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100 years ofWI |News


a younger generation ofmembers Time pressures ‘take their toll on life’


ONE placewhere themembership is on the older side is the village of Headcorn, where theWI itself is ap- proaching its own 100th birthday. Founded in 1922, HeadcornWI still has around 30


members, including some for whomtheWI has been a huge part of their lives. That includes Margaret Baker, a member of the


group for the past 65 years, who said: “I joined be- cause ofmymother. A lot of ourmumswere involved and we could join at 15 back then, so we did. “We’re very friendly, celebrating each other’s birth-


days and we have a lot of speakers,most of who are very good. Over the years, I’ve gained a lot of friends through theWI. “Of course, Headcorn used to be a lot smaller than


it is now. If someone doesn’t turn up to a meeting, we will check if they’re okay, we look out for each other and we visit each other’s houses.” Margaret has seenmore thanmost howtheWI has


changed over time. “Life is so busy these days,” she says. “Mostwomen


have jobs and although we meet at 7.30pm their husbandsmay not be home to look after the children. “There are new houses where I live and a lot of the


people travel to London for work, so they don’t have time for evening events. It’s a shame. “It’s hard these days, Biddenden, which is just up


the road, closed down because they couldn’t get peo- ple to be the chairman or the treasurer and you need those roles.” AndHeadcorn’s ownmembership is down onwhere


it used to be – but Margaret insists there is still so much to be gained fromthe group. She said: “We’ve got 30-odd members these days.


We used to have a lotmore but times have changed. We still meet once a month but our membership is getting older. “It’s a shame that younger people don’t seem to


want to get involved. “We still have a really good group, with friendship


and outside activities, but of course we’d like more members. “Our youngest member these days is in her late


40s, I’d say.We used to have amuch youngermem- ber who was great; she was the treasurer for a while and one year she and I laid the wreath together on Remembrance Sunday – as the young and the not so young together – but shemoved away.”


Secret of the urban success


IT IS no secret that no two WIs are the same – and the starkest differences can be between the urban and rural groups. South Park WI is one which


falls firmly into the former cate- gory, meeting at Maidstone Hockey Club, south of the town centre. Secretary Eve Harvey, a long-


term member, admits that does change things. “A disadvantage that South


Park WI has is that we don’t have a community as such to draw upon like a village,” she said. “I think it’s easier to fund raise in villages and so on. But we do a lot of charity work, we support homeless people in Maidstone and the food banks.


inmodern age


away. My husband was in the RoyalAir Force, so I used to travel a lot, so joining theWI was a good way for me to make friends. The biggest part of it ismeeting people. “There is the reputation of jam


and Jerusalembut it really isn’t like that anymore.We’ve had a number of different speakers come to visit us, from reflexology and candle makers to tales of travels around the world. It’s important that we keep it varied because we need to make sure that we cater for all of the ages.”


“Butwe are thriving.We’re not


actively looking for new mem- bers –we tend to pick people up who come along with friends and join. We have about 60 members at themoment andwe are quite limited, really, because of where wemeet. “Our members go from the


age of about 40 up into their 70s, but the majority are in their early 60s, normally who’ve just retired, butwho are still active.” But despite having amember-


ship largelymade up of retirees – including some of those who were involved in its formation 44 years ago – the group remains very active and far fromthe idea thatmany outsiderswill have of theWI.


Institute facts


TheWI originated in Canada in 1897 and moved to Britain in 1915;


 During WWI the WI encour- aged women to help grow and preserve food to help ease short- ages;


In the 1930s,WI activitieswere more light-heartedwithmusic fes- tivals, plays and country dancing;


 To help raise the profile of the WI, a tour bus went round the country in the 1980s during a three year campaign to attract moremembers;


 The 1990s had the celebration of theWI’s 75th anniversary with HerMajesty the Queen attending the AGM.


Additional research: AmyMartin Adding to the


Chocolate team ONE groupwhere age is definitely not a factor for members is Maid- stoneChocolateWI,who are based in the town centre. Set up by Hannah Patton seven


years ago, Chocolate may sound like aWI group youmightwant to avoid if you’re on a diet, but it is not quite as tasty as it might sounds. “The name simply has come be-


cause we used to meet in Bar Chocolate,” Hannah, above, ex- plains. “We’ve moved on since then but the name has stayed, and we do a lot of chocolate-themed events. “We’ve only got about 12 mem-


bers at themoment, sowe’re a very small WI, but we do have a few people on maternity leave and other have moved on for various reasons.” MaidstoneChocolateWI also has


a specialmascot. Hannah said: “When the Federa-


tion turned 95, we had to do 95 things in celebration so we got Chocolate Bear to do 95 events – and she’s still going. She’s walked in Pride, she’sbeentocampingfestivals, she’s been toworkshops, all sorts of things. She’s ourmascot,people take her everywhere – she’s been to Peru and even to the TajMahal.” Hannah (31) has been a member


since her early 20s – and she has ab- solutely no regrets about joining the organisation. She said: “I was working at the


county show and I got chatting to someone fromtheWI andit sounded great, so Iwent along. Iwasn’t intim- idatedat the firstmeeting – I’ll talk to anyone – and I knewwhat to expect. EveryWI isdifferent, andIwas lucky that I found such a good group. “It is a bit like Girl Guiding for


WImembers get together at a offeemorning at Kings Hill golf club


grown-ups, really.Girlswho are too old for the guides can then move along to theWI.”


Malling March 2018 27


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