April 2024
The CFWI (Cheshire Federation of WIs) ran a writing competition requesting members to write a short piece on the WI for a Press Release, particularly aiming to attract younger members. So this is for those of you not in WI circles but who may wish to consider it, or be enlightened! (I had the advantage of having already written a piece on this but I had to whittle it down and make it a bit punchier – enjoy!)
“I’m not old enough for the WI yet thank you!” I manage a quiet sigh and suppress my eye rolling but I really want to scream, “Forget the WI archetype of genteel retired women clad in floral pinnies, humming ‘Jerusalem’ and wielding jam spoons over a hot stove.”
These days the WI is for women of any age. It’s the largest most influential UK based women’s organisation and been going since 1915 so they must be doing something right. The WI is non-party political, non-religious and welcomes all, including LGBTQ community and trans women. Name me one activity that wouldn’t appeal to any young woman. How’s this for size?
Speaker’s topics turn out to be revealing – Artificial Intelligence to the art of burlesque! Day trips yes, but surely not skydiving, whitewater rafting or being hurled over a quarry on the world’s fastest zip wire! Age is irrelevant when you’re away sampling activities of all dimensions on a fun packed weekend crammed with much more than tea and cake. Did I mention 30,000 new members, 42 new WIs in the last year, the new Virtual WIs and now the Online Learning Hub?
Got a bee in your bonnet about something? The WI is renowned for the strength of its campaigns covering such issues as organ donation, violence against women and clean rivers. Make no mistake, the WI takes these campaigns very seriously and is not an organization to be messed with.
Why would you not want to have new enriching experiences with a with a mass of dynamic, intelligent, diverse, supportive and friendly extraordinary women, spanning fifty decades or more? So, it’s time you chucked ageism out of the window – I’m not kidding, the strapline says it all:
