The WI what is your experience

My Mum was a member of the WI for years and never experienced any problems. She also was a member of a floral society which she loved. I did have the impression they were moving with the times after a documentary a few years ago. My mums WI held a cream tea for a group I worked with who had learning disabilities and they were tremendously warm and welcoming. It would be a shame if they were to die out as I'm sure a lot of skills and knowledge would disappear with them.
I never managed to join a WI or TWG as it never seemed to fit in with work etc.
I think the clique problem can be generic whether its WI, social groups or church groups. I joined MeetUp a few years ago and that varied as well. Some groups were lovely and very welcoming some were quite friendly but there was a definite feel that it was centred around a small group of people who tolerated others joining!
Such is human nature I suppose. There are lots of alternatives. Libraries when they are hopefully up and running do lots of activities from knit and natter to book clubs. We are lucky enough to have a small community cafe that also hosts community activities from crafts to ukulele playing. Maybe they are more accessible as there are no committees etc?

Wonder if anyone from the WI Federation is reading this thread and thinking that things need to change if they're going to survive? Considering that their demographic is mostly retired women, largely the over 60s and therefore in the vulnerable group, the monthly meetings could be sparse post COVID. And that will be reflected in annual membership fees. Big changes are required if they're going to survive.

It's worth a try, . You could go to one that's very welcoming, you just don't know until you go, there's good and bad in everything. If they are rude, it's not for you there's other places.

Sounds like they are all different. One small WI I went to really impressed me. One of their members had gone to Australia to visit her daughter, had a bad stroke and ended up in a care home there. The ladies were very concerned for her alone in a strange country with only her daughter visiting when she could. The WI here contacted the Australian WI and their local branch arranged visitors and care packages etc for the poor stranded Scottish WI member. I was very impressed. It was a small WI and seemed like one of the friendly ones.

I belong to 2 WIs. One a long standing group & rather stuck in their ways but lovely friendly ladies & the other a much younger group who do things their way & a very lively, fun group.
I enjoy both for different reasons. Older group have a lot of outings as most are retired - V&A, London tourist places etc as easy by train from Surrey. Younger group so more lively things - dance group, walking group etc.
I must change confess I enjoy younger group more if I'm honest. They serve wine not just tea & do a lot of community things & theatre trips to London etc.
I think you have to try a few before deciding - you can join as many as you want.

I lived in a village when I joined. All the village groups seemed to be run by the same people and all run in the same way - at times you would wonder which group you were at!!

No experience of WI at all ..... however, I was driving thro a little village in Kent called Loose .... and just wondered if there was a Loose Women’s Institute ?

Ours is very welcoming, with 'get well' cards and a visit with flowers for the ill or similar for bereaved. We have interesting speakers, a separate weekly 'craft club' for those interested, but few visits as our members are mostly older and don't want them. I have now joined the committee so may be biased, but think it serves the members.
I think the cost of it is FAR too much, though we fund raise and subsidize that. If I were starting again, I would not join but would just go to U3A at £10 a year, plus fees for other groups and meetings, with a MUCH wider interest base.

Tried it once when I was younger but it was like being a newbie at high school.
Tried it again when we moved, this time going with a neighbour to make it a bit easier.
We were certainly welcomed at the door, but that was it. People were sitting in groups, but the spare chairs were always ‘waiting for someone’ and that someone wasn’t us. We gave it a few goes, but in the end decided we could go for coffee together without having to pay a membership fee for the ‘privilege’!
U3A groups are friendlier, so that’s what I join, but there must be certain people who need to be in a clique that excludes others to make their life worthwhile and both WI groups I tried demonstrated that perfectly.

I have been a WI member for around 7 years now, 4 of theM on the committee and 3 of my committee years working out our speakers programme for the year. We do our best to choose interesting speakers from recommendations and from our area’s New Speakers event held quarterly when we get to hear a short presentation from each prospective speaker. It’s not always successful, some of the short introductions do not translate well into a full length talk.
We do have cliques but it’s only to be expected as some of our members have been attending together for around 40 years but I hope we are friendly to newcomers - most people who have come to ‘try us out’ have joined so it can’t be all bad.
We have been very supportive of our shielding members during Covid, offers of shopping, garden visits, a WhatsApp group and assistance to access Zoom being some of the things we have done. We have 1 members with Alzheimer’s who is being supported when her daughter is not able to be around. I think it is all to do with how proactive your president and committee are when it comes to how cohesive the group is.
That’s the positives, on the other side of the coin it’s all a bit rigid - there is always someone on the committee who vetoes change because ‘it’s always been done this way’ or ‘we have tried that and it didn’t work’ I went on the committee in an effort to get some more life into meetings but have lost the will to fight the ‘old guard’ anymore so will come off it at the end of this year. Can’t bear singing Jerusalem by the way but I do make jam ?

A new WI opened in our town so I joined that thinking that it would be the best way to join the WI, everyone else being new members too. But very quickly some became “cliquey”. We then shared a coach to a national WI event with the one other local WI, and not one of my fellow members acknowledged me whilst waiting to get on! A member of the other WI invited me to sit with her, and I spent the whole day with that other WI’s members. Needless to say I am now a member of that other WI! So be aware that all WIs are different.

I’ve never belonged to a W.I. My late mum was a keen member, and my sister is treasurer of hers which she joined after moving on retirement. She says it has a lot of older members, and can’t see it being in existence in the next few years.

