MORE than 4,300 women will participate in a 500-mile Dorset relay to celebrate the centenary of the WI.

One of the first-ever Women’s Institutes was formed in Wallisdown in 1915.

Branches soon formed across Dorset including one in Upwey and Broadwey shortly afterwards.

Now the thousands of members of the WI throughout the county will join in a celebration for its 100th anniversary.

A baton was launched on January 1, 2014, in Anglesey, where the first WI meeting in the UK was held in 1915.

It has travelled through England, Wales and the Islands visiting the 69 Federations, in celebration of the links of friendship and community developed through the WI. It finishes its trip at the WI’s centenary annual meeting on June 4, 2015, at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

The baton will arrive in Dorset on Tuesday, January 27, aboard a ferry from the Isle of Wight.

It will be conveyed in a 1967 E-type Jaguar to Bournemouth, for a special Talk and Tea afternoon with 100 WI members.

Accepting the baton there will be Linda Whatman, Dorset WI Federation chairman.

The baton will then travel through the county and will be the centrepiece of daily lunches or teas before being passed along a line of WI members on Poole Quay and back to Linda on February 2.

Linda and vice-chairman Marilyn Holehouse will then fly to Jersey and pass the baton on.

Linda said: “It’s very exciting for all our members who are attending the baton relay events and for the federations to be part of the centenary projects to celebrate 100 years of the WI. “In June, members will be attending the AGM at the Royal Albert Hall, which promises to be a very special meeting.

“Dorset highlights will be a centenary service and dinner, in June, followed on September 16 with all WIs marking the centenary of the first meeting day. “By invitation of the Dorset Arts and Craft Association, a special centenary display room of Dorset WI members’ work is planned for an exhibition at Purbeck School between July 31 and August 4.

“Dorset WIs will celebrate throughout the year, with fellow members across the nation, about all that the WI has to offer; the chance to learn new skills, campaign on issues that bring communities together and make lifelong friends.”