Women's Institute.

I would love to be a member of the women's institute as I enjoy learning from others about traditional crafts but there is a stigma surrounding the WI. Members are perceived as old women with too much time on their hands who fill said time learning crafts that have no real value. Being a member is seen as backwards and almost anti-feminist supporting old fashioned ideas of male chauvinism. This is such a shame as there is so much to be learned from others life experiences. My mother makes beautiful silk lampshades and curtains it would give her great pleasure to teach others these skills. I would love to learn from others experiences and even mistakes. For example anyone know a jam expert, I tried making strawberry jam (I will post the recipe) it tastes delicious but has not set very hard and I would love to know why. I also always struggle making jams on our Aga as I cannot get it hot enough to reach a rolling boil have I got the Aga turned down to low or should I be using the oven rather than the top. Anyhow back to the point I have various friends who would want to join a WI but we don't want to be the only ones there who are not retired. We want to learn old fashion skills without having to pay to go on expensive courses. Blogs seem to be the new WI everyone shares ideas and advice over then internet rather than in person. This is certainly a convenient method but can it really beat the companionship of face to face contact. The WI maybe out of date but the principles behind it are still relevant to society today I just wish that somehow they could make it feel less antiquated.