WI set to mark 90 years

By BARBARA WARD

A two-day exhibition in Newark Parish Church will be one of the main events marking the 90th anniversary of the WI in Nottinghamshire.

The exhibition, on July 19 and 20, will showcase all that the WI has to offer, including its activities and crafts, as well as its campaigns and interest in public affairs.

The county chairman, Mrs Vera Carter, said: “There are still many people that think all we do is cook and knit, but WI is about so much more than that.

“Through the exhibition we hope to show just what we are involved in.”
There will also be archive material on display, although war damage and some over-enthusiastic spring cleaning have destroyed some early records.

On July 20 there will be a concert in the parish church featuring the musical duo, Jeanius and Whitt, and a pageant representing 90 years of WI.

In June, 72 Nottinghamshire WI members will take over the WI’s Denman College for a special weekend of courses and entertainment.

On October 4 a concert by Pam Ayres is planned at Nottingham Concert Hall. This will be open to everyone.

For the past year, WI members have been making tactile books for blind children and knitting bears to be sold to raise funds for a school in Burundi, Africa.

Members have knitted 1,400 bears. These are transported to Wales and sold by FacilitAid for a £1 each. This pays for four bricks for the school.

Six classrooms and an administration block have been completed. Work has just started on more classrooms.
The tactile book scheme has been organised by Elizabeth Evans of Hickling WI. She asked members to make 90 books to mark the WI’s 90th anniversary, running workshops to show members how to make them. They are sent to a charity, Clear Vision, to be loaned to visually impaired youngsters.

ABOVE: The Nottinghamshire Federation of Women’s Institutes’ county chairman, Mrs Vera Carter with some of the many teddies and books made by local WI members. 200307JC1-7

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