About the WIs and federations
The Women’s Institute (WI) was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. Since then the organisation’s aims have broadened and the WI is now the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK. The WI celebrated its centenary in 2015 and currently has over 210,000 members in around 6,600 WIs.
The WI plays a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, to take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that matter to them and their communities.
The WI plays a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, to take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that matter to them and their communities.
Who we are
The National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI) board of trustees has 12 elected members, plus the Chair of the Federations of Wales Committee (elected by federations in Wales) who is an ex-officio board member. The NFWI board can co-opt two further trustees from within the membership, so the board can be a maximum of 15 trustees in total. There are currently 13 board members with Janice Langley, the NFWI Chair, at the helm.