Boscastle WI – come and find out about us. We’re definitely not the WI your grandmother, or even your mother, went to!
How about some interesting programmes and the opportunity to meet other women from the Boscastle area? Maybe you’ve got some skills you’re itching to use! Or other skills you’d like to develop. Whatever your need, we might have a really great solution for you.
Boscastle WI is very focused on the needs of local women from a diverse range of backgrounds and also has the advantages of being part of a county and national organisation. Our membership is around 30 and meetings are held monthly on the second Tuesday, generally at the centrally located Village Hall. Our goals include providing a hub for local women to meet regularly, obtaining interesting information on a wide range of topics, learning new skills, reaching out to provide benefits for the local community, and enjoying ourselves.
At the monthly meeting, we hear from a speaker on an interesting topic or take part in a workshop when we get to learn a new skill. It’s also a great time to catch up with other local women, enjoy refreshments and if there is anything critical we need to discuss and vote on, we do that too. We’ve parted with the ‘old’ format of a formal meeting, instead placing our trust in our WI Committee and receiving monthly Bulletins. Additionally, we have other ways to meet: a Garden Club where any member can go to interesting gardens, usually within an hour’s drive, as well as visit member’s gardens to learn what trials and successes they’ve had and the impact on their garden. You certainly don’t have to be an avid gardener to enjoy being in a beautiful space or seeing what friends have been doing in their spare time. The host invariably serves up coffee, tea and biscuits, or a delicious cake, and we have time to natter in a very relaxed atmosphere. We also go out once a month to a cafe, usually within a 30 minute drive, for coffee, refreshments and of course more chatting, when we find out about friends other interests, where they’ve walked recently, what films and shows they recommend, etc., and so on. No cleaning, no cooking, just some good quality down time with other women. And sometimes we can tie in some retail therapy.
We also have numerous opportunities to meet up with other women in the much larger group of the Cornish Federation of Women’s Institutes (CFWI) and even in the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI).
Several years ago, we bought the decommissioned phone box by the harbour and after doing it up so it was safe and sparkling with new paint, we converted it into a used book shop, which is open 24/7/365. For the unbelievable price of only 50p you can buy a book. It’s been highly successful, providing reading material for children and adults, both local and visitors, as well as providing the needed income for another local benefit we sponsored – the defibrillator up at the Premier store. Plus the bookstore helps to provide quality programmes for WI members.
Come and join us on a second Tuesday of the month to meet other women and find out more about the opportunities open to our members. You can also contact us at boscastlewi@westcv.co.uk. Our next meeting is on Tuesday 8th April at 2:00pm at the Boscastle Village Hall. What we can promise you is that this is NOT the WI of your grandmother, or even your mother!
