AROUND 700 Gwent WI members gathered at five different events held yesterday to mark the centenary year.

To mark the occasion, five simultaneous centenary tea parties were held throughout the county at Whiteheads Sports Club, Bassaleg, Green Meadow Golf Club, Cwmbran, Llanarth Village Hall, Caldicot Choir Hall and Llandogo.

Welcoming the 175 members to the Greenmeadow Golf Club event was Vice-chairwoman, Elaine Street, who highlighted that the Women’s Institute first began in the UK, when a group of ladies met in Anglesey on September 16, 1915.

She added: “I wonder if they realised the impact of that event?”

Ms Street said over the 100 years the WI have aimed to “improve lives and society in general”.

She said: “We have led campaigns and given ladies the opportunity to learn new skills and given women a sense of community and purpose.”

The event was extra special for Dora Sales OBE, who was also celebrating her 93rd birthday, and was invited to cut the WI’s centenary cake.

The former Land Army girl told how she joined the WI in 1957, a date which she remembers well as she also began teaching physical education at Monmouth Comprehensive School.

Her mother, Mable Sales, founded Usk WI in 1921 and she followed in her footsteps.

She is still an active member, and added that it’s the friendship that kept her attending all these years.

“The group has a varied programme so it’s fun to go along to and enjoy it with other women,” she added.

Long-standing WI member, Marguerite Shaw, 80, was among the guests.

Last year, the pedalling pensioner cycled 160 miles in five days to raise money for charity.

The Abersychan resident, who is a member of the Talywain WI, donated all of the money raised from cycling from Torfaen to Builth Wells to Cancer Research and Parkinson’s UK.

Fellow members of Talywain WI cheered her on when she set off and helped her to raise £550.

Ms Shaw joined the WI in 1963 to give herself something to do.

She said: “It’s all of the contacts that you make as you meet so many different people.

“I owe a lot to the motivation that comes from membership and the diverse doors opened to us. I have learned a lot, mingled a lot, taken part in and shared a lot.”

The members at the Cwmbran event enjoyed an afternoon tea and were entertained by the Alcan Singers, before a toast to another 100 years of WI.

The youngest WI is Beechwood in Newport, which opened in January this year and already has over 50 members.

The branch aims to be contemporary and lively and has its own page on the social networking site Facebook and is active on Twitter.

Louise Nicholas, 37, is secretary of this newly-formed branch. She attended the centenary celebrations in Basseleg.

Her mum Dilys Rosen, a member of Newport Central WI for the past eight years and also dual member of Beechwood WI was also there.

Ms Nicholas said: “I was very proud and excited to be a part of the centenary celebrations and for the work the WI does in Britain to be recognised.

“It was lovely to represent the youngest WI in the federation while my mum is a member of the oldest branch in Newport.”

She said it was a wonderful event adding: “The dress code was a garden party theme and all the ladies looked fantastic.”

The Gwent Federations has 1,450 members in more than 50 WI’s.

Marian Martin is the Gwent Federation chairwoman.

She said: “People think we are just a group that meets for tea but we are so much more than that.

“The WI offers women the opportunity to discuss public affairs, learn new skills, crafts, sports and much more within a social, safe and relaxed environment with like-minded women.”

The federation began life as the Monmouthshire Federation on February 21, 1921, at a meeting in The Angel Hotel, Abergavenny, when there were 12 Institutes.

She added: “These were mainly in the Abergavenny area, with one in St Mellons, on the outskirts of Newport.

“Over the years there has been over 80 WIs in Gwent open at one time, but several small ones have closed in the more rural areas while new ones have opened in other areas.

“The number of members in each WI varies from about 12 to 80 and each one is run by its own committee who decides on their programme of events so they are all different.”

The first branch to open in Monmouthshire as it was then was Llantilio Crossenny, near Abergavenny, in February 1919, followed by Llantilio Pertholey.

Kath Powell is one of the longest-serving members, having joined Llantilio Crossenny in the late 1960’s.

She said: “I’ve made lifelong friends through the WI. It’s been an important way of getting to know people and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.”

Usk WI member, Judith Meese, who also sits on the board of trustees said it is an exciting time for the federation.

She added: “There is no better time for the Institute than now. Gwent is proud to be a part of the centenary and it’s lovely that the parties are being held at the same time.”

The WI was established during the First World War to educate rural women, and to encourage countrywomen to get involved in growing and preserving food to help to increase the supply of food to the war-torn nation.

Originating in Canada in 1897, it was set up as a branch of the farmers’ institute to bring isolated women together.

Once the war was over in the 1920s the newly-formed WI’s, under chairwoman Lady Denman, began to concentrate on planning activities to suit their members.

The hymn Jerusalem was first sung at the AGM in 1924, starting a tradition that continues to this day.

By the 1930s the movement had become firmly established in the countryside. Members took part in music festivals, country dancing, pageants and plays.

During the Second World War the WI’s felt it was important to maintain their meetings as normally as possible. The organisation contributed to the Home Front, co-operating with caring for evacuees and growing and preserving food.

Once the war was over, the WI concentrated on getting back to normal.

The 90’s saw the WI celebrate its 75th anniversary, with the Queen attending the AGM.

Today, women join to meet new friends, learn new skills and make a difference on matters that are important to them.

Today there are more than 6,000 new WI’s, with over 500 of those formed in the past six years.

Centenary celebrations began last year when a specially-designed baton started its journey around the UK.

The baton launched in Anglesey and has travelled through the 69 federations in England, Wales and the islands to celebrate the links of friendship and community developed through the WI.

It visited Tredegar House, Newport, Monmouth, Raglan, Llandenny, Llangybi, Usk, Caerleon, Blaenavon, Newbridge, Earlswood, Gilwern and Llanfoist before reaching the annual meeting in June at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

In May this year the federation visited an exhibition in Anglesey which had 13 panels created by the 13 federations of Wales. Each panel depicted a different time period showing what the WI was involved in at the time. The Gwent branches created panel eleven depicting the period between 2000-2009.

In June 70 members went to the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in the presence of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and a few days later members were at the Royal Albert Hall in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen at our annual meeting.

The Gwent Federation intend on ending the year with a special carol service at St Woolos Cathedral, Newport.