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Historical Society

MEMBERS of the society were treated to an informative and amusing account of the 100-year history of the Women’s Institute at their recent meeting.

Jan Cole, vice-president of the Harlech WI, traced the evolution of the organisation from its origins in a small garden room at Llanfairpwll in Anglesey on 16 September 1915 when a band of courageous women founded the first Women’s Institute in Britain. The aim was to contribute to the food supply of the nation during the Great War by growing and preserving food, but the WI soon took on a life of its own, far beyond its original remit. Indeed the minutes of one early meeting in Llanfairpwll included the item: ‘how to use and defuse a hand grenade’! By the autumn of 1916, 24 WI’s had been formed including Deudraeth where a local benefactor gave land and raised funds to build a hall for the institute - the first ever. Criccieth WI opened the first WI market stall in the country, the forerunner to today’s nationwide WI markets. Harlech WI was founded in 1923 and the first Welsh-speaking delegate was co-opted to the NFWI executive in that year. From the beginning of the Second War the organisation took on the care of evacuees. But, as in the first war, its main contribution was in growing and preserving food. Between 1940 and 1945, more than 5,300 tons of fruit were preserved; that is nearly £12m of food for the nation which might otherwise have been wasted. Towards the end of the war the WI resumed its campaigning work with remarkable foresight. A 1941 survey of WI members who housed evacuees stimulated a national debate about support for families, ultimately leading to the introduction of the Family Allowance. In 1943 the WI urged the Government to provide equal facilities for full education at all levels in town and country and a demand that men and women should receive equal pay for equal work – in 1943! The last 70 years have seen the WIs prominent in a series of successful campaigns and initiatives on vital local, national and international issues, taking the initiative themselves or working with other organisations. Jan Cole provided many examples in her talk.

From the beginning, the WI has never shied away from controversial subjects whether public health, education, rural deprivation or climate change and as, Jan Cole concluded, “nerve is one thing it has never lacked; from its inception it has quietly been pushing the boundaries.”

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