Welcome to the Northumberland Federation
– a thriving and vibrant Federation
Whether you are a member, thinking of joining us or just visiting the region, I would like to welcome you to Northumberland.
Northumberland is one of the least known and most unspoilt regions in England. It contains the Cheviot Hills reaching to the Scottish Borders, some 50 miles of coastline of ‘outstanding natural beauty’ and, of course, Hadrian’s Wall, Holy Island and the Farnes.
The Northumberland Federation of Women’s Institutes (WI) was formed in 1917 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War.
Since then the organisation’s aims have broadened and the WI is now the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK.
The Northumberland Federation of WIs celebrated its centenary in 2017.
The WI plays a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, to take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that matter to them and their communities.
The WI is based on the ideals of fellowship, truth, tolerance and justice. The organisation is non-sectarian and non-party political. WIs are charitable and everything they do must be consistent with that special legal status.
Members and counting
We now have 111 WIs around the Federation with membership numbers ranging from 9 to 90.
Latest News
Our Chairman’s Message – July 2020
We are now up to Lockdown Letter number 4 and although there has been some easing of restrictions the issue of meetings and opening of some venues still seems to be quite distant especially for those WIs with larger membership numbers. I know that some WIs are holding...
Member’s Information – July
102! Happy Birthday to Wall WI - On Thursday 4 June 2020 Wall WI celebrated their 102nd birthday, Elva Mason explains. As members of Wall WI we were given a lovely surprise when our President, Mrs Jackie Gaughan delivered a ‘Party in a Bag’ to our doors. Due to the...
Public Affairs – July 2020 Update
Like me, some of you would be looking forward about now to our trip to Dundee and the V&A’s Mary Quant Exhibition, which I’m sure would have brought back memories of what we did or didn’t wear back in the 60’s. I hope the exhibition will still be staged and will...
Upcoming Events
Our Next Event
We run events at Cresswell House, our Federation office in Seaton Burn as well as around the Federation.
From walking netball, to sugar-craft, join us for a talk on Claude Monet, or support the campaign to reduce plastic in our seas.
Each of our sub-committees run a variety of events which you can view by clicking one of the links below.
Alternatively you can view our events calendar here
Quilters Group
July 6 @ 9:30 am - 3:30 pm
