From April 2020 due to Covid-19 the Digital Team has been offering ‘on demand’ virtual/online training for WI members.  Get in touch and let us know what you would help you most.

To discuss a training need contact digitalteam@mfwi.org.uk or leave a message at County Office on 01895 440161 and one of the team will get back to you. 

ACWW – Associated Country Women of the World

Lorraine Reed is your MFWI Representative link to ACWW. As a WI member, you are probably familiar with the WI Pennies for Friendship scheme and Foreign Currency collection that most WIs support annually at their meetings. All the proceeds go to the projects either in the general funding pot or if a WI wishes to support a specific type of project, they are able to do so.

ACWW connects rural and non-rural women and their communities worldwide through a network of Member Societies and Individual Members. We do this through advocacy, partnership, sharing knowledge and local activities. This includes UN representation, access to better information resources, funding community development projects and training programmes. ACWW is committed to raising the health and standard of living of rural women and their families. ACWW is non-sectarian, non-political and forward looking.  For more information about ACWW visit their website.

Pennies for Friendship

These are collected on behalf of the Associated Country Women of the World. ACWW is the largest international organisation for rural women. It has a uniquely down-to-earth approach offering mutual support, friendship and practical help to its members. The organisation has a membership of nine million through over 400 member societies in over 78 countries. Through projects in rural communities ACWW aims to improve the standard of living for all women and their families in health and nutrition, fresh water supplies, housing and literacy. It helps with small scale agricultural and income generating schemes and gives leadership training.

To supplement the income, back in 1939 it was conceived that if every member of every society gave at least the smallest coin of their country every year the essential work of ACWW could continue. Today nothing functions without these pennies – projects administration, United Nations links, conferences and the society’s magazine are all funded by Pennies for Friendship. Some pennies remain in London to run the office of ACWW.

The ‘pennies’ collected by WI members are annually passed to Middlesex Federation of WIs who in turn pass on the pennies received from all WIs to ACWW.  For more information or questions contact acwwrep@mfwi.org.uk