Oddington Women's Insitutute

Nationally, the WI was formed in 1915 to provide women of any age with educational opportunities, to give them a chance to learn new skills and to campaign on issues that were important to them and their communities. Oddington first had a WI in the 1920s but this closed after a few years. It was re-established in 1984 and has been running ever since addressing and developing the interests and concerns of modern women.

We are a small but vibrant, thriving group which meets on the second Tuesday of every month (except August) at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall. At each meeting there is a speaker and then refreshments followed by a short business meeting.

As Oddington WI is part of the Gloucestershire Federation of WIs we not only have our own varied and interesting programme of speakers and outings, but we also able to access many other events. For instance, in the last three years some members have taken advantage of a link with Cheltenham Racecourse to have a behind-the-scenes tour of Gloucestershire racing stables and studs resulting in some furthering their interest by joining the WI Racing Club. Others have been introduced to golf, croquet, bowls and shooting. As one would expect, there are often craft and cooking courses offered as well as campaigns to allow women to voice their concerns about such matters as the decline of the bee population; the trafficking of women and children and the excessive packaging used by many large retailers.

For a very small annual subscription of £34.70 women will have the opportunity to make new friends or meet up with old ones, learn new skills, widen horizons and have fun.

To learn more about the WI browse the website.

Contact Gill Boyd on gill.boyd@btopenworld.com or phone 01451 870816 if you want to come to a meeting to see what it is all about. Everyone is welcome, so you can just turn up. Details about our forthcoming meetings can be found on the What's On page of this web site.