The WI is a voice for women
At the NFWI Annual Meeting on 5 May 2024, the Dental Health Matters resolution passed with 95% support. A campaign action pack will be available soon, but in the meantime the 4th July General Election is a great opportunity to highlight the issue and engage with your MP candidates. We have developed a template letter which you can download and send to your candidates. Download in MS Word here.
The "Clean Rivers for People and Wildlife" campaign is encouraging members to make and support applications to create bathing waters in rivers across England and Wales as a way to drive the cleanup of our precious waters.
Water quality in our rivers is shameful. Legally designated bathing waters must be regularly monitored for pollution. The NFWI urges its members, the wider public, local authorities, and Government to make, support and promote applications for officially designated bathing sites on appropriate stretches of rivers in their area. This will be instrumental to the clean-up of rivers as it has been for water quality improvement at coastal beaches.
Herefordshire Federation
This campaign encourages WI members to raise awareness and take action to end the scourge of violence against women. The WI movement once again showed their solidarity with survivors by attending the Million Women Rise march in 2023. The day began with a pre-march panel event where attendees heard from Shadow Secretary of Women and Equalities, Anneliese Dodds MP, Lizzy Dobres, Policy and Practice Manager from Women’s Aid England, and Dr Hannana Siddiqui, Head of Policy and Research at Southall Black Sisters.
At the BFWI ACM in May 2022 the following Buckinghamshire Resolution (proposed by Fairford Leys WI, seconded by Winslow EarlyBirds WI) was passed:
“We need a change of heart” - 28,000 women die from heart attacks each year in the UK yet many women are unaware of the symptoms which can be different to those that men experience. To avoid unnecessary deaths the BFWI calls on WI members and public health bodies to improve understanding of the symptoms of heart attack particularly among women and healthcare professionals.
Our campaign seeks to raise awareness of Autism and ADHD in women and girls and to take action to improve the diagnosis process. If you'd like to find out more then click here: Thinking Differently: Autistic and ADHD Women and Girls | National Federation of Women's Institutes (thewi.org.uk)
Our campaign explores the scale of microplastic fibre pollution in oceans and waterways, and calls on the government and industry to develop solutions to the problem. We explore the links between microplastic pollution and fast fashion. Find out more here: End Plastic Soup | National Federation of Women's Institutes (thewi.org.uk)
For more information on any of our current campaigns, and to find out how you can take part, please check our National Federation website
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