About the WI

The Ripon Belles are part of the Womens Institute. You probably have some pre-conceived ideas about the WI - and although they say "we're not all Jam and Jerusalem, you know" the question remains - what IS the WI then?

The Women’s Institute was formed in 1915 with two clear aims: to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. Since then the aims have broadened and the WI are now the largest women’s organisation in the UK.

The WI play a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, to take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that matter to them and their communities.

The Ripon Belles don't sing Jerusalem and we meet in a pub - maybe that does raise a few eyebrows in the more traditional WI communities -  but we really support core WI aims - forming a cohesive group dedicated to helping women to learn life skills, learn from each other and to give a little back to our lovely Ripon community.

History

The WI movement began at Stoney Creek in Canada in 1897 when Adelaide Hoodless addressed a meeting for the wives of members of the Farmers' Institute. The first British WI meeting took place on 16 September 1915 at Llanfairpwll on Anglesey in North Wales. The WI was originally set up in the UK to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War.

The WI celebrated their 90th anniversary in 2005 and today the WI is a diverse organisation open to all women, with WIs in many towns and cities as well as villages throughout the UK.

The Regional Structure

The national headquarters of the WI, the National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI), is in London.

6,500 WIs are grouped together to form 70 county and island federations, each with a regional office. Our federation is the North Yorkshire West Federation. We work with our Federation to organise local events like having a presence at the Great Yorkshire Show every year. Together the WIs and federations make up the National Federation. Pictured here are the NFWI Board of Trustees.

Funding

The majority of WI income comes from annual membership subscriptions, supported by funds raised by a trading arm, WI Enterprises. Other sources of revenue include grant-making bodies, educational trusts, commercial sponsors and investments.

Denman College

Denman is the WI’s college which runs courses all year. For more information please go to the NFWI website.