NFWI Latest Campaigns
Bystanders can be Bystanders Can be Lifesavers
This campaign calls on WI members to work together to
increase public confidence and training in the delivery of CPR and to
work with local organisations to help improve access to defibrillators
in their communities.
At the 2025 NFWI Annual Meeting on 4 June, WI members voted in
favour of the Bystanders Can Be Lifesavers resolution.
The resolution is as follows:
There are over 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests a year in the UK,
and less than one in ten people survive. Women have a lower chance of surviving than men. Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation can more than double the chances of survival. We call on WI members to work together to increase public confidence and training in the delivery of CPR and to work with local organisations to help improve access to defibrillators in their communities to give every person the best chance of surviving a cardiac arrest.
Margate WI – East Kent Federation
To find out more please visit - https://mywi.thewi.org.uk/public-affairs-and-campaigns/current-campaigns/bystanders-can-be-lifesavers
Dental Health resolution passes at AM
On 5 June, thousands of WI members gathered at the
Royal Albert Hall in London. After passionate speeches
and a lively debate, the 2024 resolution passed with the
support of over 95 per cent of WIs.
There is a chronic shortage of NHS Dentists and people
are suffering health issues as a result. The NFWI calls on
the Government to increase investment in the training and retention of dentists and to review the current inadequate NHS contracts to ensure everyone can access an NHS dentist wherever they live.
The Labour Party won the General Election in July 2024 with a manifesto pledging to tackle the
dental health crisis. The new government pledged to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, recruit new dentists to areas that need them most, reform the dental contract, focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists, and introduce a supervised tooth-brushing scheme for 3- to 5-year-olds, targeting the areas of highest need.
Under the Dental Health Matters campaign, we will be holding this government to account, pushing for the reform of dental contracts, and engaging with them on their plans to retain NHS dentists.
There will be lots of opportunities for members to get involved. To find out more please visit -
https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/news-and-events/dental-health-resolution-passes-at-am
Clean Rivers for People and Wildlife
This campaign is encouraging members to make and support applications to create bathing waters in rivers across England and Wales as a way to drive the cleanup of our precious waters.
“Water quality in our rivers is shameful. Legally designated bathing waters must be regularly monitored for pollution. The NFWI urges its members, the wider public, local authorities, and the Government to make, support and promote applications for officially designated bathing sites on appropriate stretches of rivers in their area. This will be instrumental to the clean-up of rivers as it has been for water quality improvement at coastal beaches.”
In 2023 the Clean Rivers campaign was launched. It seeks to tackle river pollution from key sources such as sewage run-off and industrial agriculture, in particular through promoting bathing water designation.
What we have achieved so far:-
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In 2023 River Action UK’s Charter for Rivers was signed.
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We joined the End Sewage Pollution Coalition, led by Surfers against Sewage.
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September 2023 the first WI Week of River Action was held.
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In Spring 2024 we supported The Soil Association’s petition to stop industrial poultry units.
In May 2024 27 new bathing water designations were awarded in several rivers, including Friar Meadows (River Stour) and Wallingford Beach (River Thames) respectively.
To find out more and see how you can get involved visit: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/key-and-current-campaigns/clean-rivers-for-people-and-wildlife
Thinking Differently: Autistic and ADHD Women
and Girls
Our campaign seeks to raise awareness of Autism and ADHD in
women and girls and to take action to improve the diagnosis
process.
Background
Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) is the medical name for autism.
Autism is a lifelong developmental condition which affects how
people communicate and interact with the world.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition that
affects people's behaviour.
Although the main components of Autism and ADHD are different, they can share some of the same symptoms and presenting issues. Historically, ASC and ADHD have been recognised as mainly affecting men and boys resulting in women and girls being overlooked or misdiagnosed.
According to the National Autistic Society, men and boys
are three times more likely than women and girls to be
diagnosed as autistic. ADHD can present differently in
girls. Boys are more often described as ‘hyperactive’
while girls are more often described as ‘inattentive’ or
as a combination of inattentive and hyperactive.
Women and girls are often better at masking or
camouflaging their difficulties. In general, they engage
in more “internalising” behaviour than boys, meaning
they tend to take their problems out on themselves
rather than others.
According to the National Autistic Society’s Centre for Autism,
professionals often don’t recognise and understand the
different ways autism can manifest in women and girls.
Neurodevelopmental specialists and clinical psychologists highlight that autism and ADHD symptoms in women can often be misunderstood and misdiagnosed by medical professionals, mistaking them for stress, anxiety, or another related condition.
To find out more and see how you can get involved visit: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/key-and-current-campaigns/thinking-differently
Please click here to access the NFWI Campaign Resource Guide
See the Signs
Our campaign seeks to raise awareness of the subtle signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer to help ensure that more women are diagnosed earlier.
According to Cancer Research UK, there are around7,500 new ovarian cancer cases in the UK each year, and 4,200 deaths.
It is one of the most common types of cancer in women, mainly affecting those who have been through menopause.
If you are experiencing one or more of the symptoms, please speak to your GP. For more information please visit ovarian.org.uk
The four main symptoms of Ovarian Cancer
To find out more and see how you can get involved visit: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/key-and-current-campaigns/see-the-signs
End Plastic Soup
Our campaign explores the scale of the microplastic fibre pollution and calls on the government and industry to develop solutions to the problem.
