WHO ARE WE?
WE are a friendly group of ladies who meet on the first Thursday of every month at 2pm for a 2.15pm start in the Parish Hall in Church Road. Bagshot WI was founded in 1923 – eight years after the UK’s first WI was formed in Anglesey. In 2013 we were privileged to be joined by Sophie, Countess of Wessex, for our 90th birthday celebrations.
WHAT DO WE DO?
We provide members with interesting, entertaining and thought-provoking speakers, lots of chat and companionship and a lovely cup of tea! We also have outings, meet for a pub lunch, history walks and we send out a monthly update of what we are doing by email or post to keep you up to date if you have to miss a meeting. We would very much like to welcome more (and younger!) members to help keep the proud tradition of Bagshot WI going.
THE WIDER PICTURE
BAGSHOT is in the Chobham Ridges Group of WIs which includes those at Lightwater, Bisley, Windlesham, Camberley and Mytchett. Each WI hosts a group meeting in turn with members invited to attend from each of the other WIs plus host WI members. We have a special speaker or entertainer, a group competition and finish with tea and cake. We are also members of the Surrey Federation of Women’s Institutes, which celebrated its centenary in 2018. The Federation holds craft workshops where you can learn a variety of skills at its headquarters in Guildford, cookery schools utilising a school kitchen and you can gain qualifications for hygiene in catering. There are outings to places of interest and the Federation holds two special meetings a year at Dorking Halls with celebrity speakers. It publishes a monthly magazine giving details of all workshops and events plus news from WIs throughout Surrey.
Although we no longer have Denman, our adult education college in Oxfordshire, you will have access to Denman at Home, which provides online courses via Zoom in covering a huge range of skills – cookery, crafts plus lectures on all kinds of topics from astronomy to zoology for a small fee. To find out what’s on offer go to http://www.denmanathome/whatson
MAKING OUR MARK
You may have noticed our millennium planter in The Square. This was the brainchild of one of our members, Celia Waller (pictured) and achieved with the help of grants from Surrey Heath Council and Windlesham Parish Council. Our members also made the first set of robes worn by the Mayor of Surrey Heath.
WHAT DOES IT COST?
The subscription can vary from year to year as each WI can now choose how much of its own portion of the subscription to levy. But it is less than £1 a week and includes all the benefits detailed above, plus copies of the WI’s magazine, WI Life, which is packed with interesting features, special offers and useful info. We ask for a donation towards the cost of refreshments at our meetings, and members go on a rota to provide tea and biscuits for which they can claim expenses. You can attend three meetings as a visitor free of charge (apart from the tea donation) to see if you like us.
WHO’S WHO
Our President, June Green, 01276 453692 and secretary, Carol Gartrell, 01252 838101 will be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
Bagshot Village 