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.
Donate
As a charity, we do our best, fundraising via member fees, events, and other activities, but we are able to do so much more for our members and the wider community through your generosity, thank you!
The Northumberland Federation of Women’s Institutes (WI) was formed in 1918 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 2018.
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 95 WIs around the Federation with membership numbers ranging from 9 to 90.
Latest News
Burn Luncheon – Jan 2026
On the 26th January in the Auction Mart Function Room Hexham, an intimate gathering from across Northumberland Federation WI's celebrated the famous Robbie Burns with a Burn's Luncheon. David Jones the Piper, piped in the Honourable Guest the Haggis and made a...
Blackwork Embroidery workshops – Oct 2025
Marian Fairless ran two very successful workshops at Cresswell House. Well done ladies, these all look fabulous....
Burns Luncheon – Jan 2026
Marzipan Fruits workshop (Dec 2025)
I think it fair to say that the ladies enjoyed this workshop and the results look absolutely yummy... (sorry for the delay in posting)
Public Affairs, Education, Science ACWW update – Feb 2026
Reminders… There’s still time to apply for the following events: • International Women's Day on Saturday 7th March. We have a speaker talking about influential women in the community. • Resolutions Meeting on Wednesday 8th April. Details of the speaker will be...
Craft team update – Feb 2026
Welcome to 2026. At our first committee meeting we began the planning of a programme of events which we hope will interest you Firstly, we welcomed a new committee member. Jan Reed, from Ulgham WI has joined us and will share her crafting skills later in the year. (We...
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
A walk in the park (sitting down!)
Come along to Cresswell House and enjoy a virtual walk in the park…
February 19 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
