Welcome to Harwell WI.
Our monthly face to face meetings resumed again in April 2022 now that we can meet in Cherry Hall. Let’s hope we can keep meeting in Cherry Hall from now on.
Members receive the Harwell WI Snapshot with news and other items. We have had Zoom meetings since August 2020 at those times when we have not been able to meet in Cherry Hall due to restrictions or high COVID case numbers.
We meet on the second Wednesday of every month (except August) at 7.30 pm in the Cherry Hall at Harwell Village Hall, High Street, Harwell OX11 0EX. You can be sure of a warm welcome.
Join us
There has been a thriving WI in Harwell since 1921 and it is as relevant today as it was when it was launched. The Centenary of Harwell WI was celebrated in 2021. We have planted 100 nerine bulbs in the Village Hall garden and 100 fritillary bulbs at Harwell Rec to mark the occasion. Our WI started on 21 May 1921. We currently have 52 members of all ages and backgrounds.
Membership was due on 1st April 2022 and costs £44..
For that you get:
- Membership of Harwell WI with a year’s programme of events bursting with ideas
- Belonging to the largest women’s voluntary organisation in the UK
- The opportunity to learn, develop and pass on new skills as well as making friends and having fun
- Supporting the local community
- Eight issues a year of the WI membership magazine WI Life
- Ten issues of Oxfordshire Inspires, the WI magazine for Oxfordshire including Zoom events
- Having your voice heard: making a real impact on local, national and international issues
- Each year resolutions on national issues are discussed and voted on in every WI in the country. The resolutions are usually presented to the Government, so the WI is a force to be taken seriously
- Social groups within Harwell WI including weekly Knit and Natter in The Harwellian and WI members meet at the Community Coffee Morning on Tuesdays at 10:30am at the Hart of Harwell.
- Denman at Home See current listing for Denman lectures including history, yoga, cookery and sewing classes.
- Oxfordshire WI Events See current listing of What’s On from Oxfordshire WI.
Harwell WI Centenary 1921-2021
We managed to mark the centenary event as best we could. Although the Centenary bunting outside Cherry Hall was temporary we do all have our wonderful mugs handcrafted by Terry Doughty, a potter, who lives in the village. Many thanks again to Terry for making these wonderful mementos which we can all treasure.
We used the mugs at the Centenary Coffee Morning on Zoom and many WI members met face to face for the first time since last summer at our Centenary Garden Party on 7 July in a member’s garden.
The WI is here to inspire you. The WI is all about inspiring women. It’s a rich source of experiences, knowledge and skills passed down through generations and updated every day. We play a unique role in village life.
The WI is everything you want it to be. Women of all ages are offered opportunities. For some women it’s to make new friends in the village, for others it’s to catch up with existing friends, to learn, to widen their horizons and take part in issues which matter to us and the community.
The WI is what you make of it. We offer women the chance to join and be involved in the way that suits them. It’s all there for members to take part in as little or as much as they like.
Our main focus is on monthly meetings, but you will see us involved in many varied village events including a WI float at the Harwell Feast each year. WI cakes from those members who bake are requested for village events.
Harwell WI at Harwell Feast 2019, “Strictly Come Dancing”.
