Federation

Thank you so much for entering the writing competition organised by the Website and Social Media Team of Cheshire Federation – A Kind Heart Cannot Look Away. We were absolutely delighted by the fantastic number of entries we received —…

Here in Cheshire Federation of WIs every year during Great Big Green Week (June) we change the map icon of our WIs to green if they take action to reduce their collective carbon footprint. To support this, we offer a…

We have pleasure in announcing the election results for 2026/7 Federation Trustees and Officers. Ann Beckett – Federation Chair Ann Pye – Federation Hon Treasurer Vice Chairs – Sue Bentley MBE, Vivien Lee and Wendy Morris Additional Federation Trustees are…

Just a little peek at some of the highlights of Cheshire Federation of WIs meeting today at Nunsmere with over 400 delegates and member guests. Our speakers were: – the Lord Mayor of Chester Councillor Sherin Akhtar. She is the…

Yesterday, Cheshire Federation of WIs had the pleasure of exhibiting at the Greater Manchester Green Summit – and what a fantastic day it was. The event began with a plenary session led by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, setting…

Tonight was Challenge Cheshire and what a fantastic evening it was. We can’t say too much… but let’s just say there were plenty of laughs, brain teasers, and members fully throwing themselves into the fun of it all. We even…

I was delighted, accompanied by Ann Beckett our Federation Treasurer, to visit the Countess of Chester Hospital at the end of December 2025 for the launch of a smart new Blood Bike – Denman III – replacing those previously in…

Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming our members to ‘Christmas at White Friars’ . Our lovely Georgian house right in the middle of Chester offering a tranquil space amidst the hussle and bussle of the city. On offer…

WI Craft Workshop Success What a fantastic day at Frodsham Community Centre. A busy, buzzy festive day of making and creating — with WIs from all across Cheshire Federation of WIs trying their hand at five Christmas-themed crafts: – Decorative…

What a fantastic day at the Storyhouse today for our Autumn meeting. We have just got home so it’s been a long day made longer by most of our trustees being stuck on the motorway or train and instead of…

Once again, Cheshire Federation members have put their best foot forward. On 16th October, to mark Restart a Heart Day, we held a sponsored walk around beautiful Delamere Forest to raise funds for The Oliver King Foundation. We were delighted…

An Update on our Clean Rivers Campaign A huge well done to our Cheshire Federation of WIs members who’ve been out supporting the Clean Dee campaign over the past two weekends. Together, we’ve gathered the surveys needed to complete the…

Cheshire Federation of WIs Annual Golf Day at Hartford Thirty-four members of the Cheshire Federation of WIs gathered at Hartford Golf Club last Friday for the annual golf competition, enjoying glorious late-summer sunshine. Bramhall WI’s Gill Ridley-Fink and Julia Watson…

On Saturday, over 120 Cheshire Federation of WIs members came together in Port Sunlight for a very different kind of Monopoly. Organised by our Leisure for Pleasure Team, the day was packed with clue-hunting, laughter, and the most ridiculous photos…

The Happy Place Festival at Tatton Park was a brilliant weekend. There always an excuse to promote our wonderful organisation and this one was fabulous. The NFWI team had a wonderful time meeting so many enthusiastic festival-goers in such a…

Round Tower WI reports of the one of the Croquet sessions organised by the Sport Sub Committee. ‘Eight of us went along to Upton on the Wirral & learned how to play croquet. It was a really good, fun evening,…

Ann Pye (Vice Chair & Trustee, Jill Kitchen (Resolutions Officer) and Susan leicester (Vice Chair & Trustee) represented Cheshire Federation of WIs at this year’s Nantwich Show on Wednesday 30th July. The WI stand had information about current resolutions and…

Over 100 incredible women gathered in a field for a weekend of fun, friendship, and fabulousness – Hollywood style! From glitz and glam to laughter and sparkle, this event had it all. This is what WI life looks like —…

New Members Day What a lovely day it was on Friday as new WI members from across the Federation visited our head office at White Friars, Chester! Members were warmly welcomed and enjoyed learning about the inspiring history of the…

Still buzzing after a brilliant day at Disability Awareness Day (DAD) in Warrington last week – the world’s largest voluntary-led disability exhibition! We had the chance to chat with Sarah Hall MP, who not only saved our demo dummy’s life…

