ALL ABOUT CASTERTON WI
CASTERTON WI celebrated its centenary in 2019. Members mostly come from Casterton and the surrounding area. It is part of the Cumbria-Westmorland Federation of Women’s Institutes (CWFWI) and the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) that celebrated its centenary in 2015.
MEETINGS are usually held at 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of the month in Casterton Village Hall. The main part of the evening is a talk or demonstration which is preceded by some WI business. The Committee compiles the programme from ideas suggested by the members and from their own research. January is our holiday month.
ACTIVITIES: Casterton WI encourages members to organise their own activities and during the year will hope to run social events in some form. Members going on informally arranged activities do so at their own risk. CWFWI organises a variety of events, meetings, courses and outings which are all detailed in the Federation Newsletter, WI News, which is published 10 times a year. Members choose whether to have a paper or email copy.
CASTERTON WI WEBSITE: Our own website, www.castertonwi.co.uk, is updated regularly with news and pictures of meetings and events. It can also be accessed from the village website www.castertonparishcouncil.org.uk
CASTERTON WI BOOK GROUP meets monthly. New members are always welcome. Please speak to Jill Humphris if you are interested in coming along. At the WI monthly meetings, there is a book stall to which members bring books they have read and these are sold very cheaply to raise money for the Rural Women in Action Fund (see below).
SUBSCRIPTION: For 2024/5 it will be £48 divided between Casterton WI, CWFWI and NFWI. (A dual member belongs to two WIs and pays an additional £23.60 to the 2nd WI). This next subscriptions will be due in April 2024.
The LUNE VALLEY GROUP consists of Casterton, Barbon, Dentdale, Sedbergh, Killington, Howgill and Kirkby Lonsdale WIs. The function of the Group is to encourage members from neighbouring WIs to get to know each other and there is usually a Group Meeting with a speaker every May. The WIs meet to organise the Group Meeting and take it in turns to host the event.
CWFWI is the umbrella body for WIs in the Westmorland area and has a Federation Secretary in the office in The Masonic Hall, Station Road, Kendal, LA9 6BT, admin@cwfwi.org (Tel: 01539 720921). CWFWI had its centenary in 2020. CWFWI Sales sells a variety of gifts on the website cwfwi.org and at events and produces an annual calendar. CWFWI events can be booked by individual members on cwfwi.org.
NFWI is the umbrella for all the WIs in England and Wales with nearly 220,000 members in 6300 WIs and has an office and staff at 104, New Kings Rd, London SW6 4LY (Tel: 020 7371 9300). The website can be found at www.thewi.org.uk. At NFWI Annual Meetings, 1 delegate represents a number of WIs. Members can apply to attend Annual Meetings as observers. CWFWI holds a screening at a local venue. From 2025, for three years in four, the NFWI Annual Meetings will be ‘virtual’ only. NFWI produces a monthly newsletter which you can sign up for at www.thewi.org.uk/media-centre.
MCS: Membership Communications System. Members are registered on this national database. Let the MCS rep know of any changes to your address, phone number or email address.
My WI WEBSITE: All members with an email address registered on MCS can log in to ‘My WI’ through the NFWI website.
RESOLUTIONS on social and topical matters, submitted once a year by individual WIs, are selected and discussed thoroughly at all levels. If carried at the NFWI Annual Meeting they empower the WI to try to influence local and national policy making.
DENMAN COLLEGE, the WI’s residential college near Oxford sadly closed in July 2020 but now runs online talks and courses. See www.denman.org.uk. The new WI Learning Hub, and access to the free educational content for members, will be officially launched in January 2024.
ACWW is a worldwide organisation which NFWI encourages WIs to support by donating to the Rural Women in Action Fund to help underprivileged women worldwide. We take a voluntary collection once a year. Our book table money also supports it.
COUNTRY MARKETS: Our nearest market is held in Kirkby Lonsdale Institute each Thursday from 10 am to 12 noon. The market welcomes new customers and suppliers.
WI PUBLICATIONS: ‘WI Life’ is NFWI’s magazine published 8 times per year and posted to all members on MCS.
WI BOOKS publish and sell a variety of books which are available from the CWFWI office, at Federation events and at Group Meetings. WI diaries and CWFWI calendars are available each autumn.
A PRESS REPORT appears in ‘Around Kirkby Lonsdale’ and meetings are advertised on ‘Casterton Community’ Facebook page and the village website www.castertonparishcouncil.org.uk.
NEW MEMBERS: Casterton WI welcomes new members. To find out more about us please telephone any committee member for more information.
VISITORS: Casterton WI welcomes visitors. A donation is appreciated.
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