Introduce yourself
My name is Joanne, the founding President of the Cambridge Blue Belles WI and when not spending my time with fellow inspiring WI members, on our Dig for Denman allotment or lindyhopping, I work in the NHS as Assistant to the Chief Executive of our local Mental Health Trust. I am very passionate about the history of the WI and the fantastic women who have worked so hard to bring it into its 100th year - such fabulous sisterhood!
Why did you become a member of the WI?
As a keen enthusiast for all things social history for women during the second world war, I was really keen to be a part of something that was a part of our Jambusting history. As I said, steeped in history, I feel the WI really is the backbone of this country and has such potential to inspire ALL women - regardless of their social status, etc. Both of my Nans also sadly passed away within six months of each other and I was committed to keep contact with their generation - so I walked through the door of the Friend’s Meeting House to be a part of the new WI that was forming, then nameless, and walked out, President of the Cambridge Blue Belles - the rest is history!
How would you sum up your WI?
We were formed following the fantastic success of our sister, Cam City WI, as the demand for the WI certainly was rife in the boundaries of Cambridge city! We were formed nearly two years ago and have seen 14 months of absolute celebration of the endless opportunities that only the WI could offer! We have our own allotment, the Dig for Denman plot (where produce grown is sold and creates Denman bursaries), a very active book club, a newly formed and absolutely kicking board games night and welcome women from all backgrounds to come and be a part of the sisterhood. Our meetings always welcome local community groups who are making a difference to the lives of Cambridge inhabitants to give a short 10 minute pre-tea/cake (always a vegan option, too!), talk to intro themselves to us and then be our guests for the rest of the meeting, too, so that we can gain connections and show our solidarity with them. We are a hotspot of visitors from other WIs with guests attending every meeting and always leaving with a smile and comments on how friendly and inclusive we are - our motto from the word go! We’ve hosted the army’s first female bomb disposal officer as a speaker, through to a Mindfulness session, vegan chocolate tasting from Cambridge’s own Willy Wonka and danced the night away in a homefront Christmas, too. We have also actively adopted the S wards at Addenbrookes to provide some home comforts to women staying there and are twinned with a WI in Warwickshire, Grendon WI, that started in the forties - all in two years!
Why would you encourage other women to get involved in the WI?
The best way to respond to that is why WOULDN’T you get involved? Every member is exactly equal to another and the opportunities are absolutely endless. The WI really is what you make it! The possibilities of furthering yourself and your local community are as open or interpretation as you’d like and you’ll forge friendships with women across the country that will last you a lifetime! What more could you ask for?!
What are you most looking forward to as part of the WI centenary in 2015?
We have been working hard on a Programme that inspires and celebrates the fantastic women of this amazing movement and are just elated to be welcoming inspiring women from the local community and beyond to tell us all about the ways they are changing the world around them. We’ve been on a tour of the Houses of Parliament already to celebrate our 100 years of active campaigning - what a spectacle that was! We are thrilled to have been given delegate position at the AGM in June, I’ll be representing the Blue Belles alongside sisters from Somerset WI on a cake stall at Glastonbury (!!!), a mass of us will be going along to the WI’s unofficial camp out weekend, Tea and Tents, and we’ll be hosting our twins for tea in September, around WI day, to celebrate the coming together of all of the fabulous women that make the WI the country’s leading women’s voluntary organisation group. To top it all off, we’ll be making our way to Flintshire at the end of September to host a stall at the Good Life Festival - talk about celebrations with a (blue belle!) bang!
