Thame WI was founded in January 1921 and is now launched on its second century. The current membership is twenty-eight members with a committee of seven.
We are a traditional institute, meeting on a monthly basis for eleven months of the year (there is no meeting in August). At some meetings we have a guest speaker but up to two meetings a year are ‘members’ meetings’. These may involve crafts, games or (very popular) poetry and puds. The January meeting is usually a discussion of the proposed Resolutions for the NFWI Annual Meeting. The discussion is usually followed by a cake competition. The March meeting is our Annual Meeting followed by a guest speaker from a local charity.
Each December we hold a Carol Concert in St Mary’s Church with members providing a variety of readings and a small choir singing unaccompanied. We are joined for this event by members of the Thame Belles WI.
Meetings are held at Thame Cricket Club at 2.00pm on the third Monday of the month. There is parking available and the room where the meeting is held is on the ground floor.
If you are interested please feel welcome to come to a meeting and see if you enjoy it. If you decide to join the membership fee is currently £46. This includes a subscription to WI Life which is published ten times per year.
In addition to the monthly meetings there are opportunities for participating in other, smaller groups:
- Book Group – meets monthly in members’ houses with books for the year agreed in advance. (See separate programme)
- Craft Group – held on the second Tuesday of the month with members doing a variety of crafts either independently or joint projects. Excellent cake available!
- Poetry Group – operates by email with members sending poems every week.
- Cake Group – currently in abeyance due to lack of interested members.
All groups welcome new members.