Barton Bees WI
About Us
The first Women's Institute was founded in 1897 at Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada with the aim of bringing women from isolated communities together and offered training in home economics, child care and farming. The first group in Britain was started at Llanfair PG, on Anglesey, North Wales in 1915 and to date there are now nearly 7,000 groups throughout the UK with over 220,000 members.
Barton Bees started life in July 2017 and were inundated at their inaugural meeting with 100 women joining on the night. The WI is synonymous with good food and crafts and members are offered a wide range of opportunities, to develop their existing skills and learn new ones. From competitions, talks, theatre trips and meals out to book clubs, walking and dancing ; the WI has something for everybody! Have a look at our past events page to see what we've been up to.
Brockenhurst Group
Barton Bees belongs to the Brockenhurst group which consists of 4 Institutes: Brockenhurst, Sway, New Milton Sands and Barton Bees. Every 2 years they hold an exhibition which consists of various individual and co-operative classes.
The WI has always been at the forefront of campaigns both locally and nationally. Here are just a few of the projects that we have supported. Click on them to find out more.
Oakhaven Hospice
Honeypot Childrens Charity
Red Box
World Kindness Day
Mental Health Matters
Your WI is what you make it.
The WI membership runs from 1st April to 31st March each year.
Our monthly meetings are held on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 7.00 pm.
The benefits of being a WI member include your monthly Barton Bees WI meeting, access to all our clubs, activities and events, WI Life magazine and lots of additional opportunities and events through the Hampshire and National WI Federation.
See our Monthly Meeting Programme for 2024 on the Homepage