Introduce yourself
My name is Louise Cashman, I'm 51 and I’m the Secretary for Charlbury WI in West Oxfordshire and I also manage the marketing side of things. Charlbury is part of a group of five local WIs (the Evenlode Group) and together we come under the Oxfordshire Federation. I live with my husband & our Labradors & have one daughter who’s away at uni. I work full-time for a publishing company in Oxford as a print-buyer (I‘m responsible for printing the Marketing team’s publicity).
Why did you become a member of the WI?
I lived in a fairly remote rural spot at the time and wanted to feel more a part of the local community. I also wanted something more varied that an evening sport or hobby class.
How would you sum up your WI?
Ours is a market town WI and as such, we have a real diversity of ages, backgrounds and characters. We're a good mix of both the traditional and modern face of the WI - we have fund-raising cake sales & recently started up a Yack & Yarn group, but then also make full use of social media to attract new members and last summer took craft workshops (with a yarn bomb theme) at a trendy local music festival.
Why would you encourage other women to get involved in the WI?
You’ll have an instant group of friends, hear talks on subjects you’d never have looked into yourself & enjoy the opportunity to learn & use new skills (committee, Denman, community events).
What are you most looking forward to as part of the WI centenary in 2015?
Sharing the sense of pride and community that members have in the organisation.