SWRI members head for showdown conference .
Written by author on September 9, 2015
Scottish Women’s Rural Institutes member are set for a bumpy annual conference in Edinburgh this weekend .
The membership is seething over changes made to to the organisation name and logo just prior to the organisation celebrating a landmark anniversary of 100 years .
Members of the organisation are up in arms as these changes have been made without consultation and was never put before the membership .
Many members are laying blame for these changes at the door of of the General Secretary of the Rural these changes have sparked revolt from members from Langholm to Lerwick , there has also been mounting press coverage on this subject
There are several motions going before the conference specifically on these changes .
Christine Hutton, the national chairman at SWRI headquarters in Edinburgh, to find out why the change was needed.
A little background to begin with. The rural is two years away from celebrating its centenary, so it has been doing something right for nigh on 100 years. However, numbers have been steadily falling by 1000 each year, and, as it stands, if they don’t make changes, within 10 years it may cease to exist.
Membership currently stands at around 17,700, with 747 institutes across the country, which sounds healthy enough but, back in 1980, there were more than 1100 institutes.
Times are changing and the people guiding the organisation into its centenary are well aware that if changes aren’t made, then the rural will become a thing of the past.
Christine says: “Over the last few years we have been looking at ways of encouraging new members, and we looked closely at how, or if, we were moving with the times.
The national chairman will certainly be in for what is certain to be a rough reception.
