Monkton Farleigh Women’s Institute (MFWI) is our village branch of the national organisation, fondly known as the WI.
The Women’s Institute was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. Since then the organisation’s aims have broadened and the WI is now the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK. The WI celebrated its centenary in 2015 and currently has almost 220,000 members with approximately 30,000 new members joining in 2018. There are approximately 6,300 WIs.
Monkton Farleigh WI meet every month on the third Tuesday in the Village Hall. From April to September our meetings start at 7.30pm and from October to March at 2.30pm.
Our meetings start with a very short business section (most information is sent out in a newsletter) followed by a speaker and refreshments. We have a small raffle and a sales table to raise funds.
The speakers cover different areas of interest – recently we have heard about Local Nuclear Bunkers, Trowbridge Storehouse, Antarctica, Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security as well as a talk from a Kenyan tea farmer about Fairtrade.
We also arrange visits to local attractions and usually include lunch at an agreed venue.
As a member of the Wiltshire Federation of WIs we can attend events which they organise including craft activities, walks and lunch with speakers such as authors. We also send representatives to the Wiltshire AGM which has very interesting speakers.
The Annual National WI meeting is held at various venues all over the country and we are represented there.
The WI plays a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, encouraging them to take part in a wide variety of experiences and to campaign on issues that matter to them and their communities.
Many of our meetings are ‘open’ meeting at which we welcome visitors for a small fee. If you are interested in coming along and would like more information please contact Rachael McDonald on 01225 859534 or email rachaela.mcdonald@btinternet.com.