General News

Celebrating 126 Years of women caring for home, family, and community at Tec We Gwill

March 3, 2023   ·   0 Comments

It was February 1897 when Adelaide Hoodless addressed the wives of the members of the Farmer’s Institute in Stoney Creek suggesting that a similar organization would be good for women. A week later on February 19, 1897, the first WI meeting was held with 101 ladies and 1 man, Erland Lee, present. WI branches quickly spread through Ontario and Canada.

Women’s Institutes identify February 19 as Women’s Institute Day, aligning with their history and Ontario Family Day weekend.

By 1905, there were 130 branches in Ontario alone. Branches organized together into the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) in 1919 to create a stronger voice, working together as a united group. Today, there are about 220 branches across Ontario and about 2,600 members that use education and support programs and services to change their communities. FWIO’s original focus has expanded to include personal growth opportunities, government lobbying, and health and community wellness projects.

Women’s Institutes have spread worldwide since that first Stoney Creek meeting. In the British Isles, the Women’s Institute is the largest women’s volunteer organization, creating the first branch in Wales in 1915. Even Queen Elizabeth II is the President of her local WI branch!

The Tec We Gwill Women’s Institute (TWG WI) branch supports local food banks, shelters, community gardens, and special community projects within Bradford West Gwillimbury and New Tecumseth. Members are passionate about supporting family, women, and the community through fundraising activities like plays, concerts, community lunches and dinners, and inexpensive education workshops on life skills. When something in the community needs to be rectified, members are willing to lobby for change.

Many health and wellness and environmental regulations and liberties we enjoy today because the WI lobbied including pasteurization of milk, painted lines on roads, bagged bread, birth certificates for all babies, health and safety inspections of food premises, using funds from alcohol taxes for rehabilitation programs for those with substance abuse, breathalyzer tests to name just a few.

If you are a woman 18 or older and want to be involved in supporting your community, try out a Women’s Institute meeting. For information on Tec We Gwill WI, contact us at https://www.facebook.com/tecwegwill/.

Readers Comments (0)