Adorned with black-and-white photos harking back a century, the Women’s Institute hall in Colwood preserves a window into a bygone era.

Generations of rural women throughout the West Shore came together to help each other raise their families and to improve the greater community. These days, that ideal of co-operation has faded in the same way WI chapters are fading.

The Colwood WI has about a dozen remaining members, mainly retired seniors, and it remains the trustee of the Colwood Community Hall, the old fire hall and the children’s hall on the heritage Sooke Road property. The chapter is hosting the sold-out south Island’s 100-year anniversary event of the B.C. Women’s Institute this Saturday.

“To me the institute has been an ongoing supporter of things in the community for everybody,” said Christina Willing, 83, president of the Colwood WI. “It’s been there for people for a long time.”

“The point was to unite rural women, to get together over a cup of tea to make the community better,” said Donna Jack, president of the south Island WI district.

BCWI had big triumphs, such as helping establish the Queen Alexandra Hospital and providing supplies and clothing to Great Britain during the Second World War. Locally, women came together to learn skills such as healthy cooking and establishing inoculation programs for their children. The WIs were the social safety net of the day, with the women helping the elderly and supporting families who lost their homes to fire.

Willing, who has been active in the Colwood chapter since about 1960, said the WI helped teach her household skills such as canning, cooking and crafting.

“It’s not about what the institute gives me. It’s about what I can give back, it’s about giving back to the community,” Willing said. “The ladies were hard, hard workers and getting together as women was very important.”

The community hall itself was a focal point of the area, when Sooke Road was much smaller and much less hectic. The Colwood WI survives from rental income on the buildings, Willing said, and is managed by dedicated but increasingly elderly group of volunteers.

If fresh, younger volunteers don’t come forward, the fate of the historical site in upcoming years remains an uneasy question. Jacks at age 55, is one of the youngest members in her home chapter in Saanich.

“Many people will help out after they retire, so the women are older than those in the working class,” Jacks said. “It’s worrying. There are less and less members each year.”

“Hopefully we can maintain the property as long as we can,” Willing said. “It’s a designated historical site but its a big job maintaining older buildings.”

To volunteer or to support local WIs, contact the Colwood WI at 250-478-1662. To contact the Langford WI, call 250-479-7529. See www.svanciswomensinstitute.bc.ca.