What comes to mind when you hear the words “Women’s Institute”? “Jam and Jerusalem’. . .”? Or “What’s that. . .?” To quote Pershore Women’s Institute, “The greatest legacy of the First World War for rural women was the Women’s Institute Movement in Britain.” It was founded  to educate rural women and to encourage them to get involved in growing and preserving food. During the Second World War, members made jam with sugar provided by the Ministry of Food to prevent the bumper fruit harvest of 1939 going to waste and their continued jam making efforts is estimated to have saved 450 tons of fruit from rotting. That is “jam” sorted. And “Jerusalem”? Well, Jerusalem was the Suffragettes’ anthem and members sing it at meetings  in honour of women everywhere.

Back in the early days the WI  set out to give women a voice and to be a force for good in the community.  Since then, members and their ambitions alike have grown. (Click here for the website.) Today, at around 190,000 members, the WI is  the largest women’s organisation in the UK. A  place for women of all generations to share experiences and learn from each other. Joining a WI Group offers the opportunity to meet like-minded women, to make friends and make a difference in the community. The WI campaigns nationally on a wide range of issues. I joined Westcliff on Sea WI when it was set up back in 2009, attracted by the chance to socialise, to attend talks by interesting speakers and to participate in activities such as”crafting” and “walking”. Then when Southend Sisters WI was set  up in 2013 I decided to join them as well. 

On the last day of June members from all the Essex Groups gathered in Colchester for the Annual County meeting.  Despite  the excellent directions as to  how to reach our destination we managed  to get horribly lost. I blame the SatNav. It would have helped if I hadn’t have nodded off at the crucial point in our journey. I blame narcolepsy. After navigating the same roundabout several times we eventually took the correct exit. We knew we had arrived at Charter Hall because we  spotted so many lively ladies wending their way from the Car Park to the entrance.

Charter Hall was filled with row upon row  of  seats.  Armed with a coffee from the Shopping Hall we climbed up the tiers to sit in what appeared to be the more comfortable seats. There was no hand rail on the steps up but the member at the end of each row offered me a hand as I climbed.   I had put on my crown, as requested by the Committee in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. I just knew that there would be some stunning efforts and I was right. The best crown was awarded to an amazing creation comprising both knitting and crochet.The meeting began with the business part of the day, which chair Jan Curtis dealt with speedily and efficiently. Then she introduced our speaker:  retired Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond. Such an inspirational and entertaining speaker! Jennie was wearing a full-skirted dress which she explained came from “Hearts and Roses.” (Click here) She knew we all wanted to know! After over an hour of anecdotes illustrated  by brief videos Jennie came to an end. I’d have happily gone on listening for another hour except that (a) it was lunch time and (b) my legs were cramping because although the seats were comfortable there was no space for our legs.

During lunch members had a  chance to browse the Shopping Hall and chat together over sandwiches. There was a stall full of appetising  homemade pies so I bought. a pork pie to take home for supper. When the meeting reconvened we moved to seats with more leg room. Members were entertained by the “Big Sing” group and of course we joined in – clapping and even actually singing.  All in all a great day out.

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