Women’s Institutes fundraise for small, local charities or causes – so each year at our AGM in May our members vote on a charity to support for the upcoming year.

Our charity for 2025 – 2026 is Overgate Hospice Big Build. Overgate Hospice has been at the heart of the Calderdale community since 1981, providing specialist support to local people living with a life-limiting illness, supporting a population of over 210,000 people. For over 40 years, the team at Overgate have continued to provide the highest standard of care to patients and their families, however, the facilities at the Hospice have gradually become outdated and are no longer fit to meet the needs of their patients.

Money Money Money!

We fundraise for our charity in various ways

Some of the profits from our annual Rag Market go towards our charity but we also try to put on one or two larger fundraising events during the year. In the past we’ve hosted cinema singalongs at the gorgeous Hebden Bridge Picture House

We aim to raise at least £1000 for our charity during the year we support them. We also use our social media presence to raise awareness of the work they do.

Stand up sit down bingo

One of our most effective fundraising techniques is Stand Up and Sit Down Bingo, which we play at most meetings.

Everyone who wants to play puts £1 in a pot and then stands up and puts their hands on their head or their bum. Our president then tosses a coin. If it’s heads and you’ve got your hands on your head, you stay in and the people with their hands on their bums sit down. Conversely, if it’s tails the people who have their hands on their rear get to stay in the game. This goes on until there is only one person left standing. If we get down to two people, we bring them to the front and they stand back-to-back and we play the final round.

All the money raised goes to our charity with the winner receiving a donated bingo prize. Sometimes the prize is given by members and sometimes we approach local shops and ask them to donate a voucher or a prize. If you’re a local business who would like to donate a prize and in exchange for a mention on our blog and our Social Media (and the goodwill of 35 local women), please get in touch.

Stand Up Sit Down Bingo is a lot of fun and we recommend it to other WI’s looking for a quick game to play at meetings.