Local WIs 'inspired' at well attended gathering at London's Royal Albert Hall
Jerusalem was sung by members of the Women's Institute at the Royal Albert Hall last week - like it has been every year since Blake's poem was set to music by Hubert Parry 100 years ago.
The occasion was the National Federation of Women's Institutes Annual Meeting and over 50 WI members represented the Staffordshire Federation of Women's Institutes in a capacity-filled Royal Albert Hall. Members from across England, Wales and the Islands came together to hear inspirational speakers on one of their recent campaigns; No More Violence Against Women and Young Girls.
Nazir Afzal OBE, Chief Crown Prosecutor in the Rochdale grooming gang case, spoke about how his childhood experiences of racial abuse spurred him on to become a lawyer in order to fight injustice and to enable victims to be heard.
Former Spice Girl Mel Brown was interviewed on stage by BBC journalist Victoria Derbyshire on her experience of domestic abuse during her 10 year marriage, the impact it had on her self-esteem and her courage to leave the relationship.
The final speaker was Timothy Weston who played a controlling husband in the long-running radio drama The Archers. He had guidance from Women's Aid to get him into character - an organisation that has been helping abused women for 50 years. The story-line shocked Timothy and he urged parents to talk to their teenage boys about the need to respect women.
The Women's Institute has a proud history of campaigning for positive change and this year members voted overwhelmingly - over 95 per cent of the membership - to support a resolution on Dental Health. Eddie Crouch of the Dental Association addressed the capacity audience and said that 1.2million people in the UK cannot get dental care and poor dental hygiene leads to other health issues.
The Women's Institute is the country's largest organisation for women with over 24,000 new members joining this year. It is open to all women, is non-judgemental, non-political and offers friendship, fellowship, fun and education as well as the opportunity to influence matters that matter to women.
For information on the Women's Institute, go to nfwi.org and for information on the Staffordshire Federation of Women's Institutes go to sfwi.org where there is a link to their Facebook page.
By Karen Sulway - Contributor
