National News can be found on the NFWI website here


Membership Subscriptions Extension 2021

A message from NFWI

The NFWI has been very concerned about the disruption this lockdown period has had on WI meetings and activities and your membership experience this year. We recently held consultations with all federations to discuss ways in which we can acknowledge this in our membership subscription this year.

We are delighted to share with you that as a result we are offering a three month extension to this year’s membership subscription. The next renewal date for membership subscriptions will therefore be 1st April 2021. In addition, from this point onwards, membership renewals will always be in April. This is to acknowledge the feedback many of you shared with us during the recent Strategic Vision consultation about the challenges of the January payment date and how you wished to see this changed in the future.

We have added full FAQs to My WI to help you understand a bit more about the process and how this will impact WIs. The FAQs can be found here: https://mywi.thewi.org.uk/…/faqs-membership-subscription-ex…

We know that many WIs have responded creatively to the practical challenges posed by lockdown and we continue to be inspired by the activities being delivered to ensure members remain connected during this difficult time. However, we do appreciate that this period has meant that many members have experienced disruption to their WI experience and therefore we hope the additional three months will provide some compensation to acknowledge the disruption.

We are aiming to ensure that this message reaches all members as soon as possible. As well as the formal notification to federations and this announcement on social media, there is a memo in the July WI Life magazine and a letter in the July WI mailing. We hope that by ensuring the message is consistent across all our channels of communications, it will reach all members; but please do ensure you share the news with all the members in your WI too.


 

 

A Vision for the Future

Vision for the Future – a message from NFWI:

As the WI enters its 105th  year, the NFWI is developing a strategic vision to help shape and secure its future.  This ambitious vision will guide and focus the organisation’s work over the next five years, building on the successes it has achieved over the last 104 years, and ensure it continues to be the largest and most influential women’s organisation in the UK.

As part of this work four draft vision statements have been developed by the Board of Trustees, the National Council (representing all federations) and the organisation’s professional staff. In the February issue of WI Life, you will find an article which explains what the four draft vision statements are, and over the next three months the NFWI wants to engage as many members as possible to test these statements and develop them further. Please look out for the article and tell us what you think of the four draft vision statements.  The article will also explain how you can feed your views back to the NFWI.

The hope is that at the end of the consultation process we have a set of vision statements that capture our ambition for  our organisation, and upon which we can build our strategic plan for years to come.  It’s a discussion, a collaboration and a collective step forward.  The WI is your organisation and yours to shape for the future…..so let us know your views!