Microplastic fibres are small (5mm or smaller) plastic fragments shed from synthetic clothes when washed. As the fragments are too small to be caught by the machine’s filters, they then flow into the sewage system and eventually into the ocean, where those fibres are often swallowed or absorbed by plants and fish, filling up their stomachs and in some cases causing them to die.
The scale of the problem is large, as millions of people wash their clothes every week. These fibres can also end up in the food we eat – the long-term effects of which are not yet clear.
Launched in 2017, our End Plastic Soup campaign explores the scale of the microplastic fibre pollution and calls on the government and industry to develop solutions to the problem. The issue is complex and involves a wide range of stakeholders, from the clothing and wastewater treatment industries to washing machine manufacturers.
To find out more about the issue and see how you can get involved visit: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/key-and-current-campaigns/end-plastic-soup
Stop Modern Slavery
This campaign seeks to raise awareness of modern slavery in the UK. It also calls for better support for survivors, as well as more effective action to eradicate the problem.
Modern slavery is a complex crime that takes a number of different forms. It encompasses slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking. Traffickers and slave drivers coerce, deceive and force individuals against their will into a life of abuse, servitude, and inhumane treatment. Victims may be sexually exploited, forced to work for little or no pay or forced to commit criminal activities against their will.
The true extent of modern slavery in the UK and globally is unknown, but the best estimates suggest that there are around 40 million victims worldwide. The UK government estimates that there are tens of thousands of people in slavery in the UK today.
Modern slavery crimes are being committed across the UK and are taking place in many different sectors including factories, fields, brothels, nail bars and even within people’s homes. There is no typical victim of slavery – victims can be men, women or children of all ages and nationalities. According to the Salvation Army, the number of UK victims who had been enslaved through labour exploitation rose by 63% between July 2018 and June 2019.
To find out more and see how you can get involved visit: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/key-and-current-campaigns/stop-modern-slavery
Make a Match
This campaign seeks to promote registration to the aligned UK stem cell registry to enable more people to receive potentially life-saving stem cell transplants.
Background
Every twenty minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood
cancer. Often, replacing their cancerous blood cells through a blood
stem cell donation from a matching donor is their best chance of survival.
Ideally, stem cells are taken from a family member of the person who needs them (siblings are the most likely to match your tissue type). However, according to NHS Blood and Transplant, 65-75% of people
who require this treatment are unable to find a sibling match.
Most people, therefore, depend on finding a suitable donor on the aligned ‘Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry.’ This is formed of Anthony Nolan, DKMS UK, NHS Blood and Transplant, and the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry. There is also a global network of registries which can be searched.
While a number of organisations are already working on this issue, meeting the demand for suitable stem cell donors is recognised as a big challenge. DKMS UK says that many people die because they are unable to find a donor.
Currently, in the UK, only 2% of people are registered as stem cell donors. In order for more matches to be found, more people are urgently needed to join the registry.
To find out more and see how you can get involved visit: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/key-and-current-campaigns/make-a-match
We are raising awareness and taking action to end the scourge of violence against women.
Background
For the year ending March 2019, an estimated 1.6 million women across the UK experienced violence, including domestic violence, rape, forced marriage, sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse and harassment. Launched in 2019, our No More Violence against Women campaign encourages WI members to take action to end the scourge of violence against women.
Tackling domestic violence has been a longstanding concern for the WI. Throughout our history, the WI has campaigned to make sure that women and girls can live the lives they choose, free from the fear of abuse.
The WI campaigned for the funding of refuges in every county in 1975, to make sure that domestic violence survivors were able to access justice through the courts in 1988 and to adequately define domestic violence under the law in 1993.
To find out more and see how you can get involved visit: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/key-and-current-campaigns/no-more-violence-against-women
Climate Change
The WI has a proud history of taking action to protect the environment. As a founding member of The Climate Coalition, the WI movement works to urge policymakers to take decisive action to tackle climate change, and to encourage community networks to come together on climate action projects in their local area.
For nearly 100 years, WI members have led campaigns to conserve the natural world from environmental degradation and climate change. Generations of WI members have used their campaigning might to call for action on issues as diverse as water pollution (1936), acid rain (1985), the ozone layer and CFCs (1988), deforestation (1989), renewable energy (1977 and 2006), litter - a campaign which founded one of Britain’s leading environmental organisations Keep Britain Tidy in 1954 – recycling and conservation of resources (2005), and the protection of birds (1933), honeybees (2009) and animal welfare.
Be it making simple swaps in their own lives, or lobbying policymakers as part of the WI’s Climate Ambassador scheme, more and more WI members are taking action to protect our world for generations to come.
What climate campaigns will the WI be focusing on?
As the largest women’s voluntary organisation in the UK, the WI will be using our campaigning might to call for ambitious domestic policies that get the UK on track for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. We will be working alongside partners in The Climate Coalition, Warm this Winter and Unchecked UK to campaign for green, clean solutions to rising energy bills, and to retain hard-won environmental policies and protections.
The WI will also be continuing to boost our WI Climate Ambassador scheme with new resources, training, and expert panel events. If you are a WI member, you can find out more about the WI Climate Ambassador scheme here.
To find out more, our recent climate change campaign achievements and how you can get involved, please visit: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/key-and-current-campaigns/climate-change
We campaign on a huge range of issues – from promoting women's rights and fostering health awareness to encouraging sustainable development and building a fairer society.
To find out more about our current campaigns: Click Here