Sheffield WI shuts down rather than accept they must be women only from April.

[Another2Cats]

This story is just as the title. The Seven Hills WI of Sheffield have announced yesterday that their officers (President, Secretary, Treasurer and one other) will be leaving the WI in April and that, since nobody has come forward to take up those roles, then that branch of the WI will be shut down.

So, why are all the officers leaving at the same time?

They spelt it out on a page of their WI website (I've left out some irrelevant bits):

https://www.shwi.co.uk/post/2026-membership

National Policy Changes
Following the UK Supreme Court ruling in 2025 ... The National Federation of Women's Institutes has announced that it must update its membership policy to comply with the law.

This means that from April 2026, the WI will restrict formal membership to those registered female at birth.

Changes to Seven Hills WI Leadership
In light of these policy changes, our current officers have made the difficult decision not to renew their membership.

As it currently stands, no committee members or general members have come forward to fill the officer roles that will become vacant in April 2026. Without officers in place to lead the group, Seven Hills WI will be suspended and will not be able to continue operating as a WI.

What This Means
Unless members step forward to take on committee roles (including President, Secretary, and Treasurer at minimum), our group will cease to operate from April 2026. We understand this is disappointing news for many who have valued being part of our community.
.

It really does seem so sad that women would rather close down a branch of the WI rather than accept that is should be single sex.

I understand that there are other WI branches in Sheffield that will remain open

The irrelevant bits I left out with regard to them closing were as follows:

, (...ruled that "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 refers exclusively to biological sex. The ruling states that trans women, even those holding a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), are not considered women under the Act’s definition, legally defining "woman" as a "biological woman").

I also note that when the writer Jean Hatchet offered to join and help keep the branch running the reply she received from the Secretary was not entirely welcoming:

Firstly, I just want to clairfy a few things.
It's not just the entire committee that wants to stand down. It's that a vast number of our current members are also wanting to leave. We will be doing a special meeting soon before the end of the membership year to vote on suspension of the group. Currently no existing members are willing to replace the four officer roles that are required for a group to continue.

In theory, you could join, but would need to be willing to be an officer and find at least two other people also willing to take on that role IF the group is to continue.

With such a dwindling membership, you would have a lot of work on your hands to work with a smaller budget than the group is currently used to. I expect the recent price hike in our current location's hall fees and the pressure of creating a year's worth of meetings that are interesting enough to pull in a bunch of new members will make continuing the group a challenge.

There are plenty of other WIs in Sheffield that will continue in our absence and would love to welcome new members. You can find one local to you here ...

https://x.com/JeanHatchet/status/2020117694163382538?s=20

Apparently, anyone can apply to set up a new branch, but as with most charitable organisations, you need volunteers. At least three to run the Committee for a WI.
There must be lots of other branches for women join. I live in a tiny town in Cornwall, but there are 2 branches within walking distance and several others a short drive away.

Sorry but I'm struggling to see what's wrong with that email / letter.

They're right that you need more than one officer to keep a WI branch going.

If the bulk of their membership wishes to leave and form a more "inclusive" group, then good luck to them. As a PP said on the last page, there's room for all kinds of groups. The WI must remain single sex - and long may it continue that way - but there's absolutely nothing wrong with having mixed sex groups and if that's what this particular bunch of people want then fair enough.

If the bulk of the membership does leave, then that is going to present obvious budgetary issues.

It's my ball and you can't play with it

I know what you are saying. However, there is a perception barrier to having to reopen a just closed group.

It is an indication of the way perhaps the executive group may have influenced the group. Perhaps some of those who would have stepped in the past have left due to this issue. And some people who might have taken up the roles might not put themselves forward while the group is in those roles as they might feel that they might be subject to poor treatment.

It could be seen as a power political move and sadly there will be women who will lose out from this political move.

Who gets the bank balance? I don’t have time right now to go searching through the rules but I would have thought that if there are members who want to keep going and can provide officers and a committee they should be able to keep going - or at least be able to bring the branch out of suspension and get access to whatever funds the branch had at suspension.

I’m fairly sure that they can’t take the funds with them. Though we are heading towards the end of the financial year for WIs so reserves may be at their lowest before membership fees have come in. Depends on what fundraising they do - my group gets most of its non memberships funds in the run up to Christmas via selling at Christmas markets.

We could play the maybe and perhaps game all week though.

