what's your WI like?

indeed!

Have big birthday next year and thought that I would be mature enough to join the village WI.
I hadn't realised there is would be an annual fee, I presumed that you would pay weekly shows how much I know

I always or more to the point DH always heads for the WI cake stall.

I was also under the impression that the WI carried some political clout.

Having read the previous posts and the diversion of funds to London to be spent on plush offices, I don't think I will bother.

Next on my list is the village garden and/or flower club. (open to both sexes)
Surely their funds won't be whizzing of to London.

Oh dear, oh dear..... so our poor WI ( who struggle to support a huge foodbank and a women’s refuge) are sending half our subscription money to fund a fancy London HQ and (the newly renovated ) Denman that I would guess no-one in our branch would ever get to visit . There’s something sadly wrong but I’m not at all surprised. Thank you Chewy .

Just found this from the Telegraph earlier this year, (apologies for the length of the cut and past GNHQ):

WI groups fear closure as almost a third of their subscription fees are being taken to help fund the charity's expensive London headquarters.
Grassroots groups across the country, facing dwindling membership in rural areas, are angry that the charity's national office and its regional federations are demanding almost half of their vital funds.

Membership subscription to the Women's Institute has risen to £41, an increase of 13 per cent in the last three years. Of the £41, £11.70 goes to the national council and £9.30 to the county federation, leaving just £20 for the local branch.
The fees have almost doubled in a decade and members say people in rural areas can no longer afford it.
They are calling for its multi-million pound head office in London's Parsons Green to be sold
to save funds and for it to relocate to its 17th century picturesque Georgian Oxfordshire retreat Denman house.

A spokesperson for the WI added: “We believe that the annual subscription offers excellent value for money. The 2018 membership subscription has been set at £41, which equates to 79p a week. The 2018 rate is an increase of £2 from 2017, which in absolute terms is just 4p per week.

"WIs have always been encouraged to fundraise to supplement their income, and for many
WIs this is a central part of membership.

"Far from losing members, the WI today is flourishing, with approximately 222,000 members and almost 30,000 new members joining last year alone."

Its income in 2016 was £7.2million, £2.4million came from subscriptions.

£7.2 MILLION!

.......and isn’t that quite sickening chewy ? I could die at the Denman “courses” we are in the NE and the travelling alone would be way out of the reach of most of our members. Of course their HQ would have to be in some fancy building in London . I mean does anywhere else even exist ?

I've just had a look at their website gillybob and it says that they employ 70 paid members of staff. Plus they have new offices in Parsons Green, London, which are quite prestigious apparently. A 2 day cooking course at Denman is approximately £350, so well out of the reach of many people.

I’m a little puzzled about how the annual subs are distributed . We are a WI in a very poor town. £42 is a lot of money to some of our members. Our own WI are only allowed to keep a small portion of that money with the rest going to regional HQ and National HQ . What happens to that money ? Does it finance wages? Jollies for the big wigs? Denman? Fancy HQ buildings? And Those rubbish magazines full of adverts for holidays no one can afford and nylon trews ? I’m genuinely concerned .

I joined my local WI for a year but didn't go back after that. Most members were a lot older and not particularly welcoming. I couldn't get to grips with all the formality of reading of minutes etc and the competitions! Best key ring, best teacup and saucer! I joined because I had heared the organisation was modernising - but not in my area obviously. I can't imagine any younger women feeling this was for them. There were some I interesting speakers but when we went on an outing and I was left to sit and have supper on my own that was the end for me.

Thanks hillwalker but what do they do with all that money? I appreciate that of the 50% of annual fees (£21), the local institute has to pay for the hire of the hall, insurance etc. Then the monthly magazines are to be paid for by national WI but what happens to the rest? If the WI is staffed primarily by volunteers; what other overheads are there?

On the issue of the magazine; I'd been a member of WI for 7 months before I even got a copy!

I am hoping my WI is friendlier than some of the ones described here! But I relate to the statement ‘we have always done it like this’ - if only we could break away from this attitude maybe we could attract younger members and not be constantly scrabbling around to get a committee

Chewbacca, from the £42, a small amount stays with Institute, some goes to local federation and some to national. At my Institute we do not pay for teas and coffees, the raffle is optional and we do not have expensive outings unless they are organised by County, we cannot aford to hire a coach so we do local trips with vol drivers.

Blue a funny account of a grand day out.
it could be any elderly group on a trip.Thankfully, have never been on one like that [may be ready for that in about 20 years] or not, as the case might be.

Nanny41 that's nice for you, mostWI's are welcoming places, and if not, certainly should be.

people can shop around for a WI, as most villages seem to have one, to find one that suits.

Blue60 that's very funny and sounds a bit like the trips I used to go on (although I was one of the ones always needing the loo!)

