JAM, Jerusalem and naked ladies. Yes, it could only be the WI. As Women's organisations go, you'd be hard put to beat the Women's Institute. Practical, sensible, down to earth - and, as that calendar showed - with a sense of humour and a social conscience.

This is the organisation that was talking about sexual diseases nearly 80 years ago, the organisation that slow handclapped Tony Blair and, of course, posed in the buff and in the best possible taste.

They have long been rooted in the countryside and middle age. But now they're after a new generation and a different breed of women. The WI wants to recruit single thirty somethings, city dwelling career women who can set up a branch in their office or even on-line.

Bridget Jones in the WI? Why not?

The best, the most wonderful thing about the WI is that the only qualification is to be a woman. Unlike many other organisations, membership doesn't rely on who you are, what you do, and certainly not what your husband does. They have always been interested in the practicalities of everyday life as well as the issues of the world beyond.

And aren't we all? We all have our theories on issues such as GM food but first we've got to think about supper.

I've never joined any organisation since I was thrown out of the Guides for going on a CND march, but the WI has always appealed. And, strangely, it would have appealed even more 20 or 30 years ago than it does now.

That was when, constantly changing jobs in different cities, I needed an instant network of comfortable friends.

The bars in television stations are one way of making friends, but not always the most reliable...

In between working, drinking and falling in love with unsuitable men, young women are also playing at home making. Often they know precious little about it and their mums are often far away and just as likely to be busy at work.

A group of friends to chat with, even online, can only be a help. And if you're on line you can't get sidetracked into those competitions about how many things you can get into a matchbox. Sounds good to me.

Meanwhile, just as the world is waking up to the fact that our children are growing into chubby little couch potatoes heading for early graves, up in the Dales, East Witton WI is already onto the problem. They proposed a motion, overwhelmingly passed at the WI AGM, urging the Government to take action about it. They'll be lobbying and campaigning for the rest of the year.

And, as Tony Blair knows to his cost, the WI is a force to be reckoned with - even with their clothes on.

PRINCE William drove "like a yob" on Earl Bathurst's Cirencester Park estate apparently. So Prince Charles has apologised to the Earl.

Excuse me? If Prince William was the yob, then surely Prince William should apologise - and his father, we trust, will make sure he does.

Sporting challenge

More than a quarter of school PE lessons are badly taught, says Ofsted, who comments that teachers spend too much time talking.

Talking?

I thought all PE teachers did was shout, with maybe an occasional bellow, to children to run faster, kick harder, aim higher and generally keep going until you drop with exhaustion. Ah, the joys of hockey on icy mornings or cross country runs in February fog.

But I suppose PE teachers aren't allowed to bellow any more. Or to make children get cold, wet and exhausted - or they might sue.

ps: FACED with financial crises, many schools are having to cut down on staff and/or equipment.

A number have asked parents outright for money to keep the schools going to a decent standard. Somewhere between £100 and £300 a year.

The honesty of that is quite straightforward and appealing. And if you added up what you fork out in an average fund raising year - for raffle tickets, fashion shows, coffee mornings, car boot sales, auctions and sixties nights, £300 a year could actually be a bargain.

www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/ news/griffiths.html

Published: ??/??/2003