The Women's Institute (WI) is a membership organisation for women in England and Wales. A separate organisation, the Scottish Women's Rural Institute exists in Scotland. Image of a woman on the Pioneer plaque sent to outer space. ...

Organisation and membership

Individual Women's Institutes are self-governing and serve particular towns or districts. They are grouped into 70 county and island federations. Both the individual WIs and the regional federations are members of the National Federation of Women's Institutes. In 2003 approximately 220,000 women were members of the WI. A street in Ynysybwl, Wales, relatively stereotypical of a small town A town is usually an urban area which is not considered to rank as a city. ... Districts are a form of local government in several countries. ... Originally, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count (in Great Britain, an earl, though the original earldoms covered larger areas) by reason of that office. ... A federation (from the Latin fœdus, covenant) is a state comprised of a number of self-governing regions (often themselves referred to as states) united by a central (federal) government. ...

Activities

WI members take part in local programs that may include sport, drama, education, cooking and community projects, in addition to campaigning on matters of local, national and international importance including domestic violence, oil pollution, and Aids. Drama is a term generally used to refer to a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform. ... Cooking is the act of preparing food for consumption. ... Domestic violence, by barest definition, is violence within a home. ... Oil is a generic term for organic liquids that are not miscible with water. ... Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. ... AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, sometimes written Aids) is a global, human epidemic. ...

History

The WI was founded in Wales in 1915, due to World War I inspired by the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada, and backed by the Government's Board of Agriculture, with the belief that the WI could play an important role in the countryside, particularly in domestic science and the production and preserving of food. The first meeting of a British WI took place in Llanfairpwll, Wales, on Wednesday June 16, 1915. Missing image Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (), a village on the island of Anglesey in Wales is the longest official placename in the United Kingdom and the third-longest in the world. ... National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Waless location within the UK Official languages English and Welsh Capital Cardiff Largest city Cardiff First Minister Rhodri Morgan Area  - Total Ranked 3rd UK 20,779 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 3rd UK 2,903,085 140/km² NUTS... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Encouraged by the Ministry of Agriculture, the WIs also played a similar role in the production of foods during World War II. The reputation that the WI earned as makers of jam and the bottlers of fruit persists to the present day, though is now hardly typical. A number of countries operate a Ministry of Agriculture: New Zealand - Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry United Kindom - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... For other meanings of the word jam, see Jam (disambiguation) Jam from berries Jam is a type of fruit preserve. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Spain. ...

Official anthem

The WI adopted Jerusalem as their official anthem in the 1920s. And did those feet in ancient time is a poem by William Blake from the preface to his work Milton (1804). ...

External links

• National Federation of Women's Institutes (http://www.womens-institute.co.uk)
• Scottish Women's Rural Institutes (http://www.swri.org.uk)

See also

• UK topics
• Calendar Girls - 2003 film based on the nude calendar produced by the Rylstone WI.
• Federated Women's Institutes of Canada