Marlborough could get its first Women’s Institute in many years if enough people express an interest.

The Devizes-based Wiltshire Federation of WIs has appealed to women to contact them if they would be prepared to get involved in a WI or a WI Lite.

Sue Curran, WI adviser for the area based in Tilshead, wants to set up a meeting in the town next month to gauge the interest.

Former town mayor Coun Peggy Dow was delighted by the idea. “Anything that promotes family values in the town is good for the town and fine by me,” she said.

Mrs Curran said: “There is no WI in Marlborough and I don’t know if there ever has been. There are WIs in surrounding villages like Ogbourne St Andrew and Savernake but whether it’s that rent of halls in the town is too high or the difficulty in parking there just isn’t one.”

WIs got a shot in the arm from the film Calendar Girls, about a group in Yorkshire who created a nude calendar to raise money for cancer research. And the BBC’s latest series of Jam and Jerusalem is back on TV.

Mrs Curran said: “We have had a fair rise in membership since the film was released. It has really put WIs back on the map.

“There has also been a lot of interest from people aged 20 to 50. To cater for them we have started WI Lite, which gets members into things like cocktails and belly dancing.

“Depending on the interest we get, we can start a WI Lite or they may be older and want more traditional WI activities.”

Mrs Curran has yet to set a date and venue for the meeting. It depends on the interest shown.

She said: “It will depend on where everyone lives as well. I will have to put dots on the map and see what venue is most convenient to most people.”

Anyone interested in getting involved with a Marlborough WI branch should contact Mrs Curran on (01980) 620640 or 621544 or email her at sue@uktrainersnet