a fundamental part of many women's lives throughout the world.

The woman who co-founded the WI, Adelaide Hoodless, arrived in Britain in 1899 but her initial attempts to convince women generally for the need for the WI mainly fell on deaf ears. It was only with the onset of the First World War and the change in the country's economic and social landscape that came with it that  women in the UK began to recognise the need for the WI.

As most of the men were called away to the trenches, women suddenly found that they were  needed in virtually every social field. At the Agricultural and Horticultural Union meeting held six months after the onset of the war, the discussion turned to the most pressing issue: the need for industrial and agricultural co-operation to meet the national crisis. Madge Watt, a WI member who had come to England to educate her sons, enthralled the audience with an account of agricultural industry in Canada, particularly among women.
 
The reaction was immediately positive: the agricultural industry began to see the value of women particularly in producing and preserving food, and soon Mrs Watt succeeded in founding the first British WI under the auspices of the Agricultural Organisation Society.
 
Committed to developing women’s talents, the WI today has links with over 8 million women in some 60 countries.

More information can be found on the UK WI WEBSITE.