Women's Institute: using education and support to change communities

NEWS RELEASE
TEC WE GWILL WOMEN'S INSTITUTE
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It was February 1897 when Adelaide Hoodless addressed the wives of the members of the Farmer’s Institute in Stoney Creek suggesting that a similar organization would be good for women. A week later on Feb. 19, 1897, the first WI meeting was held with 101 ladies and one man, Erland Lee, present. WI branches quickly spread through Ontario and Canada.

By 1905, there were 130 branches in Ontario alone. Branches organized together into the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) in 1919 to create a stronger voice, working together as a united group.

Today, there are about 230 branches across Ontario and about 3,000 members that use education and support programs and services to change their communities. FWIO’s original focus has expanded to include personal growth opportunities, government lobbying and health and community wellness projects.

Women’s Institutes have spread worldwide from that first Stoney Creek meeting. In the British Isles, the Women’s Institute is the largest women’s volunteer organization, creating the first branch in Wales in 1915. Even Queen Elizabeth II is the President of her local WI branch!

The Tec We Gwill Women’s Institute (TWG WI) branch supports local foodbanks, shelters, community gardens and special community projects within Bradford West Gwillimbury and New Tecumseth.

Members are passionate about supporting family, women and community through fundraising activities like plays, concerts, community lunches and dinners and inexpensive education workshops on life skills. When something in the community needs to be rectified, members are willing to lobby for change.

Many health and wellness and environmental regulations and liberties we enjoy today because the WI lobbied including pasteurization of milk, painted lines on roads, bagged bread, birth certificates for all babies, health and safety inspections of food premises, using funds from alcohol taxes for rehabilitation programmes for those with substance abuse, breathalyser tests to name just a few.

Follow this link to see a full history of past provincial resolutions: History and Past Resolutions | The Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario and check out the FWIO website for current, active resolutions to see history in progress.

If you are a woman 18 or older and want to be involved in supporting your community, try out a Women’s Institute meeting. For information on Tec We Gwill, contact us through https://www.facebook.com/tecwegwill/.

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