In days gone by, the Women’s Institute is the last place you’d have gone to do white water rafting.

But while the tag of ‘Jam and Jerusalem’ still does its rounds, the WI is changing fast and enjoying an unexpected revival.

Across the country, membership has increased by a quarter over the past three years, with 52,000 people joining up to enjoy activities from cooking to rafting and salsa.

The West Yorkshire Federation of WIs has 2,000 members. Chairman Helena Harrington has seen a big increase in enquiries and membership of branches. “There has been a substantial rise in recent years and an increase in the number of new WIs,” she says.

“In cities in particular, women living on their own join to make friends. One member said to me ‘You can get very lonely in an inner city.’ Others join to learn new crafts – it is good to see that old crafts are again being recognised.”

As well as new, more adventurous activities, women are becoming more interested in learning traditional skills like cooking and knitting.

She adds: “Younger members are looking to do things that interest them. They don’t want to be sitting around at slide shows or listening to a speaker. They want to be doing things and it is this opportunity that attracts them. My generation would go along to watch from the sidelines but would not be actively involved.”

Younger members are vital, she says, as many older women no longer want to run branches. “Older members are enjoying what the younger ones are doing. All ages make each other very welcome.”

Helena is a long-standing member of Wilsden branch, which has around 60 members and is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

“I joined Wilsden WI when I moved to Yorkshire in 1969 and have been a member ever since,” she says. “When we moved here from Slough I knew no-one and we had no family here. A neighbour invited me to come along to the WI and that was it.

“The WI provided me with friendship, and I then made friends in church groups, and through my job as a nursery school teacher.

“When I joined, there was a few more adventurous activities but not a lot. We would do a lot around the village and local community, and were involved with initiatives like Keep Britain Tidy, but it is only in more recent years that members began doing activities such as gliding, shooting and archery.

“I think it is wonderful that there are so many opportunities available to women. And it is so much fun. No-one minds if they make a fool of themselves.”

Wilsden WI president Judy Caunt has been a WI member for 40 years. “I retired a few years ago from my job as a medical secretary and didn’t miss the social side of work due to the friends I made in the WI.

“We do core craft activities such as knitting needlework and baking, but other things, too – we have walking clubs and cinema clubs and go on cultural outings to historic houses.

“We try to do things for the community. We managed to provide a flagpole and flag for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and crockery for a luncheon club in the village hall.”

She adds: “We have not gone white water rafting yet, but have done rifle shooting and archery.”

In the neighbouring village, Harden WI is thriving, too, and among the recently-formed branches, Baildon Belles WI is going from strength to strength.

Now its fourth year, it has more than 100 members aged from 18 to over 60.

President Sarah Mogford attributes the general rise in WI membership to a need for friendship.

“The traditional ways of making friends are not there any more. I started the WI with a group of friends as I was quite lonely after having a baby.

“In the past, you would have learned sewing, knitting and cookery from your mum. Nowadays, people don’t have time to learn them. There is a growing appetite for old, home-spun things.”

Burlesque dancing and vodka making are among the more off-beat activities enjoyed by the group. “This year we are learning circus skills,” says Sarah.

“Our WI is as exciting as we want it to be. We discuss what we want to try. People are attracted to our WI because they want to come out of their comfort zone and do their own thing. We have lots of mums with children and older women with a young mind set.”