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Past news and events

Urgent Action: Call on Government to uphold the Climate Change Act
Over the past few years the WI has been campaigning as part of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, pushing for strong UK targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and joining the UK’s biggest climate march at The Wave to call for international leadership.

In the next two weeks the government will be making a critical decision about the Climate Change Act, and your help will be vital.

Under the Climate Change Act, the UK has a legal target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. To make sure we get there, the government has to set ‘carbon budgets’ for each five year period. Right now the government is considering the latest advice of the independent Committee on Climate Change on the size of the carbon budget in the 2020s.

To hit the 2050 target, the government should accept this advice in full.  This would help deliver investment in clean technology businesses in the UK, create new jobs, build a more efficient economy and improve energy security at a time of rising oil prices.

The decision will be taken in the next two weeks, so we need you to take action before 14th April

Please take a minute to remind the Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg of their pledge to make this the ‘greenest Government ever’ – and to ask them to accept the independent advice of the Committee in full.

You can send them a message online via the Stop Climate Chaos website here.

Alternatively, you can send a message via the Prime Minister’s website and the Deputy Prime Minister’s website, or via letter to 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA. There is a template letter in the downloads box on the right of this page.

Million Women Rise 2010Million Women Rise 2010
WI members from across England and Wales joined thousands of women on Saturday 6 March to parade through central London and call for an end to male violence against women.

This is the third year running that members have taken part in the march, which also celebrates International Women's Day, as part of the NFWI's campaign for No More Violence Against Women.

Britain's got tidier
Littering is in decline, with slight falls in fast food, snack packaging and smoking related litter, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign has announced.

The campaign group, which was founded following an NFWI resolution, has published its latest annual survey into the extent of litter, dog mess, graffiti and fly posting in our local communities.

It found littering is now at a “satisfactory” level after two years of being unsatisfactory. However, the biggest problems still come from cigarette litter, fast food and snack packaging. The report puts this encouraging progress down to councils improving their overall performance in picking up litter.
Quilt reveals "patchy" state of violence services
Ruth Bond, chair of the NFWI, and members from Shoreditch Sisters WI have unveiled the Map of Gaps quilt outside parliament, as part of a WI campaign to improve access to violence against women support services.

The quilt is based on the Map of Gaps II report, published by the End Violence Against Women coalition, of which the NFWI is a member, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. It reveals the postcode lottery of access to specialist support services; red areas have no dedicated violence against women services but green areas are covered by high quality services. Overall one in four local authorities lack any specialist violence against women services.

WI members from across England and Wales were asked to submit patches of fabric to draw attention to the "patchy" spread of services. More than 300 members contributed to the quilt, which was sewn together by Shoreditch Sisters WI.

WI members join The Wave
WI members at The Wave in London
WI members from around the country came together on 5 December 2009 to make their voices heard in the fight against climate change.  Members joined individuals from over 100 other organisations to be part of a 40,000 strong gathering calling for the UK Government to ensure a fair, robust and fast deal at the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen this year.
Violence Against Women strategy launches
The NFWI has welcomed the launch of the government's first integrated Violence Against Women strategy.  The document makes crystal clear that there are no differences in domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking between rural and urban areas, after the NFWI warned people continue to perceive violence against women as a problem for urban areas.

The strategy recognises that there are differences in the way rural and urban women access services, however, and the NFWI has called on local authorities to take these into account, as part of a wider commitment to funding services.

The NFWI has been campaigning for an integrated strategy to tackle all forms of violence against women as part of End Violence Against Women (EVAW) coalition.
Bee Aware Action Week
WIs up and down the country took part in our Bee Aware Action Week, which ran from 24 until 30 October. Below is a selection of photos from those events, which give a flavour of the way in which WI members have been raising awareness in their local area.
Mili-Band around Kingsnorth power station
On 4 July 2009, a group of WI members joined over 1,000 people from across Britain to protest against new dirty coal.
The event was created by a coalition of organisations, from the NFWI, to Oxfam, the RSPB, the World Development Movement, the Woodcraft Folk, the National Union of Students and the local Kent branch of Campaign to Protect Rural England.

With the sun shining down, participants called on Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, to protect our planet, think about the human impact of climate change and say no to new dirty coal.  Kingsnorth in Kent is one of the sites of a proposed new generation of coal fired power stations which will not capture all their emissions.  Kingsnorth alone would generate 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, the equivalent of the poorest 25 developing countries in the world!  If we are to protect the poorest citizens on our planet, we must say no to new coal which does not capture all its emissions.

AGM NEWS: SOS for honey bees resolution passed by huge margin
Following stimulating contributions from expert speakers from the British Beekeepers Association and the Natural Environment Research Council, as well as contributions from delegates in the Royal Albert Hall, the resolution on Honey Bee health was passed with 99.4% support from the hall.
Launch of report into violence against women in rural areas
The report Violence Against Women in Rural and Urban Areas was launched at the AGM in June. The research, conducted by Bristol University, looked at awareness and perceptions of violence against women in rural areas. It found rural women were less likely to perceive violence was a problem in their communities, despite rural and urban women reporting equal levels of violence and abuse. Nearly three-quarters of all women said the issue was not openly discussed in their community.The report was welcomed by women's organisations and will help move forward the NFWI's No More Violence Against Women campaign. WI members are now lobbying the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to recognise violence against women as a problem in rural areas and to ensure rural women can access essential specialist support services. Template letters are available.

Update: WI members have inundated Defra with letters and the secretary of state, Hilary Benn MP, has written to Ruth Bond, NFWI chair, to commend her on the success of the campaign. Read Mr Benn's response here.
Launch of the Women and Climate Change campaign If We Can Do It So Can You
On Monday 11 May, NFWI launched the new Women and Climate Change campaign with a well attended Question Time style debate.
Joan Ruddock MP, a minister from the Department for Energy and Climate Change, spoke at the event alongside Juliet Davenport from Good Energy, Adam Askew from Oxfam, Betty Moxon from the WI, and Lucy Seigle who chaired the event.

Members from around the country probed the panellists about their thoughts on the challenges and opportunities facing women in the fight to tackle climate change.

Earth Hour
Members around the country took part in Earth Hour, during which an estimated billion people around the world switched off their lights for an hour on 28 March to raise awareness about climate change.
You can read about some of the events on the WI Chair's blog and see photos of the events held by East End WI, London and the Cambridge Federation on the climate change campaign page.
No More Violence Against Women petition
On 18 February, Fay Mansall and Ruth Bond delivered a petition calling on the government to eliminate violence against women.
More than 23,000 WI members signed the petition in support of the No More Violence Against Women campaign. WI campaigner Isla Arendell and Professor Liz Kelly, chair of the End Violence Against Women coalition, were also on hand at Downing Street.

Update: The Home Office has now replied to our petition on behalf of the Prime Minister.