Speen WI

Welcome to Speen WI

Speen WI meets on the first Thursday of every month in Speen Village Hall at 7.30pm.

The WI is the largest women’s organisation in England and Wales with over 200,000 members. Each WI is unique and aims to offer a variety of events for its members.

At our monthly meetings we usually have a speaker but there is always time for a social chat as well as hearing an update on all current WI activities.

We aim to appeal to all ages with our topics. A full programme of events is available – refer to the village diary page on this website for details of forthcoming speakers.

In addition to our monthly meeting, Speen WI is also involved with local group and national WI activities. We also arrange social outings including open gardens, theatre visits and pub lunches.

Visitors will be made very welcome at any of our meetings- come and try us, there is no obligation to join but if you decide to the annual fee is just £45.00.

Warm regards

Pat Anderson – President of Speen WI

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Future Plans

Details of the 2024-2025 programme are in the Village Diary.

The June meeting is on Thursday 6th June and the topic for our speaker is the wildlife of Naphill Common and Other Commons.

In May members are having a coffee morning at the Potting Shed Cafe at Studley Green Garden Centre. Last year members enjoyed several open garden visits (see photos below). This year the committee have organised further garden visits in June to both Tythrop Park, Kingsey and Lord Carrington’s garden in Bledlow. In July members are taking part in an archery evening at Walters Ash and will once again man the tea tent at Speen fete where the theme is the Paris Olympics. Following the success of the recent visit to the Chenies Manor Tulip Festival a trip to their dahlia festival is planned for August. Planning is also afoot for our summer garden party which will take place in one of our member’s gardens.

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Recent Events

At our April meeting we heard a fascinating talk about Wallis Simpson. This proved very topical following the recent release of cabinet papers of the time which had put the story back in the news. The speaker shared some shocking facts of which many members were unaware. The ongoing fascination with Wallace Simpson attracted several visitors to the meeting. May saw the welcome return of Stephen Barker, a local historian who entertained us with some surprising statistics on the English Civil Wars and introduced us to some brave female heroines of the time two of whom were local.

In addition to our recent monthly meetings five members attended the BFWI Annual Council Meeting in Aylesbury. Despite inclement weather, members also enjoyed the Chenies Tulip Festival at Chenies Manor which included an interesting tour of the house.

January Meeting

Our Christmas Party was held at the January meeting. Members were treated to a delicious 4 course dinner with fizz prepared by the committee. As you can see, the village hall looked very festive for the occasion.

December Meeting

Marie Louise Morley a trustee of the Ukraine to Chiltern charity gave members an update on the latest situation for those in our community fleeing the on-going war in Ukraine. Many families have settled, found jobs and accommodation but ‘Hosts’ and ‘Mentors’ are still needed.
Our president Pat Anderson presented Marie Louise with a cheque for £300 which was the proceeds from our monthly raffles.

Garden Party

Our annual garden party was held on 10th August in our member, Margaret Chitty’s beautiful house, garden and orchard. As you can see from the pictures we were very fortunate with the weather.

Open Garden Visits

We have enjoyed several garden visits this summer to The Plough at Terrick, Tythrop Hall and Cedar House in Wendover.

The Plough

Tythrop Hall

Cedar House

Speen Fete

WI manned the tea tent again at Speen fete this year and served the villagers with delicious homemade cakes. The theme for this year’s fete was circus and and as you can see the team joined in with the fun.