A new group in Leeds is helping revive the image of the Women's Institute (WI). Buns & Roses range in age from just 19 to 45 years old. The group enjoys meeting for cocktails but are also partial to the more traditional cake too. 

The ladies of the Rylstone WI did much to revive the image of the Women's Institute with their famous fund-raising calendar. Their story was turned into an award-winning film starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters and the publicity meant the organisation became even more popular.

 

Now a new group has started up in Leeds that is doing its bit to turn the traditional view of the WI on its head.

 

L to R: Georgiana, Hayley and Zoe

 

Buns and Roses claim to be the youngest WI group in West Yorkshire with ages ranging from just 19 to 45. President Georgiana Harvey-Gibson, Secretary Zoe Hornby and Hayley Mills-Styles got together over a cup of tea to tell us why they decided to start the group.

 

"I've always been interested in the WI," says Georgiana. "I thought that I would like to be part of a national women’s group and also part of the new wave of WI that's coming around."

 

Zoe adds "George and I thought that when we were older we’d be really good WI members and then we thought why wait?! And there’s so much they’ve done for good, there’s so much campaigning that they do and lots that we can get on the back of and that was quite appealing.

 

"I think that we’re the youngest group in West Yorkshire although there is a group in Chapel Allerton  - I think their average age is slightly higher than ours but they’re the closest to us."

 

The name Buns and Roses came about at one of their first sessions when they were trying to think of something a bit different to call their group.

 

"We meet at Mojo Bar in Leeds," says Hayley, "and there was a poster of the band Guns and Roses on the wall and someone shouted out "Buns and Roses". We all agreed that that was a great name.

 

"Our meeting place is a bit unconventional - it's not the usual church hall but it's somewhere where people can come to a nice friendly environment and have cocktails too."

 

Hayley, who is 29 and a full time MA student also adds: "We have a mix of meetings and craft shops. I've always been quite traditional and enjoyed sewing and embroidery so it's great to be able to share these skills with other women."

The group wanted to be slightly different from other WI groups and were inspired by a London-based WI group called The Shoreditch Sisters who are also a younger group like themselves.

 

"We're a very arty group," says Zoe, "and instead of having lots of speakers we tend to do very practical sessions. Some of our sessions have included fascinator making – those strange hat things that women wear to weddings. We’re also doing cake decorating and clothes recycling.

"It's skills that are useful and I suppose, looking at the economy at the moment, people want different things and different things cost a fortune so if you can adapt or make something from scratch then that’s brilliant. So I think that’s our aim – moving with the times..."

" I think another big difference is our online presence," says George. " So we have our Facebook page and Twitter and we have our own website. We do have tea mornings too to  be a bit more traditional – crafty tea mornings where we just get to show off our baking skills. We just like cake and cocktails – I think that’s our mission," she laughs.