Our Future World

INTRODUCTION To Our Future World sub-committee

Promoting Hope, Pride, Respect and Inspiration

How do we see the future? What will the environment be like? How can the WI help to keep as healthy and ecologically sound as possible? The future must not be just about money and wealth; there must be a shift in conscience.

This Committee has been formed to educate and support with the intention to inspire and envision a better future. We cover such topics as recycling; climate change; ending the long hour culture; mental health and home working, ME time; Resolutions; Waste disposal; carbon footprint, and much more.

We hope that you find our articles and speakers thought provoking and enlightening. If you wish to join our Committee, please contact me on j.abbott-hauxwell@berkshirewi.co.uk

Click on the link below to see our recent report on Plastic Recycling in our County of Berkshire

We also have links to some useful and thoughtful posters you may wish to share with your members.

Plastic Recycling Report

Crush it, Cap it, recycle

Closed Loop Recycling

Approved plastic in the ocean poster

Applications Coloured bottles

PET Pete Costal

PET Pete High Street

PET Pete Rural

Meet Our Members

Angela Wright in her wheelchair in a garden

I am Angela and I have been a member of the WI for over 15 years. I enjoy crafts, reading and my garden. I have a PA (carer) help me because I have become disabled due to a neurological disorder. However it has given me an appreciation of life and how important it is to enjoy what we do. The WI is a wonderful group of women who are good company, supportive and keen to try new things. I joined the Our Future World sub-committee as it is not a large commitment – we only meet six times a year by Zoom. We write articles for Berkshire News and arrange talks and events for our members. Our focus is anything which affects us as women going forward, especially climate, women’s rights issues and health.


My name is Frances Strange and I have been a member of Whitchurch Hill WI since I retired thirteen years ago. I quickly became a committee member then secretary, President and now secretary again. Becoming a Berkshire Federation trustee has shown me a whole new side to the WI, the wider picture makes me even more proud to be a member of this huge group of women. I am on two subcommittees, one being Our Future World. I am keen to reduce my carbon footprint and am a champion of sustainable fashion. My mother was a dressmaker so I grew up using a sewing machine and I was 16 when I bought a coat in the Portobello Road and she taught me how to take it apart and remodel it! I do enjoy the challenge of finding good clothes at charity shops and altering them to fit me. I still get the urge to make something from scratch now and again - here’s a picture of me in my garden wearing one I made earlier! I love to garden, knit, sew, cook and try new crafts.

My name is Frances Strange and I have been a member of Whitchurch Hill WI since I retired thirteen years ago. I quickly became a committee member then secretary, President and now secretary again.

Becoming a Berkshire Federation trustee has shown me a whole new side to the WI, the wider picture makes me even more proud to be a member of this huge group of women.

I am on two subcommittees, one being Our Future World. I am keen to reduce my carbon footprint and am a champion of sustainable fashion.

My mother was a dressmaker so I grew up using a sewing machine and I was 16 when I bought a coat in the Portobello Road and she taught me how to take it apart and remodel it! I do enjoy the challenge of finding good clothes at charity shops and altering them to fit me. I still get the urge to make something from scratch now and again - here’s a picture of me in my garden wearing one I made earlier! I love to garden, knit, sew, cook and try new crafts.

My name is Annette Dolphin, I am a member of Brimpton WI, a small WI with an average of 25 members, which I joined in 2011 and have been Secretary since 2018. I was approached and asked if I would be interested in becoming a BFWI Trustee in 2019 and as I know that the Federation, like all WIs, would not exist unless people step up I decided to go along and see if it was for me. Having attended a couple of Board meetings I was co-opted as a Trustee in 2020. Of course, having joined the Board I was asked which of the Sub-committees I would like to join and Our Future World, then known as Forum for the Future, was a natural choice for me.

Having been born and raised on a farm I have always loved everything to do with the countryside. I have been long been aware of the changes that have taken place on our planet during my lifetime whether that’s increased traffic on the roads, more houses and changes to farming methods to increase food production. Our Future World does not just encompass climate change but all aspects of the way we live from what we eat, how we cook, dress and dispose of our waste as well as wider issues. I’m not an expert on any of these but am a firm believer that we all have ideas and little changes each of us can make can all help our planet.

When I’m not involved in WI matters, I spend as much time as I can with my horses, as well as gardening and cooking.