Guarlford Women's Institute
About usGuarlford Women’s Institute is a happy and friendly group. Meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of the month in Guarlford Village Hall at 7.30 p.m., and visitors are always welcome. Community life is very important to us: we enjoy fundraising for local concerns and having fun at the same time. (Details can often be seen on "W I News" page.) Our Craft Group meets on most Monday afternoons. In past years we have tackled various crafts, once creating some display banners with many samples of patchwork design, as well as supporting charities such as knitting 'Teddies for Tragedy' and outfits for premature babies, making Tactile Books for Clearvision and, of course, filling a fundraising Craft stall at the annual Christmas Bazaar in aid of the Village Hall where we meet and St Mary's, the parish Church. Later this year we hope to begin making 'Comfort' quilts for the Project Linus charity. Our programme of meetings is very varied, and sometimes members have taken up new pastimes or joined classes such as Tai Chi and Belly Dancing, after hearing talks at the monthly meetings. A while ago a few of our members enjoyed learning more about computers on the Worcestershire travelling 'Computabus' at sessions booked by another W I in our Group. We also organise walks, for which husbands, friends and dogs are welcome to join us. These walks are relatively gentle! Our Institute belongs to the Malvern Hills Group, which has Group meetings plus a Carol Service, and we are part of the Worcestershire Federation of W I s, which organises all kinds of classes, trips and events, in which members often participate. The County Federation has its own new website www.worcswi.moonfruit.com Our Skittles team plays in the Federation League, and we enjoy entering and organising quizzes. The National Federation of W I s brings all W I s together and the website is very informative. The annual subscription for 2010 is £29-50. The subscription includes payment for copies of the W I magazine "W I Life", which is sent direct to each W I member in the country. If you would like more information about Guarlford W I please e-mail: wifolk@guarlford.org.uk Do come along and meet us – a warm welcome awaits you!
Short history of our WIGuarlford Women's Institute was formed on May 13th 1941 in part of the stables at Guarlford Rectory, once the 'Rectory Room', which in wartime was known as 'The Point' (because the room became a First Aid Point and meeting point for the ARP Wardens). Before that time women from Guarlford had been members of Madresfield WI, which, at its inception in 1917, was one of the earliest WIs in the country - known as "Madresfield, Newland & Guarlford Women's Institute". So, Guarlford is a "daughter" Institute of Madresfield, which, sadly, closed in 1993. The earliest Meeting Minute Books provide interesting glimpses of life on the Home Front in World War Two. For example, in May 1943, after Mrs Roberts had given a demonstration on "Making Eiderdowns and Italian Quilting", and Mrs Pagett had performed some humorous recitations for the Social Half-hour, a collection was made for the 'Wings For Victory' Fund, amounting to £1 and 5 shillings. The Minutes of June 6th 1944 describe how a Garden Party at Dripshill House ended with the singing of "God Save the King", because of the news about D-Day. More about the history of Guarlford Women's Institute can be found on pages 185 to 191 of "The Guarlford Story". Please see the GHG web pages for details of how to purchase a copy. For the History of the W.I. nationally, see the National Federation of WIs website. Once there, click "About Us" and then "W.I. History Archive".
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