For over 100 years The WI have been campaigning on issues close to members hearts.
The SWFWI Public Affairs team are dedicated to keeping members informed and educated on WI resolutions and campaigns that focus on women. The team organise events to promote campaigning and collaborate with local organisations that share the WI ethos.
If you’d like to be part of the PA team contact pa@swfwi.org.uk
At NFWI’s 2025 Annual Meeting, an incredible 97.7% of WI members voted in favour of adopting the resolution Bystanders Can Be Lifesavers.
There are over 30,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests a year in the UK, and less then one in ten survive with women having a lower chance of survival then men. Early CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chances of survival.
The aim of our newest WI campaign is for members to work together to increase confidence and training in CPR, and to work with local organisations to improve access to defibrillators.
NEXT STEPS: HOW CAN YOUR WI GET INVOLVED
The first thing your WI can do is organise first aid training for your WI members
East Anglian Air Ambulance are offering training sessions in Basic Life Support and how to use a defibrillator, by local First Responder Mervyn Smith. Mervyn and his team are offering the sessions for free to all our WIs. To organise training for your WI contact Mervyn.smith@eastamb.nhs.uk
HOW WI MEMBERS CAN GET INVOLVED
You can support the campaign by using the links below to grow your own knowledge.
Familiarise yourself with where to find your local defibrillator. Defibfinder.uk shows you where to find defibrillator locations and their availability across the UK.
You can also check if your local defib is registered on thecircuit.uk. The Circuit maps defibs across the UK so emergency services can locate the nearest registered defib when a person calls 999. It is vitally important that all defibs are registered and the ambulance service can be confident the defib is ready to use.
It’s not always easy to describe where you are in an emergency, what3words.com divides the globe into a grid of three metre squares and assigns each square a unique three-words, making it easier to share and find locations.
Teach yourself CPR. Revivr.bhf.org.uk offers a free 15 minutes online training course. All you need is a cushion to practice on!
It’s also important to keep yourself safe when carrying out emergency CPR or using a defibrillator. The SARA Act 2015 (Social Action, Responsibility, and Heroism Act 2015) legally protects those good Samaritans by encouraging individuals to act courageously and responsibly during emergencies without fear of legal consequences.