Literary Lunch 2025 Pat Sharp, editor of Cheshire News, organised a highly enjoyable Literary Lunch at Hartford Golf Club on Wednesday 10th June. A capacity audience of 160 members attended from all over Cheshire. The weather was glorious, and a Cheshire…

RECORD OF THE ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETING SATURDAY 29TH MARCH 2025 Selina Prescott, Federation Chair gave a warm welcome to WI Delegates and members, attending The Winsford Academy, for the meeting which had been organised as a weekend daytime meeting, she…

Fantastic day for the Jigsaw Race at Eastham Rake organised by the Leisure For Pleasure Team. 1st Place – Hasbridge (a mixed team of Haslington WI and Handbridge WI finishing at 71 minutes, 2nd Place The Terrible Trio – another…

We really did have an amazing day in Chester with three brilliant speakers – *Mary Lamb and Sheldon about her Three Peak Challenge, *Paul Mealor Welsh Composer and *Nicki Chapman TV and Radio presenter (amongst other things) plus over 700…

Following on from the Green Dot Day workshop on air source heat pumps in March by Sue Bentley, the people who attended on the day were invited to a private visit to Bluebell Cottage Gardens for a talk by the…

Today is World Rivers Day. The day recognises the importance of rivers and their role in ecosystems, agriculture, and industry. It also promotes public awareness and participation in efforts to protect waterways worldwide. It’s also the NFWI Week of River…

Well that’s a wrap. Our pop up art gallery has closed but what a success it’s been. Our Cheshire Federation of WIs members have done us proud. The feedback has been wonderful from our members and visitors. It was a…

A warm and sunny day in mid July welcomed nearly 200 CFWI members to the Wedding Marquee of Nunsmere Hall in Cheshire for the 2024 Literary Lunch. Surrounded by water on three sides, tree lined and with colourful formal gardens,…

Disability Awareness Day (DAD) is the world’s largest ‘not for profit’ voluntary led disability exhibition.  This annual event is held in Walton Gardens near Stockton Heath, Warrington on a Sunday in July. It was a great opportunity to CFWI to…

A wonderful few hours in Stockport for our ‘Monopoly’ event with over one hundred members from across the Cheshire Federation of WIs in 21 teams racing around the town. Members started and ended at The Plaza Theatre where we were…

Another fabulous year at the Royal Cheshire County Show. We would like to thank all our members for their contribution. A full write up will be in the Cheshire News Trophy Prize Giving ROYAL CHESHIRE COUNTY SHOW 2024 CHESHIRE FEDERATION…

    Our members certainly had a great time meeting other members from our Federation and from across the country. The AGM is was interesting and very moving and the Resolution for ‘Dental Health Matters’ was past with over 95%…

Had a great day with the New Century Bowmen. Everyone was buzzing and the comments were so encouraging. So many want to carry on with the sport. A fun afternoon and a great success. Thank you to the Sports Sub…

The Website and Social Media Team invited WIs to enter the 2023 Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt. The categories were: A WI Winter Celebration / Party  Bundled up in Winter Gear Resolutions A Wintery Landscape Christmas Jumpers By the Fireside A…

  We all know that the WI is a fabulous organisation but how can we get the word out? Members were asked to write a piece of approximately 300 words which would be suitable for a press release to encourage…

This years Annual Council Meeting was a little bit different this year. We welcomed our Presidents for an opportunity to mingle and learn some hints and tips as well as complete the Annual Council business at Hartford Golf Club, Burrows…

CHESHIRE FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S INSTITUTES FEDERATION QUIZ 2024 WI’s may enter one team consisting of 4 members. The Quiz will be “Table top” – i.e. able to confer in answering questions. Seven Preliminary Rounds have been organised, please indicate on…

We have pleasure in introducing members to our very exciting Cheshire Show 2024 Schedule. Its full of exciting opportunities for members of all abilities to get involved. You will notice some changes due to the restricted space so our aim…

On the 13th November it  was our second of two jigsaw races within a week.  Seven teams battled it out at White Friars, Cheshire. We really enjoy meeting members – some we have met before and others are for the…

