Women's Institute celebrates a decade

To celebrate, the Women’s Institute gathered for a birthday party commemorating the milestone, with every single member in attendance.

Club secretary Mary Duffy said: ‘Our 10th anniversary meeting opened on Wednesday, February 8 with Sylvia Hannant, ex-club president, talking of how initially a group of 22 people had met in the church hall in January 2007 with two ladies from the WI to discuss starting up another WI in Lee-on-the-Solent.

‘The story of the Women’s Institute began in February 2007 where the foundations of Morning Tide WI and the first committee were formed. The first meeting was held on 14th February 2007 where 22 people signed up to be members.’

The name Morning Tide was chosen by one of the members who is still a member to this day. Nancy Stevenson, the current president, congratulated all the founder members on their endeavours which over the 10 years has developed the Women’s Institute into the organisation it is today.

Mary Duffy added: ‘Special guest Maureen Levenson, Chairman of the Hampshire County Federation of Women’s Institutes, said a few words and cut the anniversary cake to the strains of the Morning Tide choir singing their own version of Happy Birthday.

‘The guest speaker for the meeting was Trish Lewis, who entranced members with some lesser known stories of the life of Joyce Grenfell and finished with her interpretation of some of Joyce’s skits.’

Joyce Grenfell was one of the country’s best-loved entertainers of her day, immortalised by her roles as Miss Gossage in The Happiest Days of Your Life.

The meeting closed with the group performing a hearty rendition of Jerusalem before happy members departed.

If you are interested in joining the Morning Tide Women’s Institute, you can email [email protected]