Follifoot WI

28/08/2026

In this month’s Follifoot WI Facebook Member Profile meet Lynn.

Hi, my name is Lynn and I’m originally from the "Black Country" in The West Midlands. On leaving school, I started work at the Valuation Office, part of the Inland Revenue, and remained a ‘Taxman’ up to my retirement in December 2024.
I met my husband at work and in the late 1980’s we moved south to Poole in Dorset where we spent 5 years and where my son was born. We worked in several locations around the country and in 1991 we moved again, this time to Wetherby, and my daughter arrived a year later.
I still live in Wetherby and although my daughter moved to Manchester after finishing Uni, my son stayed in Wetherby and lives close by with his family. This is very convenient for them as I am the proud Nan of his two little boys and am very frequently asked " could you please just babysit…...."and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
I joined Follifoot WI in October 2025 along with my lovely neighbour Sue. I had recently become "old, free and single" again and wanted to find new pastimes and meet new people to enjoy them with.
The best thing about being a WI member is the friendly people I have met, the laughter at the meetings, learning new things from the speakers and I absolutely loved The Beetle Drive!
I've only attended one outing so far, this June’s to the Yorke House & White Rose Cottage gardens, which were so beautiful, and the pub meal afterwards at the Wellington Inn, which was fab! I absolutely love going to the coast, so a future outing to one of our seaside resorts would be great
As far as hobbies go, when I can fit in anything between my babysitting duties hahaha, I enjoy walking, reading, films, music, eating out and seeing friends.
My great passion up until the end of 2023 was archery, I was a member of 2 archery clubs and shot 2 different bow types. Injury following a fall sadly meant I had to give up the sport, but I hold out hopes of taking it up again sometime, so never say never! However, I have recently taken up Racket ball with Wetherby U3A group and it’s fast becoming my new passion!


You fit in a lot, Lynn, and good for you, maybe we should have a WI Archery night and all have a go! Thank you very much for telling us about yourself, it was lovely to meet you.

27/08/2026

If you have a resolution you’d like considering now’s the time.

Only 1 week to go before the resolution deadline! Your submission needs to be sent to your federation by 1 September!

If you have a great idea for a new resolution, now is your chance to make it known. You can find the submission form and essential resources here: https://mywi.thewi.org.uk/public-affairs-and-campaigns/news-and-actions/submit-a-resolution-make-a-change-202627

Get in touch with us if you need more info [email protected]

24/08/2026

From our Green Fingered Correspondent Tina

I have never been a fantastic gardener, but we had a garden make over last year so this year has been an experiment and it’s gone pretty well. Now as the season matures I find myself with lots of envelopes each with hundreds of seeds in them, from Poppies to Mallow, Love in a Mist to Jacob’s Ladder and more. I don’t think I have the dedication to nurture seeds in pots but when the rain comes in September (hopefully)it would be great to do some scattering and see what takes.

Perhaps the plants that have meant the most sentimentally have been the hollyhocks as my mother always grew them (next year I will stake them though) but our sunflowers have also done well and will produce lots of seeds very soon too. Anyway my seeds need homes, even if it’s just a patch or five to scatter and then leave them to their fate. We don’t have anywhere near enough space. Could you use any? Let me know

21/08/2026

Dare we even mention the C word yet?
If you fancy a crafty Christmas this year then this fab looking North Yorkshire West Federation Women's Institute Craft Dabble Day is for you.

