MEMBERS of Milverton Women’s Institute have become the second local branch to leave the national organisation.

Among the reasons cited for the decision was a lack of volunteers to fill officer positions and increasing subscription costs for no added value.

Last month, the Wellington WI branch quit the federation to operate as an independent group under the name ‘Monumental Women of Wellington’ in protest at a ban on membership by men who transgender to become female.

Now, members of Milverton WI have left the federation and earlier this month held their first meeting as an independent group.

Member Jean Ainsworth-Smith confirmed: “The Milverton WI has left the WI but not because of the transgender issue, but because we could no longer get people to volunteer to be WI officers to run our WI; and also because we were no longer availing ourselves of all that the WI (with its costly subscription) was offering.”

The new group has been named ‘Milverton Marigolds’ after a vote on three proposed names.

A spokesperson said: “We shall continue to meet at 2.30 pm on the first Thursday of each month in the reading room of the Victoria Rooms.

“We have a full and varied programme lined up for the coming year.

“We have already recruited quite a few new members, but we would like to see as many people as possible, so do come and be part of the Milverton Marigolds.”

The last gathering of the WI branch was its annual meeting, when a federation official attended to oversee the closing down process and confirm the disassociation.

• An earlier version of this article said Milverton Women’s Institute left the national organisation in protest at a ban on membership by men who transition to become female. This is not the case. The Wellington Weekly News is happy to set the record straight.