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
Public Affairs – February 2020 Update
Hope you all have had a good start to 2020. We are currently in the planning mode at Public Affairs and really excited how the plans for the year are coming together. More will be revealed in the coming months but before then a gentle reminder about the “Angels of the...
Combined Arts – February 2020 Update
Hello, and Happy New Year to all of the WI members of Northumberland Federation! Hope your festive season was perfect, and that you managed to escape the nasty bugs that were flying around. Although the Combined Arts team have yet to have their first meeting of 2020 I...
Craft Committee – February 2020 Update
Happy New Year to you, I hope you were gifted some great craft projects, I got a pyrography set, how dangerous can it be, me with a wood burning tool? 2020 brings a new batch of creativity to the Federation hosted by the Craft Committee. We have two separate sessions...
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
2020 Affiliation Fees are due into Federation Office
February 24 - February 29