I am not a member as I dont live in the UK, but I am fortunate to be able to attend meetings when I visit the UK, my good neighbour takes me as a guest,I have beem so many times I am treated as one of the members, they are a very friendly group I always feel welcome, there I have found new friends who I pass the time of day with when out in the village.I think the WI is a fantastic way in which to become part of the community.

Blue60 that is brilliant. That is exactly how I imagine the trips are that my mother goes on, including the ‘accident’.

I'm a bit at how expensive WI is. £42.00 per year membership, plus £12.00 per year contributions for tea/coffee, plus the inevitable raffle tickets. I've just found out today that when I added my name to a list to say that I was interested in going to an event, it was actually a firm commitment and I now owe another £27.00.
I've been told that only 50% of the annual subs of £42.00 stays with the local group and the remainder goes to the WI HQ in London. Is this correct? And, if so, what do they spend that £21 that every member in the country pays? It must be a vast amount of money And I can't imagine what they do with all that. Does any long standing member know?

I used to go to one in a village.
It was run by the same people that run everything in the village. As you go into the hall they have a series of tables and you are expected to go to them in order to be divested of money for that session, donate a raffle prize and buy a ticket. Extra tabkes are added as needed if it's time to renew membership or there's something extra (e.g. a trip) to pay for. Woe before you if you don't have the right money for each thing. You can't take say a £20 and say it's for several things as they are all dealt with separately.

Where I live now there's supposed to be a great one but I've been put off!!

Chewbacca and others I'm sorry your WI is so unfriendly! Not at all what we're about!

I joined about 4 years ago and have been president for 2! We are a small WI in our village (35 members) but very friendly, no sitting in the same seats with the same people for us. We have great speakers and monthly competitions (normally themed around the speaker and season) as well as two outings a year.

I thought about joining the local WI many years ago but it became a Countrywomen's Association (not sure why, I think there was a bit of a dispute nationwide). So I never joined, it didn't have the same 'ring' about it as WI but they seem to do similar things.

There are so very many ladies' organisations. WI is only one of them. I don't like going out in the evenings but make an exception for talks. The afternoon groups I've been to have been on days that I already have a regular commitment (but make exceptions for talks)! Retired life is sooooo busy!

My WI was started about 5 years ago by a gruop of younger women. I think our ages range from mid to late thirties up to late seventies. We have evening meetings in a constitutional club which has very reasonably priced drinks! We never sing Jerusalem. We have interesting meetings with good speaker, like an a man from an Italian drinks company, lovely cocktails! We've had speakers from the police, paramedics and also had beauty evenings. It's a very good way to meet new people. We have about eighty members.

I am planning to move to a smaller town and thought that joining the WI would be a good way to get to know people. It rather puts me off to hear that WI can be cliquey. I thought they would be better than that.
I will still try them and see if perhaps I will be lucky and it will be more welcoming

blue60 I could hear the accent and imagine the ladies as I read your post.

Tried the local WI. Not for me, too much Cake and Jerusalem.

Well, I documented my experience in a blog when I used to do talks.