On the 8th November it  was our first of two jigsaw races. Another one next week! Nine teams battled it out at White Friars, Cheshire. Such a lovely atmosphere with time for connecting with other members from across the Federation.…

SHOW THE LOVE! Remind your MP that we love the planet, and want them to protect it above all else. It can take several weeks for post sent to an MP to get through so this month  is a good…

   Three of our Cheshire Climate Ambassadors attended The WI’s Climate Conference in London yesterday, Fiona Barry, Sue Bentley and Hilary Robinson. They enjoyed a day packed with climate crisis expert speakers and prominent politicians, including a very impressive Lady Teresa…

This year’s CFWI’s Autumn meeting was at The Storyhouse, Chester. It took many months of planning, speaker changes and worries about footfall and venue availability but as a Federation we were delighted that the event went off so beautifully. This…

We were over the moon to receive over 30 entries for the Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt. The quality was very high, and it made our job very hard to choose a winner. In fact, we had to call in an…

Pat Sharp, Editor of Cheshire News, organised this years Literary Lunch. Hartford Golf Club was a new venue for us which was in stunning grounds and had a beautiful function room. We were so fortunate that the weather was superb…

As someone who has become aware of my own difficulty in hearing since the age of 60 years, I thought I would look into the experiences of others. My first interviewee is a relative who is 97 years old. A…

In response to enquiries about the status of ACWW in  WIs’ charity fund  raising activity  you will find  relevant information on “MY WI” and in the WI constitution. Charities must have objects which fit in with the WI’s charitable objects.…

CFWI Spring Council Meeting 29th March 2023  If you weren’t at the Winsford Academy on Wednesday 29th March then you missed a treat. Federation Chairman, Selina Prescott, introduced visitors from Lancashire, Staffordshire and Clwyd-Flint Federations, past Chairmen and CFWI members.…

Another Leisure For Pleasure event took place today and what a great success. Nine teams entered our Jigsaw Race at White Friars followed by a delicious plant based soup. Incredibly happy event with great team spirit, lots of chatter whilst…

The Federation Darts Final was held at Winnington on March 10th. There were some very close matches and the semifinalists were Hale WI, Pickmere WI, Huntington WI and Winwick WI with Huntington going on to win the trophy and Winwick…

People lined the streets of Chester to enjoy the city’s Pride parade this weekend. What a sweltering hot day.  The event was welcomed back  after Covid-19 just in time to celebrate its 10th Birthday and it didn’t disappoint. It was…

What a wonderful day we had at the Literary Lunch at Cheshire View, Christleton. It was long awaited due to Covid and so wonderful to see so many members (over 200) attend. The tables were decorated with local blooms from…

Dear Members A HUGE THANK YOU When I stepped down as Federation Chairman many of you kindly donated to a collection for me and as a result, I was able to purchase several lovely items to remind me of my…

What a fantastic event.  Hope you enjoy looking at the amazing entries and a very small proportion of the people who made it happen. Thank you so much to the Cheshire Show Committee, all the sub committees, the volunteers across…

Here are some reflective notes about the event from one of our members in the Federation.  It was a fantastic experience sharing the day with so many women with one thing in common – The WI Our WI is part…

Message from NFWI We are pleased to share with you the updated WI Handbook 2022. You will find a summary of the updates at section 15. These are: Section 1: The number of WIs has been reduced from 6,000 to…

  5th April 2022 Hello everyone We are so pleased to announce the appointment of our new Federation Secretary. Her name is Karen Monks and she has started work in the Chester Office today – Tuesday, 5th April 2022. Some…

Me, Myself and WI 9th – 15th May 2022 Supporting your own mental and physical health is incredibly important. As life goes back to ‘normal’ it’s easy to feel over whelmed.  Everyone reacts differently and changes in the way that…

    CHESHIRE FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S INSTITUTES   MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETING   The Woodford Centre, Chester Road, Woodford SK7 1PS Saturday 19th March 2022   Before the meeting started, Members were advised of the usual safety notices…

CHESHIRE FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S INSTITUTES BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2022/24 Dear Presidents/Secretaries I am delighted to announce your next Federation Chairman is Selina Prescott and I know she will take Cheshire Federation forward successfully as she is hardworking and keen to…