Scottish Women's Institutes facts for kids
Scottish Women's Institutes (SWI) is a group in Scotland for women. It's run by its members and is sometimes called "the Rural". This name comes from its first name, Scottish Women's Rural Institutes.
The SWI started in June 1917. A woman named Catherine Blair, who supported women's rights, created it. She wanted women in the countryside to meet new people. She also wanted them to learn new skills like crafting. This helped them earn money from things they made.
Today, learning and friendship are still very important to the SWI. The main group helps members volunteer at big events. They can also join national sports and craft contests. The SWI offers online learning sessions and talks too. You can find these on their YouTube channel, ScottishWomen'sInstitutesTV.
The SWI is now a registered charity. It helps keep Scotland's traditions alive. This includes rural skills like crafts, cooking, and baking. Each local group, called an Institute, has its own activities. These can be very different, from belly dancing to trying new foods or even riding a segway!
How the SWI is Organized
The main SWI group has smaller groups called Federations. These Federations are in most areas of Scotland. Each Federation then has local Institutes. These Institutes are meeting places for women. They meet regularly all over the country.
There are about 10,000 members in the SWI. This makes it one of Scotland's biggest groups for members. The members get to decide how the group is run. A board of women trustees makes the final decisions.
The History of the SWI
The Scottish Women's Rural Institutes started on June 26, 1917. It was part of a bigger movement of rural women's groups. These groups began in Stoney Creek, Ontario, in 1897. The very first meeting in Scotland happened in Longniddry. This town is in East Lothian.
Catherine Hogg Blair saw that Scotland needed its own women's institute. She set up the meeting in Longniddry. She chose this place to avoid a measles outbreak in her own village. Thirty-seven women joined at that first meeting. A campaigner named Nannie Brown helped organize the area. The SWRI gave rural women a chance to connect. They could also share their skills with each other.
SWI Magazine
The group's magazine was first published in 1924. It was called Scottish Home and Country. In 2018, the magazine changed its name. It is now called Women Together. You can find it online at issuu.com.
Name Change
The group's name officially changed in 2015. It went from Scottish Women's Rural Institutes to Scottish Women's Institutes.
See also
- Socialist Women's Network
