Women's Institute
Olveston & Tockington Women's Institute
The National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI) is the largest national voluntary organisation for women in the UK with over 205,000 members and some 6,700 WIs. It was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War.
This year Olveston and Tockington WI is celebrating its 90th Anniversary (1918-2008), making it one of the oldest established WIs in the country. In June we celebrated with a Garden Party at Hawkfield, the beautiful garden of our secretary Mrs Carmen Pitts. The Avon Federation Chairman, Mrs Carole King, and Vice-Chairman, Mrs Daphne Vise, together with representatives of other WIs in our group, were guests of honour. In August we are holding a Members' Dinner at Oldbury on Severn. Our final celebration will be our monthly meeting in September which will showcase the talents of our members and culminate in cutting an Anniversary cake!
The NFWI plays a unique role in enabling women to develop new skills, gives them opportunities to campaign on issues that matter to them and provides wide-ranging activities for members to get involved in both at local and national level. In addition to our monthly meetings which offer speakers and activities on a wide range of topics, we can also attend talks, activities and outings organised by Avon Federation. The EGM and AGM held at Weston-super-Mare showcase a well known speaker (Lars Tharp, a Ceramics Historian from the Antiques Roadshow in March 2008) plus local issues such as the hospice movement. Denman College provides residential courses on a whole range of skills and further education. At a national level, WI campaigns have been very successful. Current campaigns include drives to improve the farm price for milk, to reduce excess packaging and to decrease each individual's carbon footprint.
Our monthly meetings are held at 7.30pm in the Parish Hall Tockington on the second Tuesday of every month (except August). Details can be found in Meeting Point. Do join us. You will find a warm welcome awaiting you as we head towards our centenary!
The picture below was taken at the Garden Party celebrating Olveston & Tockington WI's 90th Anniversary. The picture shows, from left to right, the WI's President Mrs Audrey Shepherd, the Federation Chairman Mrs Carole King, and the WI's Secretary Mrs Carmen Pitts.
