What a weekend the jubilee celebration was! It was a wonderful occasion which will never occur again in our lifetimes. After the difficulties of the last two years, we all came together, sharing memories as well as food and bunting making, with a common theme – to celebrate the extraordinary reign of our Queen.

During its 107-year history, WIs have always been very involved in their communities and the jubilee celebrations were no exception. Barely had we drawn breath after that glorious weekend than we were off to Liverpool. This wasn’t a nostalgic Beatles-fest (although there were several fans among us heading for The Cavern), but the location of the 2022 National WI Annual Meeting.

This year’s meeting was very different from last year, which was held remotely. The WI attracts excellent speakers to our annual meetings and the keynote speaker in Liverpool was Sarah Clarke, Lady Usher of the Black Rod and the first female to have held that appointment.

She was possibly one of the most inspiring speakers we have had the privilege to hear. Last year, for instance, we were delighted that Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Dame Cressida Dick and Baroness Hale informed and entertained us. Previous speakers have included Lucy Worsley, Suzy Dent and Huw Edwards.

Of course, in 2015 we were extremely honoured to welcome perhaps our most well-known (Norfolk) member, Her Majesty the Queen, to the meeting. There are not that many organisations you can belong to where you hear speakers of that quality.

Being informed and entertained by speakers is not the only reason the meeting takes place. Central to our objectives are the Resolutions on which we campaign. Any member can submit a resolution; from an initial long list of all submissions, a short list is presented to WIs. These are then discussed and voted on in individual WI meetings and the Resolutions that are finally put forward are voted on at the annual meeting.

With around 220,000 members nationally, each of whom has the right to vote, it would be impossible for everyone to attend and cast their vote! To get around this, WIs are linked together and one member volunteers to be the delegate, attend the meeting, take notes, cast the votes for the WIs they represent and report back to them.

The 2022 Resolution – a campaign to raise awareness of ASD and ADHD, which is under-identified and under-diagnosed in women and girls – was passed with a 96.5% majority.

Other business is also conducted, such as ratifying individual federations becoming Charitable Incorporated Organisations (or CIOs). Norfolk members voted for our federation to become a CIO at our annual meeting at the Theatre Royal this year. We were excited and delighted that our proposal was ratified, thus future-proofing the Norfolk Federation for generations to come.

For the first time in our history, not all the delegates will be physically at the meeting, as there was the option to attend virtually. This is a boon for those who are unable to travel for whatever reason, such as caring duties, disability or work. It is also for these reasons that we have set up a virtual WI in Norfolk – called, unsurprisingly, Virtually Norfolk WI.

Members are encouraged to experience at least one national meeting. It gives one a sense of what it means to belong to such a large and influential organisation, and this year several members who have only recently joined the WI were amongst Norfolk’s contingent. No one is ever prepared for how moving the sound of over 3,000 voices singing Jerusalem can be. It gave our newest members goosebumps!

There is a serious side, but we do try to have fun, too. This year we enjoyed retail therapy on the way up, mindfulness therapy at RHS Bridgewater on the way home, a dinner and drinks reception on the first night, and we all agreed – what happened in Liverpool, stayed in Liverpool!

Contact us at admin@norfolkwi.org.uk