If anyone fancies joining a virtual WI, the CyberCats of Cornwall will hold their inaugural meeting tomorrow night (Tuesday 25 April) at 7pm on Zoom.
Guest speaker Helen Baggott will be giving us a bit of social history through storytelling via old postcards. There is no charge for this event, but we do hope you’ll want to stick around and become CyberCat members in the next month or so!
If you’re interested and would like the Zoom link, just email cybercatswi@gmail.com.
You might be asking yourself exactly what a virtual WI is. It’s just the same as a face-to-face WI, except that all meetings, sub-groups, gatherings, etc. take place online – mostly via Zoom. Members pay the same subscription as any other WI member, and enjoy all the same rights and perks as ‘ordinary’ members. You’ll get WI Life, have access to MyWI, have voting rights and be able to book any Cornwall Federation events you may be interested in.
Although we are based in Cornwall and are part of the Cornwall Federation, members can join from anywhere in the country or, for that matter, anywhere in the world. That’s the beauty of being virtual! The other advantage is that we can book speakers from anywhere in the world!
We have tentative plans for subgroups as well as our monthly meetings. Those include a weekly drop-in coffee morning, a monthly book discussion, and perhaps a photography club or public affairs discussion group or film club or craft-along sessions or …. well, the sky’s the limit! We can work on whatever our members want, and it will all be online.
Is a virtual WI for you?
We think this new form of WI will appeal to lots of women. You may to choose to join us if you are:
- Housebound for any reason
- A carer who finds it difficult to get out to an in-person WI meeting
- A mother without available childcare
- Someone who would prefer not to drive at night
- Someone who works during the day and is too exhausted to go out to a WI meeting in the evening
- Someone who finds it uncomfortable to be among large groups of people for any reason
- Someone who would prefer the convenience of participating in the WI from the comfort of your own home (pyjamas and pets welcome!)
- A former UK resident who now lives overseas but would like to be part of the WI
- Cornish, but living elsewhere in the UK and longing for a reconnection with your home county
- Interested in finding out about a new form of the WI experience
- Someone who just wants to supplement her existing WI experience (dual members are welcome!)
The WI is constantly thinking of ways to be more inclusive and to move with the times. Virtual WIs are a part of that, and we’re really excited to be able to offer this option to members and prospective members. Nowadays, people form friendships and relationships in the virtual world much as they do in person, and we hope to be able to create some personal bonds among CyberCats members in keeping with the WI ethos of friendship and inclusion. We’re very proud to be joining about a dozen other virtual WIs already set up around the UK.
Do join us at our April meeting if you think a virtual WI might be for you. And please help us out by sharing this information with any friends or family members you know of who would be well suited for a virtual WI.