Women's Institute
Olveston & Tockington Women's Institute
OLVESTON & TOCKINGTON W.I. is part of the National Federation of Women's Institutes which, with over 210,000 members and some 6,812 W.I.s, forms the largest Organisation for women in the U.K. It was formed in 1915 to revitalise the rural communities and this year Olveston & Tockington WI have been going for 94 years which makes us one of the oldest in the Country.
We belong to the National Federation of Women's Institutes and also the Avon Federation of Women's Institutes. The Organisation has seen many changes and nationally the W.I. enables women to develop new skills. Recent campaigns have included drives to highlight the problem of Violence against Women, improve Farm Milk Prices, the importance of saving the Honey Bee and Keeping our Libraries. The latest Resolution is for the Employment of more Midwives. The WI owns Denman College which offers a multitude of residential courses and gives all members an opportunity to campaign on issues that matter.
At Avon Federation level, our EGM and AGM are held at Weston-super-Mare, and feature well-known speakers such as Miranda Krestovnikoff of "Coast" and the "One Show", Gervaise Phinn, and Lars Tharp of "The Antiques Roadshow", to name just some of the recent ones. It also highlights many important local issues such as the Hospice Movement and Keep our Libraries.
At local level, our monthly meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month in the Parish Hall at 7.30 p.m. This year we are having seven Speakers on topics including Reflexology, Magistrates, and Life on a Farm. The remaining evenings are taken up by Social evenings and an Annual Dinner at a local hostelry. Within our Institute, various smaller groups take part in Sporting Activities such as Skittles, Table Tennis and occasionally Kurling. There is also a very active Book Group. We go on Trips to places like the American Museum, the Hippodrome and Tredegar House.
We raise funds for local Charities and this year our chosen Charity is the Multiple Sclerosis People's Help (MSPH). This Thornbury Charity has moved into new premises which are next door to Ronnie's in the precinct and the idea behind the Charity is to send volunteers to people's homes to help with jobs like gardening, painting and shopping; indeed anything the person who has Multiple Sclerosis needs help with.
Details of upcoming meetings are regularly published in the community magazine, Meeting Point.
We are a very friendly bunch and are always pleased to greet visitors, so if you feel like coming along we should be very happy to see you and you will be made most welcome. For any more information please ring either Anita Pashley (Secretary) on 01454 417090 or Kim Prewett (President) on 01454 614210.
This picture was taken in John Cryer's yard just before some of our members set off to hand over the WI 'Olympic Torch'. We drove on the decorated trailer, through Olveston, Tockington and Almondsbury up to the Tump, where we were met by Upper Almondsbury WI who were accepting the Torch from us to continue on its way round the Avon area.
