A Long History Of Campaigning

The WI was formed in 1915, and ever since they have had a long history of campaigning on a wide variety of issues.

WI campaigns are about changing things for the better and tackling the issues that matter to members. Members are at the heart of the WI and they play a central role in bringing issues onto the WI’s national agenda through our public affairs and campaigning.

From equal pay to climate change, from gaps in the midwifery workforce to the plight of the honey bee, WI members have embraced a diverse set of challenges and built a reputation for the WI as a practical and ambitious organisation that doesn’t shy away from tricky issues.

Our resolutions and mandates process means every campaign starts within our membership.

Current Main Campaigns

Clean Rivers for People and Wildlife

Thinking Differently: Autistic and ADHD Women and Girls

Our campaign seeks to raise awareness of Autism and ADHD in women and girls and to take action to improve the diagnosis process.

NFWI

Our campaign seeks to raise awareness of the subtle signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer to help ensure that more women are diagnosed earlier.

This campaign seeks to raise awareness of modern slavery in the UK. It also calls for better support for survivors, as well as more effective action to eradicate the problem.

This campaign seeks to promote registration to the aligned UK stem cell registry to enable more people to receive potentially life-saving stem cell transplants.

Our campaign seeks to raise awareness of the importance of attending routine cervical screenings, and support more women to make an informed decision about whether or not to take up their invitations.

The WI has a proud history of taking action to protect the environment. As a founding member of The Climate Coalition, we work to protect what we love from climate change, and lobby politicians to prioritise tackling the issue.  Essex has a very active Climate Change group led by FEWI’s Climate Change Ambassador, Jill Bruce.  Click here for more information.

Our campaign explores the scale of the microplastic fibre pollution and calls on the government and industry to develop solutions to the problem.

We are seeking to raise awareness of the importance of local bus services and to empower members, WIs and federations to make the case for buses in their local communities.

This campaign calls on members to work alongside health and social care providers, and raise awareness of the causes and impacts of loneliness.

We are working to improve the way people view mental health and are calling for better support for those who need it.

This campaign encourages WI members to raise awareness and take action to end the scourge of violence against women.

NFWI

Food Matters

Our campaign to reduce food waste and tackle food poverty. We are encouraging members and supermarkets to cut food waste and work more widely to address the issue of increasing food poverty.

Since 2009 we have been campaigning to raise awareness of the plight of bees and how we can take action to decelerate the UK honeybee population.

Past Campaigns

Please click here for details on past campaigns.

Campaign Resources

Please use the above links to go to the relevant campaign page to find resources for you to use. 

If you feel your WI has a resource that would support a particular campaign, please email the details to admin@essexwi.org.uk.