The Women’s Institute, Lutterworth
Speaker Madalyn Morgan
In September the secretary of the Lutterworth
Women’s Institute asked me if I would give a talk to the members about being a
writer. I was surprised, and honoured, and
said yes immediately. Because the WI
starts organising its diary for the coming year six months in advance, I was
booked for February 2013. However, the
following week, the secretary asked if I could bring my talk forward to October
11th, as the speaker they had booked for that night had to pull out.
I
was delighted and again said yes. But, instead
of giving a talk about being a writer, I suggested I took some theatre posters,
photographs and costumes along, and spoke about being an actress, which I have
been for more than thirty years. That
way I could still speak about writing in February. And hopefully by then my novel will be published.
Margot Lester, Vanessa Redgrave, Madalyn Morgan in
Antony and Cleopatra at The Theatre Royal, The Haymarket, London.
*
The women of Lutterworth’s WI were a great audience. I’ve spoken about the acting profession and
my career as an actress several times before, and found that if I don’t take myself
seriously, which I don’t do anyway, I have fun and the audience has fun too.
I was introduced as Madalyn Smith, my birth name, which most people
in my hometown know me by. It was a great
introduction because it took me straight into how I got my stage name. There was already an actress called Madeleine
Smith in Equity, when I joined, so I chose Morgan from a bottle of Captain
Morgan’s rum in my dad’s pub. There was
already a Madalyn Bell (Bell’s whiskey) and I didn’t think Smirnoff (vodka) had
the same tasteful ring to it. So, in
1976 I became, Madalyn Morgan.
I laughed as I talked about the fun things, strange things,
and good things that had happened since 1976 – and the ladies of Lutterworth’s
WI laughed with me. Sadly, I didn’t take
a photograph of them.
The poster on the left is of an adaptation of, George Orwell’s
book, Down And Out In Paris and London, which I did at The Latchmere Theatre, in
London. I took over the female lead with
thirty-six hours’ notice.
How
the WI began
In 1897 Adelaide Hunter Hoodless (1858-1910), a Canadian
from St. George in Ontario founded the Women’s Institute. She also introduced domestic science
programmes into the school curricula, was a co-founder of the Young Women’s
Christian Association (YWCA), the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), and the
National Council of Women.
The Women's Institute Movement in Britain was formed during
the First World War. It started in 1915
to encourage women in rural areas to grow and preserve food, in order to “increase
food production for a war-torn nation.”
ADELAIDE HUNTER HOODLESS
The WI contributed enormously to the Home Front. From the outbreak of war in 1939 they
co-operated by caring for evacuees. But,
as in the First World War, the main contribution was in growing and preserving
food. Between 1940 and 1945 over 5,300
tons of fruit was preserved. Almost
twelve million pounds of fruit that, without the WI, would have been wasted. It was for this work in the war that the WI
members became renowned – and the 'jam' image has stuck ever since.
I read recently that EU legislation states, all food for
sale must be packaged in safe materials.
Nothing wrong with that! However,
as glass is permeable, the EU said jars should not be recycled and used for
jam, if the jam is going to be sold, not even for charity.
(What a load of rubbish. My words not the words of the WI.)
Since the end of the war, the organisation’s aims have increased. They play a unique role in providing women
with educational opportunities, giving them the chance to learn new skills,
take part in a wide variety of activities, and campaign on issues important to
them and their communities.
Currently, with over 210,000 members in around 6,600 WI
Groups, the WI is the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK. In 2015, it will be celebrating its
Centenary.
