WI

This is a cracking story about how a national movement with rural origins is going viral in town and country – shows that “fuddy-duddy” perceptions of some of our most cherished institutions miss their on-going potency. This story tells us:

A group of friends had posted a message about the formation of the new group on Facebook and hoped a few dozen women would turn up to the 1950s-themed launch event.

But they were shocked when hundreds arrived at the church hall in Bromley Heath, with one committee member so overwhelmed she considered calling the police to help manage the crowd.

After several hours the committee had to close registration to 220 new members and are now trying to find other women to start another group in the area to cope with the demand.

Sam Burch, 41, a mother of two and president of the new Bromley Heath WI group, said: “I was amazed by the numbers. I was slightly worried it might happen and we might need to call the police or something.

“When people said there was queuing outside we ran to the door and let the first lot of women in and then you couldn’t move – and they were still queuing outside.