After 97 years of existence, in March 2024, Badsey Women’s Institute was sadly suspended due to dwindling numbers. In the next three years, if sufficient people come forward to take on the officer posts and there is a willingness to continue, then the group will be reinstated.
The Aldington poet, Brian Smith, felt moved to put pen to paper. Here is his satirical poem about this momentous event.
* * * * *
Nowhere to go
Have you noticed all those ladies
Stood in groups out in the street,
Shouting at and threatening
Almost everyone that they meet?It's because they have nowhere to go,
And it's feared they'll turn to crime.
Organisations for Badsey women have gone.
Some have been closed for a time.The Legion Ladies' branch was first to go,
Then the Over Sixties Club was next,
The Mothers' Union, after a hundred years,
Disbanded, leaving members sad and vexed.And now, despite the village population
Growing at an alarming rate,
It seems that the W.I. is packing up,
Their members face a similar fate.The Devil finds work for idle hands,
Or so the saying goes.
What mischief these women will turn to,
The Lord in Heaven only knows.But the Church came to the rescue,
And tried to keep bored ladies quiet,
By introducing coffee mornings,
To head off a likely riot.It is hoped that these will be the answer
To the problem previously stated.
Perhaps it might be advisable
Just to serve decaffeinated?
Brian Smith, March 2024