Welcome to Earl Soham Women’s Institute – an Entertaining, Sociable, Welcoming, Inclusive group. We have about 50 members from Earl Soham and surrounding villages from Debenham to Sweffling, Framlingham to Monk Soham, Saxtead to Cretingham, and Bedfield to Brandeston. Contrary to popular opinion we aren’t about homespun crafts. You are much more likely to find us sharing a pub lunch, walks, theatre, or boat trips than recipes! We are always learning from one another and from our varied programme of speakers, activities, and outings. Importantly, we are a supportive community of women who enjoy each other’s company, like to meet up, have fun and if that should include tea, coffee, cake, and a chinwag or the odd glass of celebratory bubbly, then that’s even better. We do our best to create a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere for everyone to join in and enjoy.

Where and when do we meet?

We meet on the fourth Thursday of the month, apart from in December which may vary according to Christmas holidays and August when we enjoy outings rather than our usual get together. The majority of our meetings start at 7.00pm in Brandeston Village Hall.

What happens at our meetings?

We usually have a speaker or some form of entertainment that lasts about 45 minutes. Then we enjoy some refreshments, a sandwich, slice of cake and other treats with a cup of tea or coffee, (sometimes a glass of bubbly if it’s a special occasion). That’s the time to have a natter, catch up with old friends and of course make some new ones too. We have a small raffle to keep some funds coming in and we briefly go through any ‘business’ just so that we can all keep in touch with all that is going on. Each month we acknowledge the birthdays of our members and present them with a small posy of flowers – it’s just a nice gesture that we all love.

Over the years we have done a great deal to support our local community as well as women world- wide. We regularly support the ‘Associated Country Women of the World’ by collecting ‘Pennies for Friendship’ (acww.org.uk) at our meetings. That just means that if members can, they pop some spare small change into a collection pot - literally a few pennies, but every bit helps.

Our programme for 2023 is, as always, very varied – anything from a Police Officer that works for the Wildlife Crime Unit, to the history of Leiston Theatre, from a barbershop quartet to a talk on ‘Joint care’ from a local physiotherapist, from forensic science to the costumes of Elizabeth 1st. The meetings are fun, sociable and a time when we make plans for walks and lunches, and generally get our members involved in other activities that take place during the month.

Newsletter – During the pandemic we produced a monthly newsletter emailed to every member or delivered to those that preferred hard copies. It started as a way of keeping in touch during

those very challenging times. It continues, now as a shorter version, as it includes details of events, gives updates of activities and meetings in case anyone missed them, and includes a few other bits and bobs that hopefully keep members amused and entertained. (There is nothing worse than going to a meeting when lists of dates are reeled off and everyone scrabbles around to add them to diaries and phones, our newsletter stops all that)

Earl Soham WI (ESWI) is part of the Suffolk East Federation of Women’s Institutes (SEFWI). This is the regional level of the organisation and supports over 90 WIs and some 3000 members in the east of the county. SEFWI produce a magazine that keeps us up to date with all that is going on within our federation. There are always lots of activities and events to join in with that suit all tastes from a literary lunch, to crafting days, quizzes, kurling, ten pin bowling, concerts, outings and even holidays.

We are affiliated to The National Federation of Women’s Institutes, (NFWI) the UK’s largest voluntary organisation for women. The WI provides members with educational opportunities, the chance to build new skills, take part in a wide variety of activities and campaign on matters that matter to them and their communities. It’s non-sectarian, non-party political and the only qualification needed to be a member is to be a woman over 18 years of age. The WI is based on the ideals of fellowship, truth, tolerance, and justice. It is open to all women no matter what their background or beliefs. WI Life is the NFWI magazine which

MY WI is the dedicated website for WI members where you can find everything you need to get the most from your membership – from essential information and advice for running a WI, to campaign action

packs and special interest projects for you to try.

A brief history of ESWI. Every year we debate our age. Founded in 1919, there was a period from 1963 to 1968 when meetings were suspended. As ladies we like to think we’re younger than we are, so we settled on celebrating our birthday as March 1968, however as we will use any excuse for a celebration, we will commemorate 100 years of our WI in 2024. One of our members is currently beginning to write about the history of our group – anything from ‘The Ladies Rifle Club’ of the early 1900’s to the work undertaken during the second World War on through the decades to more recent achievements including surviving the pandemic when so many clubs and groups folded, to the present day. Most of the documents and photographs are stored at ‘The Hold’ in Ipswich so there will be a lot of research to do.

Would you like to join us? Membership, which includes all that is mentioned, costs £46.00 per year. Why not come along as a visitor and see if the WI is for you? Visit www.sefwi.org.uk go to ‘WI’s’, scroll down to ‘Earl Soham’, then click on ‘Enquiry’. Fill in your details and they will be passed on to us so that we can contact you. Alternatively, you can give our Secretary, Eleri Whitham a call 01728 628614.

You can be assured you will receive a very warm welcome.

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