THE ladies of the Pewsham WI were dressed in their finery for a summer lunch to celebrate the centenary of the Women’s Institute.

With only one lucky member, Pam Richie, securing a precious ticket to the special Queen’s garden party at Buckingham Palace in June, members in Pewsham decided to dig out their hats and frocks regardless.

The nine-strong committee prepared the food for the 40 members who attended the event at the Pewsham Community Hall, which was decorated with a pink and white theme for the occasion.

There was even a special centenary cake, baked by one of the club’s former presidents, which was enjoyed with a bottle of fizz.

Secretary Jill Church said: “Everyone made a huge effort, they made an effort to dress up and look smart, and it was a very good event.

“I think everyone enjoyed it, people were saying the food was wonderful. The event took off because we wanted to celebrate the 100th anniversary and we did the summer lunch to give everyone the chance to dress up.

“A friend of mine’s mum used to belong to the WI wrote a poem which I read, and even though it was written 40 years ago it was so relevant. And it got a clap at the end which was very good.”

The group, which has just over 50 members and meets monthly at the Pewsham Community Hall, holds a variety of activities, including crafts, skittles, garden visits and guest speakers, for members throughout the year in addition to regular charity work such as donating food to local food banks.

Mrs Church added: “A lot of our members are newly retired ladies because we are a day time WI and we meet in the morning. WI promotes friendships; I have met so many friends since I started three and a half years ago.

“I have learned a lot of new skills since I joined and had great fun doing it. Each month we have a different speaker talk to us on various topics, last month we had the RNLI. We have a huge range of speakers who come in to inform and entertain.”

Earlier in the summer around 200 WI members from Wiltshire attended a special Royal Garden Party in London with the Duchess of Cornwall and Countess of Wessex. Around 8,000 woman from WI branches across the country were invited to the palace to celebrate the organisation's centenary.

The Pewsham group are now preparing for their next event, a coach trip to Windsor on August 11.