She feels that years ago, people attended most meetings even if the speaker wasn’t of great appeal, whereas now, if it doesn’t look interesting enough, members don’t bother to attend. It sounds quite cliquey to me.

Also, it’s hard to get committee members on any group, I find, as folk just want to turn up for the meeting, have their cuppa and go home. Not many want to be an unpaid chairman, secretary or treasurer.

The WI group I was in did manage to attract a couple of younger women who tried valiantly to bring them into the 21st century. They tried to have the meeting minutes put up on line, instead of us all having to sit and listen to the monologue of minutiae, but that was swiftly rejected. They also tried to set up a Facebook page but that was met with suspicion and, in any event, many members "weren't on't internet". So that failed. The final straw for me was the annual trip to the Christmas pantomime. The arguments and falling out about who would sit next to who, on the coach there and in the theatre, was embarrassing. It was so bad that as soon as we arrived, I left and got the train back home!

I have been a member of the WI for many years, and always found it welcoming and friendly. However, since lockdown I have felt totally abandoned by the WI as an organisation, not just my group but locally and nationally. There is little or no contact, and when I complained about this I was told ‘it’s impossible to contact every member’. Strangely they are able to when it’s time for subs renewals or wanting money. Yes, I am very disillusioned.

As we moved to this village only three weeks before lockdown, my plans for meeting people were scuppered! Joining the WI was on the list; now I don’t think I’ll bother, but I am concerned about what I can do instead.

Ours is a very small village one - I found it very ‘cliquey’ and the ‘old timers’ not very welcoming. I don’t bother with it now

I joined a newly formed WI just before retiring from f/t employment. It was great, lively & innovative and I made a lot of new friends. When I moved I sought out a local WI but it was closing as all quite elderly & had all done their stint as officers etc. 18 months later I helped to set up a new WI. It went well with women in their 20s to late 80s as members. I agreed to be president for a max of 3 yrs. We had a great committee.. who were outgoing & welcoming and the group grew! My successor was keen and motivated and naturally her style & interests were different and the group evolved & took on new directions. The next president was different again and the group became more 'old style WI' . Numbers dropped & it was not such a happy group. I stopped going as it was not giving me the interest it used to. I heard later there were all sorts of unhappy goings on! Anyway it is on the up again with a new president guiding it through these tricky times... My point? Every group is very different..one might be for you ..try visiting a few.

Had the chair thing at ours. Very much a clique and nobody engaged with me. I live in a village and it made me feel humiliated. I left at the end and never went back. Now they wonder why there are so few members ,and they are crying out for people to join up. With the bunch running it now, I see closure on the cards. It's the same with the village Facebook page. Certain people will comment and literally get loads of 'likes' or replies. Someone else will comment on the same subject and nothing. It's a clique on there too. Thank goodness for Gransnetter's.xx

I found the meetings to be exactly the same. Chair saving, cliques, no interest in none local would be members.
Then there is the weekly market, held in a community hall. When I first moved here I thought it would be a wonderful place to buy local, and meet people. There were hardly any shoppers - quite unlike any other similar market I have visited, and the stall holders were deep in conversation with each other. There was a tangible feeling of suspicion as they watched me make my way round and then one of them came over to me and told me to pay at the desk by the door. I hadn’t decided what to buy at that stage so my hands were empty. I gave her a look and left!

My experience of WI was similar to others . I objected to singing Jerusalem as I felt it gave the wrong message to new members. I did not feel very welcome and felt that it was really only for women who had a good income as all of the activities and outings cost more than I could afford.

I would never contemplate joining the WI or anything similar as I am very much a “loner” so I know it wouldn’t be for me.

I have an ex work colleague. We were never close work colleagues but we are the same age (64) and retired a couple of years ago at the same time. She contacted me asking me to join things with her (local rambling group/TWG etc.). She was desperate to get out and do things with people. She wasn’t particularly pleased when I declined - I would have absolutely hated it, especially with her as we never really got on at work! I do hope though that she’s gone ahead and joined these type of things and is happy and getting what she wants out of it. (Sorry to sound a bit of a misery guts - I’ not really). ?

I think some of our funniest TWG meetings are when we do craft (usually before Christmas).
Varying degrees of skill result in hilarity.

I am so sad to hear so many awful stories about unfriendly WIs. When we moved to a village 25 years ago I joined the local W.I. and never looked back despite being on the committee and also president for too many years. We have grown quite a lot and a somewhat younger group are now in charge, and during lockdown we have a regular email newsletter and garden meetings of six people which have been a marvellous way to get to know people better.

I have always found offering to wash up a good way to break the ice in any new group - not only helpful but signifying that you don’t think it’s beneath you, and even if you don’t initially join in the chat you certainly learn a lot.

I tried our local group and like others found it very unfriendly. I gave it a year and then didn't go back. I was surprised how formal and old fashioned meetings were. A lot of the members were several decades older than me, so if they keep putting off younger members they are going to shrink as time goes on.

I agree with all the above comments and more. All the time I was pressured to go on the committee which I did not want to do or could not have devoted enough time. It was very formal and cliquey and set in stone. I think it was difficult due to the wide age range 60s - 90s.

When I left four so called friends coincidentally failed to send us a Christmas card, how petty and something they had obviously collectively decided to do!

I have joined another group, mainly for something to do, but it too is very cliquey and we are not allowed anyone's emails/phone numbers etc. I understand the privacy side has to be considered, but as long as people are asked first what is the problem.