20/08/2026

Follifoot WI News – August Meeting

The July meeting of the Follifoot WI was again held at Rudding Park Hotel in the elegant Drawing Room with views across the beautiful park. We’re getting rather spoilt by these lovely surroundings and send huge thanks to Rudding Park for continuing to host us whilst works to Follifoot Village Hall are ongoing.
In these lovely surroundings our speaker for the night was James Love, Ambassador for Henshaws, Charity for the Blind and other Disabled, and father to Cameron who has been a student at Henshaws College and is a regular Artmaker at Henshaws Arts & Craft Centre in Kanresborough, on the site of the old Knaresborough Zoo.
The title for James’ talk was ‘Henshaws: Past & Present’, quite a challenge when there’s so much to say about such a special charity. The story starts in 1731, with the birth of a seventh child on a smallholding in Lancashire. That seventh child being Thomas Henshaw, who ‘s life on the smallholding was hard, his father died when he was only two, and at the age of 20 he had to leave the county and become an apprentice hatmaker.
Eventually he joined his brother in hat making and they started their own business hat making in Oldham, in the street that became, and still is, Henshaws Street. They were remarkable for being hardworking and good employees, offering their 30 staff an education, housing and social care.
More hardship followed when Thomas’ wife Hannah died and, although he remarried, his health began to fail and he became obsessed with his legacy and will. Sadly, in 1810 he was found drowned in the reservoir. Now his mental health issues and su***de are suspected to be due to mercury poisoning as mercury was then widely used in the hat making process.
But Thomas had left the legacy he cared about so much, leaving £20,000 for the Blue Coat schools and £20,000 for the establishment of an Asylum for the Blind, approximately £2 million in todays money, for a place of safety and education for the blind. Despite attempts by his wife to block the Will, Henshaws was founded in 1837, the same year that Queen Victoria was crowned, in Old Trafford Manchester, which makes Henshaws one of the oldest charities in the country.
Pupils at Henshaws were given an education and taught skills and trades with which they could secure employment, and manufacturing workshops and a retail operation were established at the college. By 1966 Henshaws needed to expand in order to accept more students but, when planning was refused on their Jodrell Bank site, the government stepped in and purchased the Bog Lane land in Knaresborough for them to move to.
Henshaws in Knaresborough continued to provide the education and life skills that Thomas had envisaged all of those years before, and in 1998 Lottery funding and local support built the Arts & Craft Centre at Bond End, which provides creative workshops and a support system for many college graduates and others. However Henshaws did not leave Manchester without its own Thomas Henshaw legacy, but still provides services and lifetime support for the visually impaired there.
James explained that he and his family would not have known what to do without Henshaws providing their son a place of safety and support, care, education, fun and friendship. He and Cameron have become great fundraisers for the charity, undertaking a 100 mile tandem bike ride one year and a trip100 times round Blackpool’s Big Wheel another as part of the Henshaws 100’s fundraiser, which James, who hates heights, might not have enjoyed but son Cameron loved every minute!
Everyone is welcome to visit the Arts & Craft Centre, where you can enjoy looking round the workshops in ceramics, jewellery, paint & papier mache, woodwork, music, drama and more, have a coffee or a meal in the lovely café, which is also a workshop, make a purchase from the shop or just walk around the lovely gardens.
If you would like to know more about the college or the Arts & Craft Centre, make a donation to the Secret Garden project for new workshops, or come to the Tiaras & Tea event on October 8th, please visit www.henshaws.org.uk.
Huge thanks to James for all of his Henshaws research, this really is a very reduced version of his talk, and to Follifoot WI member Chris who raised a lovely additional donation for the charity by selling bunches of her beautiful lavender.

15/08/2026

More fun to be had at the Follifoot Cricket Club 180th birthday party tomorrow.

12/08/2026

Can you help Follifoot Cricket Club celebrate their 180th birthday this Sunday by baking a cake for the cricket tea? It’s going to be the cricket tea of the century as the Cricket Club are hoping for a great turn out. If you can help please contact Club Chairman Rob Wilkins on +44 7795 272107
And if you can please come along on Sunday 16th and join the celebrations!
Thank you.

11/08/2026

Calling all Follifoot WI Quizzers

The next quiz will be on Thursday 20th August
at 7.00 pm at the Rudding Holiday Park. Delicious Pizza’s will be available from the Central Park Cafe and have to be ordered in advance.
If you would like to go, eat fab Pizza, and get stuck into a great quiz please let Tina know.

10/08/2026

We’re looking forward to seeing you at this months Follifoot WI meeting which is being held this Wednesday, August 12th, in the Drawing Room at Rudding Park Hotel at 7.30.
James Love, International Lawyer and Ambassador for Henshaws will be talking about ‘Henshaws:Past & Present’ and his and his son’s personal experiences with both the College and Arts & Crafts Centre.
Why not come along from 7.15, have a coffee and a catch up before the meeting starts?

06/08/2026

Last week the amazing Follifoot Coffee & Cake ladies coffee & cake morning raised £255.00 for Follifoot Church! Well done ladies, and thank you and Jeanette & Alan for a wonderful morning at the Harewood Arms, the cakes were delicious!