How we arrived here
The first Women’s Institute (WI) meeting in the UK took place in Anglesey, Wales in 1915. The UK government supported WIs as a way to increase food production during World War 1.
Very soon WIs spread throughout the UK, and became associated with the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW).
Word spread that WIs were fun and not just for women living in the country and WIs spread to urban areas as well. By 1964 there were 7 million members of WIs throughout the world.
WIs were, and are, never political or religious but are strongly supportive of any campaigns to help and increase the independence of women everywhere.
Gibson WI was founded in September 1962. By November 91 members had joined! So many wanted to attend meetings on a Thursday evening children’s benches had to be used when chairs ran out.
Lots of wine tasting, fashion shows, ‘Any Questions’, parties, choir and drama groups mixed with community support activities such as providing children’s parties, Xmas stockings and visiting the local hospital kept everyone busy.
WI Day Message from Jeryl Stone, NFWI Chair– September 2026
Wishing all of our members a joyous WI Day 2026, as we mark our 111th incredible year.
I’m enjoying seeing pictures of your parties, events, and celebrations – and many of you have embraced our theme of “trios” (the “111” of our birthday this year), as well as adorned lots of lavenders and purples, paying tribute to the suffrage movement that is both our inspiration and our early legacy.
This year, we launch our new four-year strategy, which will spring us forward into the 2030s. And I want to focus on two clear visions that will guide us as we invite even more women to join the largest women’s membership organisation and charity.
The first is our commitment to connection. We believe in a world where communities are diverse, connected and thriving; with opportunities for individual and collective growth – and where women have the chance to work together and grow their networks.
We will work together to support your communities and each other, through the delivery of strong, effective local WIs that reflect local needs.
The second is influence. We believe a big part of our growth as women are the skills, knowledge, and opportunity to work together to influence positive change. It is this collective power and the hope that it brings, which are the foundations on which our WIs, our communities and each of us individuals, succeed.
You will start to see these vision statements shape our work through our outreach, support, and campaigns; and we’ll be sharing more detail on our renewed commitments to you – our membership and supporters – through our communications shortly.
And of course, as well as our wider strategic work to grow and extend our impact, we also made a series of practical pledges to you on WI Day 2025 that will guide some of our practical programmes between now and 2030. These are taken directly from your feedback on the areas you want NFWI to focus on to enhance your membership experience, and all of these are now underway.
We will keep you updated throughout the next four years, on the practical pledges and the work towards our vision for 2030. As always, thank you to the thousands of members who have contributed to this work and given us their thoughts and views. You are the inspiration for where we go next and the greatest asset to our movement.
Thank you for another fantastic year of friendship, community, connectedness, and influence. I can’t wait to enter another exciting period with you all.
Enjoy your WI Day.
