The Scottish Women's Institutes (SWI), informally called ''"the Rural"'', is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

which promotes the preservation of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

's traditions and rural heritage, particularly in the sphere of household activities. It does so by means of local groups of women which meet regularly throughout the country. It was formed on 26 June 1917 as the Scottish Women's Rural Institutes, part of the movement of rural women's institutes started in

Stoney Creek, Ontario Stoney Creek is a community in the city of Hamilton in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was officially a city from 1984 to 2001, when it was amalgamated with the rest of the cities of the Regional Municipality of Hamilton–Wentworth. The ...

in 1897. The first meeting in Scotland look place at

Longniddry Longniddry ( sco, Langniddry, gd, Nuadh-Treabh Fada)
...

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the his ...

Catherine Hogg Blair Catherine Hogg Blair (''née'' Shields; 8 January 1872 – 18 November 1946) was a Scottish suffragette, magistrate, founder of the Scottish Women's Rural Institute (SWRI), and member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Blair was a ...

had identified the need for a Scottish example of the emerging

Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

movement and she organised the meeting at Longniddry to avoid a measles outbreak in her own village. 37 women became members and campaigner Nannie Brown was the area organiser. The SWRI created the chance for rural women to network and share their skills with one another. The group's magazine, ''Scottish Home and Country'' was first published in 1924. The name changed to Scottish Women's Institutes in 2015.

References

External links

* 1917 establishments in Scotland Charities based in Scotland Women's organisations based in Scotland Organizations established in 1917 Scottish traditions Rural Scotland Family economics {{Scotland-org-stub