The long and short of it is that the current officers no longer wish to volunteer. That is their right, even if we disagree with their reasons why.

If others want to keep this WI branch going or to create a new one in its place then it's their responsibility to step up.

No-one is doing anything "wrong" here.

Having read that Jean Hatchet piece the issue is very obvious. Any women trying to step in to run it would likely be targeted as transphobes - they'd need a lot of courage - especially if criticisms leak into their community.

Yet again, destroying organisations set up for women in the name of including men. It never changes does it?

Judging by the photo posted, it's pretty easy to spot the man....

If a women's group is really only committed to men and doesn't want to have said group without men, then yes, it doesn't need to be the WI.

I was actually a member of this group a few years ago. It is a huge WI, with lots of sub groups. It was a non traditional WI with a large "alternative" cohort. I left because it was so big you rarely saw the same people twice and sadly the ones you did were some what cliquey. It wasn't for me and that's fine, but a real shame that it's closing as many people did loved it.

Of the many hills to die on, this is not one I would have chosen, particularly if the committee are actively preventing other people from taking on their roles. That's not fair for those people who just want a friendship group and to try different activities once a month. As has been stated they have every right to do that, but if they are doing it with the intention of closing the WI in protest, that doesn't feel right!

Having ploughed my way through the comments on their FB page, it turns out this isn't a decades-old WI branch as most are, but was only founded as an urban branch 17 years ago, when the WI already had trans-identified male members. Its header photo shows lots of younger women and it obviously prides itself on being 'progressive' and 'inclusive'.

Sounds like splitting the group might actually be for the best.

They do seem to be trying to put people off standing up to try and keep it going which is not fair.

I don't know, because I'm not there. But I'd imagine if you were a member of that group, standing up to say "I think it should continue and I'd be prepared to make that happen" would be a brave move, as you'd be going against the current committee who are determined to close it down to make a point. I also wonder how many women may have already left the group as a mixed sex WI wasn't for them, or who had been put off joining for the same reason. I do know that if the woman's group I'm a member of started accepting men I'd probably just leave quietly rather than make a fuss.

Would you stand up and say something if it was to be spread around your community that you are a hateful bigot?

If women didn't "stand up and say something" we wouldn't be where we are now with e.g. the SC ruling and the recent legal wins.

I'm northern so I don't get the WI. I feel like it's a 1930s-1950s throwback. Could someone explain what it's supposed to "do" in 2026? I don't love all female networks, and I hate all male ones. I do however have lots of groups of female friends and less groups of male friends.

That is true but it is also true that not all women can risk being 'outed' as gender critical or even risk the risk. If you stand to lose your job or close friends then I have absolutely no issue with those individuals keeping their head down. Saying they need to "stand up and say something" is like the time I was asked by the police to testify against criminals who lived opposite me - to the police it was obviously the right thing to do, the criminals wouldn't be prosecuted without my input. To me - a woman living alone - testifying against those who'd know exactly who I was, was an unacceptable risk. The police put quite a bit of pressure on me and their tone-deafness really irritated me. It's not a dissimilar situation.

What's "northern" got to do with it? 😄

Im northern and I do get the WI. It's an organisation for women to get together, do activities, listen to speakers, make friends.

Not all WIs are the same, some are modern, some are more traditional.

You sound rather sneering about women wanting to gather together.

I'm not sure "leading a WI branch" can be compared to "testifying against dangerous criminals", but yes it's true some may be put off by the risk of being branded transphobic bigots, although I haven't actually seen anything to suggest that would happen in this particular case.

That doesn't change the fact that the current officers are still doing nothing wrong by standing down and, if someone wants to keep the current branch going, they're either going to have to volunteer. Or set up a new branch.

Wow, so my earlier post in response to "Why do TIMs want access to women's spaces" got deleted. Was it the reference to power, fetishes, abuse opportunities or validation needs that caused that, I wonder?

I'm northern too and the WI was well-established and well-attended in my Lancashire village when I was growing up. Then as now, it was a place for women to meet and make friends and try to do things to benefit their community. If that'a a throwback modern Britain needs more of them.

Read the history of the WI and some of the things they have campaigned for over the years, it is not a 'throwback' organisation by any means.

(None of my family are members, grandmother who died 30 or so years ago was the last, and in spite of the local landowner's wife being a bit snooty, for my grandmother it was an important part of her life in retirement).

A very big, scary monster.