Introduce yourself
I'm Amy Newlove, I'm 29 and I'm a member of the Manchester WI. I'm also a committee member and half of the team that look after our social media updates. Sophie is our other updater and she'll be taking over the twitter account from Thursday. My day job is as a Pensions Consultant and when I'm not working I'll most likely be on holiday, working through my long list of countries to visit! The last one was Japan and the next one Italy!
Why did you become a member of the WI?
I joined the WI a year ago. I suppose the main reason was to find something else to get involved with as nights out started to dwindle. It's a great way of meeting new people without having to go out and drink copious amounts of alcohol (although that can sometimes happen!)
How would you sum up your WI?
Our website says 'we're an eclectic mix of sisters jazzing up the WI tradition' and I think that sums us up perfectly. We still retain some of the traditional elements of the WI but also get involved in activities and events affecting modern women. This really works well being a large city centre WI. Cities are often full of new trends so it's nice to retain something traditional.
Why would you encourage other women to get involved in the WI?
It's a great way to meet other women, especially living in a city. Most of the activities I've had a chance to do I would never have done if I hadn't been in the WI. If you want the chance of an international superstar eating your cakes (true story), join the WI!
What are you most looking forward to as part of the WI centenary in 2015?
Our president, Lex, is one of the lucky ones going to the centenary annual meeting at the Royal Albert Hall in June. I think that will be one of her highlights for 2015 and for the rest of us, we're looking forward to getting the WI name out there and letting all women know how great it is. If you're thinking about joining up my advice is do it, you won't regret it.