'The other day, while travelling up to see my mother in the Rhondda Valley, I was reminded of a trip I took last year to Aberglasney with the WI. Hubby was driving, which gave me lots of time to talk about it to my captive audience of one. He was laughing so much, he said I should share those moments and write a blog. So here it is. Don’t worry about the spelling – it’s meant to be like that.
It was early May and my mother, Irene, rang to ask if I fancied a trip up to Aberglasney and the Botanic gardens. The WI were running it and it was only a fiver. A fiver!!! What a treat, I thought. I had to be at my mother’s house by 8.30 a.m. as the 52 seater bus would be picking us up at nine from the bus stop at the corner of the street. So, I set off from Cardiff, making my way to Treherbert, an hour or so away. I was taking a chance, if there were any road works on the way, then it could take me an hour and half – and there’s only one way in, and one way out that far up the valley, so no escape routes or alternatives. Luckily for me, it was a straight run (in that I mean there were no hold ups – the roads are anything but straight) and I arrived at 8.30 a.m. as promised.
‘Cuppa tea?’ my mother asks a soon as I sat down near the telly, which was on, QVC - again.
‘Have you been watching this all night?’
‘No, I’ve just put it on. D’yew want tea?’
‘No thanks. I don’t like drinking loads of tea before a bus journey. And you shouldn’t either. You know you’ll want to ‘go’ as soon as we get to the bus stop.’
‘Yes. I’d better go again now just in case.’
We walked up to the bus stop. It was dull, misty and raining. This particular bus stop evokes many childhood memories of all the ‘mystery’ bus trips we took; the journeys to Butlins and the lights in Blackpool. They all started here, and it always seemed to be raining. Today was no different.
We were soon joined by a couple of old ladies, of whom I had a vague recollection.
‘iya ‘reen. ‘ow are u luv?’
Reenee, Irenee or ‘reen, that’s what all my mother’s mates call her, all of which she hates but nobody takes any notice.
‘Not so baad Peggy. ‘ow are u? Is yewer leg bettuh?’
‘Oh not so baad ‘reen. Is this yewer daughter then?’
‘Yes, this is my eldest daughter. She’s a garden designer.’
‘Oooh luvlee. Nice to meet yew. I remember yew when yew was a little girl. She’s keepin’ blonde int she ‘reen?’
Here comes the bus. The windows are steamed up already and, as I took my seat I could see, I mean hear, why. It was only half full but the noise of loud high pitched chattering from twenty five open mouths was enough to steam up a sauna without any hot coals.
‘iya ‘reen.’
‘iya Betty’
‘iya ‘reen’
‘iya gwen’
‘iya ‘reen. Is that yewer daughter then?’
‘iya Mary. Yes, this is my eldest daughter. She’s a garden designer.’
‘Oooh luvlee. She’s keepin’ blonde int she ‘reen?’
And so it went on. All the way up the valley until, at ten o’clock, we started the long climb up the Rhigos mountain over to Neath. It would take us about an hour and a half to Aberglasney, and I was already exhausted by the constant bags of sweets being handed around.
‘Mint ‘umbug ‘reen?’
‘No thanks luv. I’ve got some sherbert lemons.’
‘Dew dew, sherbert lemons? Dew all the old one are coming back in they?’
‘IF ANYONE IS FEELING SICK I’VE GOT A BAG OF BARLEY SUGARS ‘ERE.’ someone screamed.
Clearing the window with my sleeve, I pressed my face against the window to try and see how far we’d got. I had a headache. Why is it women’s voices rise and rise to a shrill and ends up in an almost scream when they are talking?
Two hours later…the driver had taken a wrong turn, so instead of visiting the Botanic gardens first we ended up in Aberglasney instead.
Buses have to line up along the narrow road to the gardens, so that meant a short walk. The idea of a short walk was met with groans and sighs and the waving of walking sticks.
The first building we came to was…the toilets. Fifty one women scrabbled to get in there first. I guessed it was going to a long wait for them all to emerge, so I sat on a bench and pondered what I had done. I was itching to get on and see the gardens.
The next building, after the gift shop was…the tea room. I wanted to wander around so I left mother with the ‘girls’ (as she calls them). I returned an hour later where they were still guzzling tea and scoffing pastries.
‘Come an’ ‘ave some tea luv!’
This is a classic tea and pee trip I thought. Why do they have to drink bloody tea all the time?
Finally, there was half an hour before the bus was to take us to the botanic gardens and, as we made our way across the Cloister Garden, one of the party fell over. It was all screams and hysterical shouting. Gwen looked just as grey as the gravel she was now lying on.
‘Ooh look at ‘er face! She’s white as sheet!’
‘GET SOME ‘ELP! ‘EY, YEW OVER ‘ERE – YES YEW – WAITER –YES YEW! GERROVER ‘ERE! QUIIIICK! QUIIICK!!!’
As a trained first aider, I stepped into the breach.
‘Move back now ladies. Give her some air please.’ After checking for obvious breaks and attending to the scratches as best I could with the first aid kit the waiter bought, Gwen’s colour returned to her face.
The waiter had also brought some water and, when she was ready, we managed to heave her up. She was not a small lady.
The rest of the party stood around with wide eyes and worried hands clasped over open mouths, whispering and gasping at the same time.
We finally made it to the botanic gardens, where most of them took the little truck ride up to the glass dome. More teas, more pees.
At 4 p.m. we started the journey back. On arrival at Treherbert, mother volunteered my services as the local taxi.
‘You’ll take Betty up to the ‘ouse, won’t you.’ This was not a question. This was not a request. This was a demand. I smiled weakly between clenched teeth.
It happened to be a place we used to call ‘The Ranch’ as kids. It was a council estate situated on a very steep hillside.
Dropping her off, I drove up to the end of the street to turn the car around. Some kids were up to no good and, on spotting my car, decided to throw stones at it. Some things never change!

I shall return to Aberglasney again…I may get to see a bit more of it next time!'

Great to hear about WI’s which are thriving. Ours was only formed about 5 years ago by two young mums. We now have around 50 at each meeting. My 29year old daughter and some of her friends have joined. We have offshoot clubs such as a book club, walking group, cake club, craft group and have just acquired an allotment. Most speakers are entertaining, and we have a lot of interactive topics such as dancing or crafts. I organised a trip to the Emma Bridgewater factory earlier this year. A fabulous day out, thoroughly recommended. I think you get out of WI what you put in!