How to join our WI

Why Join Us?

While we welcome visitors to our monthly meetings when possible, joining us as a member means you can get involved in our additional activities, plus access to events, publications and resources from the West Midlands Federation and the National Federation too - more details here. New for 2026 is the VIA learning platform which offers a range of life-long learning and self-development opportunities online across a broad range of topics - and most of the courses are free to members.

Membership is open to  women aged 18 and over. National policy regarding eligibility for WI membership has changed from April 2026. You can find details of the revised policy here.

Our membership year runs from April until March the following year. The subscription fee needs to be paid in full when you join. There are reduced rates for multi members (i.e. already a full member of another WI), and for new members joining part way through the year (including lapsed members who have not been a member of any WI for 12 months or more).

How to Join

To become a member, you need to let us have your completed and signed membership form, and pay us your subscription fee.

Please note that for the 2026/27 membership year, all re-joining members must complete and sign a membership form as well as new joiners, even if your details have not changed. This is because of  the revised membership form following the recent changes to national policy.

Complete your Membership Form

There are several ways to complete your membership form:

• download the pdf membership form here, complete it online and email it to us at balsallheathwi@gmail.com (It's an editable pdf file which many browsers support, or use 'Fill & Sign' in Acrobat Reader).  We will accept typing your name in the Signature field as your signature when completing the form online
• download the pdf membership form here, print, complete and sign it and bring it to a meeting
• complete and sign a paper copy of the membership form at a meeting.

Please make sure you provide an email address on the membership form as this is how we will let you know what is happening in our WI in a cost-effective way, and also allows you to access resources at the national level.

Pay your Subscription

There are several ways to pay your subscription:

• by bank transfer, including your name as a reference. You can find our bank details here. (This is our preferred method, if possible for you)
• at a meeting by cash or cheque (payable to Balsall Heath & Moseley Women’s Institute). Unfortunately we cannot accept card payments for membership fees.

Subscription Fees for 2025/26

For 2026/27, our subscription fee is £52. For multi members (i.e. a member who is already a full member of another WI), the fee is £25.10.

If you join as a full member later in the year (and you have not been a member of this or any other WI for a year or more), the fee reduces each quarter, so:

• Join on or before June 30th: £52
• Join between July 1st and September 30th: £39
• Join between October 1st and December 31st: £26
• Join on or after January 1st: £13

What happens next?

Once we've received your completed form and payment, we'll add you to our WI membership list and also to the NFWI's membership database. You'll then start to get member-only emails as well as our monthly emails to members and friends. You'll be able to join our members only social media groups and also start receiving the WI Life membership magazine and get access to the VIA learning platform resources & the My WI members area website.

If you have any queries, or difficulties with completing the membership form or making a bank transfer, do get in touch with us at balsallheathwi@gmail.com and we will do our best to help.