Londoners Magazine

Before stumbling across Islington’s branch of the women’s institute, Lydia Mossahebi had no idea where to go to learn how to put up shelves and successfully paint multicoloured walls. And now she’s uncovered a place where female Londoners can get empowered, and get tiddly.

(Illustration by Jasmine Foster)

The WI isn’t something my generation has had much contact with. From the dried flower arrangements in the window of my local WI, I thought it nothing more than a group of retired ladies spending afternoons darning and drinking tea.

But the WI is having a revival. It’s been dusted off and remodeled, and, with a glass of wine, it’s attracting a new generation of women. The N1WI in Islington has been running since 2006, with burlesque dancing, car maintenance and ultimate frisbee added to the timetable, alongside traditional WI activities like tea drinking and etiquette or cookery classes. Tonight it’s a DIY workshop.

Preconceptions

After running in from the rain, the venue was exactly what I expected. The village hall was filled with plastic chairs, light fittings from the 1980s and salmon pink velvet curtains. I was surprised to see so many women under 40 though. And on a rainy Tuesday night, around 40 of the 100 members have shown up.

It’s not just groups of young women and their friends though. Ages range hugely and everyone from members who have come alone to mothers and daughters but happily chat away.

I talk to the woman next to me, a GP trying N1WI for the first time. She explains how she wanted to give it a try because she was tired of the competitive attitude of the other groups round Islington. Rather than being a tight knit exclusive group, this WI is warm and welcoming.

DIY masterclass

The team giving the DIY talks are running late, but we’re told not to worry because the wine has arrived. Any preconceptions of WI women drinking the occasional sherry and swapping stew recipes are forgotten as bottles of Tesco’s wine are opened.

Women’s Touch is the group giving the workshop, and they’re not as intimidating or butch as I feared. We are split into two groups and with plastic glasses in hand are given a quick masterclass in DIY.

First, we’re shown how to hang bathroom cabinets, something I’ve never tried. The class wasn’t patronising at all and like I feared, the woman explained how hanging pictures isn’t simple and depends on the kind of wall you have.

The second talk is about painting walls, filling gaps and putting up skirting board. We are shown a complex trick to get perfect edges when painting different walls, different colours. I’m impressed, and now tempted to paint each wall in my house a different colour, just because I know how.

The N1WI is not completely removed from its roots. It still retains the original principle of the WI: a feminist focus on empowering women with knowledge of new skills. But the skills have moved away from cooking and mending, to striptease and photography.

But the characterising feature of this generation’s WI is the focus on socialising and fun, which makes it so relaxed and enjoyable. Plus, I left knowing the difference between a solid and hollow wall anchor, feeling pleased I’d spent my Tuesday evening productively for a change.

Women’s Institute info (WINFO):

• Canadian Adelaide Hoodless founded the WI after losing her son in infancy, believed to be caused by contaminated milk. Adelaide campaigned for better domestic education for women, which led to the first WI in the UK forming in 1915. There are 205,000 members in the UK. To find out more about your local WI visit www.womens-institute.org.uk

• The N1WI has been running since 2006. It was set up by students Katie Best and Ali Budjoanovcanin, who loved the idea of a WI so started their own.

• Meetings are monthly and you can try before you buy and attend your first one for free. You can then visit up to three times for £5, before joining the waiting list for membership. Membership is £26 per year for 11 monthly meetings and the monthly magazine WI Life.

• For more information visit: www.n1wi.typepad.com