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WI investigation 37

When a new WI opens near an establishedone and invites local women to join, howcan both groups work in harmony?

Words EMILY CARLISLE | Illustration ANNA SIMMONS

When Margaret Earles moved to Whitstable in Kentin December 2010 she continued to attend themonthly meetings held by her old WI, severalmiles away in Chartham, where so many goodriends had supported her through dicult times.

But something was missing. I loved my new lie in Whitstable, shesays, but I needed to make riends here. I decided to join a local WIto meet some more people.

Margaret was lucky enough to have a thriving WI on her doorstepbut with more than 100 members South Street WI wasnt quite whatshe was looking or. I was araid it would be hard to settle into such

a large group, she says, so I decided to see i there was demand ora second WI. Having identied a room at Whitstable Castle to holdmeetings, she put up some notices and kept her ngers crossed. Ididnt want to step on the toes o existing WIs in the area, so I kepteverything very low key. I was worried that they might eel I wastrying to poach members but the reality is that there are plenty togo round.

Sixteen women came to that rst meeting and 18 to the second,when Tankerton Bay WI was ocially ormed. Now it has reachedcapacity, with 45 members and a growing waiting list.

It was the best thing I ever did, says Margaret, who took on therole o President. Everyone is so enthusiastic, and were lookingorward to working with the other WIs in our group. Its clear romthe interest weve had that theres more than enough demand tosupport several WIs in the area, and it would be a shame i anyoneelt any rivalry as a result. Ater all, its hardly in the spirit o the WIto be competitive, is it?

Angela Bending, a WI Adviser or 24 years, has ormed dozens oWIs in towns and villages where theres already a long-establishedWI. There are lots o reasons why it might be a good idea to setup a new WI, she says. Oten WIs become too large, or sometimesa young WI needs to be established in an area where a WI has amuch older membership.

Angela oers the ollowing advice to members worried aboutputting noses out o joint. Always try to involve local WIs in theormation o your new one. This will support the new ocers andavoid any eeling o competition. She suggests running swap shops

where members rom each WI are invited to attend the othersmeetings to see how things are done. Although they can learn romeach other, there are no hard and ast rules about how theyre run.Its important that WIs are able to settle into their own routinesand ways, Angela says.

Its only natural that members o long-standing WIs might beconcerned when a new one orms on their doorstep but the key to

to the

Saying

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good relations is to keep talking. I youre orming a new WI, invitemembers rom the existing WI to your meeting and encourage themto invite you to theirs in return, Angela advises. Listen, learn andheed all the ideas you can. Make them welcome and theyll workwith you. Personally, she adds, I think competition is healthy itkeeps WIs on their toes!

CASE STUDIES:

South Yorkshire FederationBarnby Dun Evening WIRosemary Lea has been a member o the WI or 34 years and is nowin her third year o oce as President o Barnby Dun Evening WI,which was ormed in 1947 and now has 66 members.

We run a airly traditional WI, starting each meeting withJerusalembeore running through some business and thenintroducing a speaker. We heard about the new Thorpe MarshWI rom two o our members who are WI Advisers, and it waspublicised in the Parish news. Some o our members were conusedat rst but their concerns were dispelled when I explained thatour WI would remain the same. The promise o a new WI wasexciting and indeed seven o our members are now dual memberswith Thorpe Marsh WI. We have very dierent styles and oeralternative meeting nights and venues, so it provides excellentopportunities or more women to discover the WI.

Thorpe Marsh WIJulie Arnold ormed Thorpe Marsh WI in 2009, taking on the roleo President. The 56 members meet on the opposite side o the roadrom Barnby Dun.

My mums a member o Barnby Dun its a lovely group but I eltthere was room or a new and resh WI. She told me about a newWI in Sheeld which had more than 100 members and a waitinglist, and straight away I decided thats what I wanted. Initially therewere some concerns rom some o the Barnby Dun WI members,

who were worried women might join our WI instead o theirs but Imade it clear rom the outset I didnt want to be a threat.

Im young, I have a young amily and dierent ideas aboutactivities and speakers. I might not ring a bell or sing Jerusalem butI cherish all the WI stands or and love being able to oer it to ourmembers. Id advise anyone thinking o orming a new WI just to goor it, and not to be araid to make it your own.

The promise o a new WI was

exciting and seven o our members

are now dual members

There wont be any rivalry

between us

Id advise anyone thinking o orming a

new WI just to go or it

osemary ea, arnby Dun vening W

usan argent, eigate vening W

Julie Arnold, Thorpe Marsh W

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Surrey FederationReigate Evening WISusan Sargent has been a WI member or three years. In September2011 she became President o the newly ormed Reigate EveningWI. They have 82 members with a waiting list o 20.

There was no WI in Reigate itsel, and my own WI was

oversubscribed, so a ew o us thought wed orm a new one. Morethan 120 women came to our rst meeting we had to nd a biggerroom. From that meeting the Reigate Evening WI was ormed, andthere was sucient interest too to orm a second WI orthe aternoons.

There wont be any rivalry between us each WI will servethe community o Reigate very well, and each will have memberswith dierent skills we may be able to borrow. We regard theaternoon WI as our sister WI and include their events in ournews sheet. We hope to plan a undraiser together later this year.

Reigate Afternoon WIChristine Powell is President o Reigate Aternoon WI, ormed inOctober 2011. They have 50 members.

I went along to a meeting to see i the WI would be right or me. Ioered to help with admin and somehow ended up as President. Wehave a great programme planned or this year, including a tai chidemonstration, personal training session, antiques roadshow and asalsa aternoon. Our aim is to be a young-at-heart WI.

Although there would never be any serious rivalry between usand Reigate Evening WI, Im sure there will be a bit o light-heartedcompetition as we try to outdo each other in what we oer to ourmembers. They have been very supportive already, sharing theirnewsletter template and inviting our members to join their theatretrip. Its great to be able to oer women the choice o two thrivingWIs in one town.

Glamorgan FederationTonteg WIMargaret Rogers is President o Tonteg WI, ormed in 1967. Theyhave more than 100 members.

Were a traditional WI: we start each meeting by singingJerusalem and have a ormal section where we tell members aboutevents and any news rom the Federation. We have some abulousspeakers last year we had a milliner come to talk to us aboutthe hats in the Royal Wedding. About 10 years ago the Federationinormed us that they were thinking o starting another WI in thearea. We welcomed the news because we were already very largewhich makes it dicult to nd venues or organise trips away.

Our members were very enthusiastic about the new WI and inact a ew moved to Eail-Isa WI straight away. Having more thanone WI in an area means you can cater or more needs its a verypositive move.

Efail-Isaf WIMavis Tierney is a WI Adviser and joined Tonteg WI when she was21. In 2003 she helped to orm Eail-Isa WI, which now has 75members.

Eail-Isa has given an alternative option to women in Tonteginterested in joining the WI. Were a very fexible WI and haveadapted how we do things to suit our members. We dont singJerusalem or have a top table, or example, but we still startmeetings with a bit o business beore introducing our speaker.

Weve never looked on Tonteg WI as rivals but enjoy

opportunities to do things together. We have a fourishing dartsteam and when we heard that Tonteg WI had ormed a teamwe immediately challenged them to a riendly match. We won,o course!

Emily Carlisle is a pen-name. The writer is Vice-president of WestOxordshire WI, which meets in Chipping Norton.