The Women’s Institute (WI) was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War and it was mostly led by women who were involved in the suffrage movement. By 1918 137 branches had opened and in 1924 WI members sang ‘Jerusalem’ for the first time due to links with the suffrage movement.

 

In 1938 the British Government asked the WI to help with preparations for the potential evacuation of children to the countryside in the event of war. Additionally, the WI, now a force of 290,000 women, set up a Produce Guide to encourage members to produce more home grown food and preserve fruit and vegetables. During the Second World War the WI played a vital role in growing and preserving food and looking after refugees. After the war, the WI started to demand equal pay for men and women.

 

The Osgathorpe branch of the WI was founded just at the end of the war in 1944, meeting monthly in the Harley Hall. They contributed to the war effort by growing potatoes for Loughborough Hospital and knitting socks for the Navy – and of course making jam!

 

Little is known of the early membership and activities, although the Heritage Group are in possession of programmes dating back to 1957 when the president was Mrs Elcock, the vice presidents Mrs Matthews and Mrs Maloney, the secretary Mrs Duncan Smith and the treasurer Mrs Tivey. The committee were Mrs Johnson, Mrs Darby, Mrs Brooks, Mrs Laundon, Mrs Wardle and Miss Wye (note the formality of the names!).

 

Activities for this year included various talks, demonstrations and visits – some to other WI groups. A competition was held every month, usually flower arrangement but including mince pies, decorated Easter eggs, embroidery and knitted items.

 

From 1958 Mrs Matthews was president, followed by Mrs Frederica Johnson in 1962, Mrs Audrey Maloney in 1964, with Mrs Elcock back in 1966, until Mrs Maloney did another stint in 1972, followed by Mrs J May from Thringstone in 1973, who presided for over 20 years, remarking in a newspaper article in 1997:

 

‘When I first became president, there was a special tray for the president, secretary and guest speaker to have their tea with pretty china cups, but the rest of the membership just had ordinary ones’ but Mrs May changed all this, changing the emphasis to getting all members to participate on equal terms.

 

Just before the 2000’s, regular bring and buy stalls were held at the monthly meetings to keep the Institute’s finances in good order. Each member received a birthday card on the appropriate date and for special birthdays, a present was also given.

 

Mrs May remarked: ‘If a member has been in hospital we send her flowers when she returns home, and we also help the over 70s by subsidising their membership subscriptions.

 

In 1984 the members of the Osgathorpe celebrated their 40th Anniversary at the Harley Hall, with all present and a few past members attending. 

 

Plans for the celebrations started in 1982 and the money for the evening was raised over 18 months by various fund raising efforts including two garden parties and a sponsored slim by the president, Mrs May, who lost a total of 7 stone!

 

The evening commenced with a sherry reception where the founder members were presented with a corsage of silk flowers and a commerative spoon. After consuming melon, ham, beef, chicken surprise and various salads followed by a choice of sweets and coffee, the minutes of the first meeting in 1944 were read out loud.Following this the special cake was cut by Mrs May, and Miss E Griffiths, the oldest member who was also a founder member, and the evening ended with songs, a comedienne and sketches, finishing with Christmas carols and – of course – the singing of ‘Jerusalem’.

 

In this anniversary year the rest of the committee were vice presidents Mrs B Jetten and Mrs J Illsley, secretary Mrs J Sanson, treasurer Mrs J L Brown plus Mrs A Elson, Mrs H Ball, Mrs J Darbyshire, Miss F Houghton, Mrs M Scard, Mrs C Hill and Mrs S Geddes-Brown. In total there were 30 members in 1983/4. A full album of photographs of the event exists.

 

Life amongst the members of the Osgathorpe membership continues with this comfortable schedule of talks, activities, fund raising, competitions, and kindnesses until 1994, when they celebrated their 50th Anniversay.

 

On this occasion an anniversary dinner was held on 7th December 1994. Interestingly, by this time a vegetarian option had been added to the menu! 36 members, past and present, attended and Mrs May, who had by this time been president for 20 years, remarked: ‘We are a very small village, but while institutes in other villages have closed, we have kept going al these years’. Guests of honour were founder members Florrie Whye and Mary Armett and once again months of fund raising paid for the event.

 

Then in 2004 members celebrated their 60th Anniversary at Donington Le Heath Manor House where they enjoyed a meal and drinks with June May very much still in the picture. Attending this function along with Mrs May were Mary Handley, Anne Wheatley, Pauline Lawley, Marjorie Johnson, Mavis Blake, Joan Illsley, Jenny Bainbridge, Hazel Ball, Jan Brown, Margaret Armett, Marianne Bray, Dorothy Tolton, Yvonne Sansom and Audrey Elson.

 

In 2015 the Women’s Institute organisation held their centenary AGM, attended by her majesty Queen Elizabeth 11, who reflected:

 

‘There has been significant economic and social change since the WI was founded in 1915. Women have been granted the vote, British women have climbed Everest for the first time and the country has elected its first female Prime Minister.

 

The Women’s Institute has been a constant throughout, gathering women together, encouraging them to acquire new skills and nurturing unique talents. In the modern world, the opportunities for women to give something of value to society are greater than ever, because, through their own efforts, they now play a much greater part in public life.

 

Over the past 100 years the WI has continued to grow and evolve with its members to stay relevant and forward thinking. In 2015 it continues to demonstrate that it can make a real difference to the lives of women of all ages and cultural backgrounds, in a spirit of friendship, co-operation and support.

 

Unfortunately for Osgathorpe it became less and less relevant as society and communication opportunities evolved, and shortly after this national 100th anniversary the members of the Osgathorpe WI began to feel disappointed with how much support they received from the national organisation and to question whether it was still relevant to be a part of it. Additionally the image of the WI as an institution seemed to be ever less relevant in the modern world and was perhaps putting off potential new members. Perhaps ‘Jam and Jerusalem’ had seen their best days!

 

Further, the necessity to have a formal committee was getting ever more difficult with few members prepared to serve and those that did ending up interminably stuck with their role! Minutes of meetings were required, but were filed and never referred to again, plus participation in Federation competitions was avoided because creativity was stifled by strict rules. All in all, the administrative requirements of being part of the national WI were becoming too onerous for a small village like Osgathorpe.

 

In 2022 a survey among members revealed that the only vaguely valid reason to remain under the WI umbrella was the sentimental fact that it had been part of village life since way back in 1944. At the same time, repairs were being undertaken at the Harley Hall, the home of Osgathorpe WI for all of those years, and with no alternative venue in the village, meetings were relocated to the Queens Head at Belton. It had been the intention to return once repairs had been completed, but the allure of a warm, clean inviting meeting room with comfortable chairs in place proved too much to give up.

 

So, plans for change went ahead, with the last meeting of the Osgathorpe WI taking place in March 2022. Instead it was replaced by a new group incorporating the former members of the WI, called Phoenix – rising from the ashes of the WI!

 

Phoenix is run as a ‘not for profit’ basis, and the cost of speakers, venue hire and incidental expenses are covered by an annual fee per member of £34 (considerably cheaper than the old WI fee) and the new group is flourishing and attracting many new members.

 

So goodbye WI and hello Phoenix! The WI banner worked well for so many years, but perhaps it just didn’t keep up with the times.