We meet on the third Thursday of the month at Thame Town Hall
About Thame Belles
We are a new WI in Thame, Oxfordshire. We meet on the third Thursday of the month at Thame Town Hall at 8pm. We have a modern view of the WI and our members range in age from 18 upwards. If you'd like to hear more from us, please use the form below to sign up for our monthly newsletter HERE.
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We are GDPR compliant but please click here to read our Privacy Policy. We never share your information outside the Women's Institute* without your explicit consent and only for products, events or services in keeping with our ethos and interests.
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*Member information is entered into a membership database in order for you to receive WI Life magazine.
Benefits of Becoming A Belle
There are loads of great reasons to join us:
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Supportive and friendly group of over 50 local women of all ages.
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Varied and exciting monthly meeting programme.
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A range of clubs including our Coffee Belles and our book club
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WI Life Magazine delivered to your door each month.
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Thame Belles monthly email newsletter that includes speaker interviews, news and dates for your diary.
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Support to run your own club or event.
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Opportunities to get involved with local events and good causes.
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National WI community of over 200,00 women.
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Involvement with national campaigns & resolutions to fight for social and environmental change for us all
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WI member discounts on events, trips, courses and more.
What happens at a Thame Belles meeting?
You are welcome to attend up to two meetings as a guest. Guests are asked to pay £5 at each meeting which is deductable from the full cost of your membership should you choose to join on the evening.
When you arrive all members need to sign in and new members can sign up at the membership table. Val, our treasurer can advise you of the current pro-rata joining fee that is payable depending on when you join in the year.
There are around 50 members of our WI and we are a friendly diverse bunch with a wide range of ages and interests. We currently have nine committee members who make themselves know at most meetings so feel free to chat to them if you have any questions.
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Doors open at 8pm for an 8:15pm start. We begin with any official business, announcements and news from Peta, our president, and the rest of the committee. We try to keep this as brief as possible but it is important to keep members informed and some information is better delivered in person rather than online.
Once the official bit is over we introduce our speaker or activity. We usually break about halfway through the meeting for tea or coffee (or you are welcome to bring a bottle of something if you'd rather). If we've had a bake off we ask our guest speaker to be our judge while we all natter and get to know one another. Meetings end around 10pm once we've tied up and put chairs away.
Outside of our meetings there are many clubs and events that you can take part in and the National WI often has special members only offers on trips or theatre visits.
About the WI
By becoming a WI member you are joining over 212,000 other WI members in the UK where ‘Thame Belles’ are 1 in almost 7,000 different WI groups. Become a part of history by signing up and breathing a new lease of life into the WI for the 21st century whilst also having fun and making new friends within our community.
The Women’s Institute plays a unique role in enabling women to develop new skills and gives them opportunities to campaign on issues that matter to them. The WI was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. Since then our aims have broadened and we are now the largest women’s organisation in the UK.