National Raffle Competition

A big thank you to everyone who helped sell and purchase tickets for this year’s National Raffle.

The raffle was a huge success, raising a grand total of £14,471. This made a major contribution to this year’s Members’ Gathering, covering the cost of speakers, judges, tutors and oot an’ aboot activities. Once all costs were accounted for, we were left with a surplus of £62.72.

That leaves just the winners of our highest ticket sales competition to announce.

In the Federation competition for the most ticket sales we have joint winners. Congratulations to Perth & Kinross and Dumfriesshire, who each win a £200 National Event Voucher.

Cockburnpath SWI (Berwickshire Federation) takes the prize for the Institute with the most ticket sales, winning a £100 National Event Voucher. Congratulations!

National Ruralympics Competition

What a fantastic day of fun, friendship and plenty of laughter at the SWI National Ruralympics! A huge thank you to Ross-shire & Sutherland Federation SWI for hosting such a brilliant event at Dingwall Academy and bringing together 17 teams from across Scotland for an afternoon of friendly competition, games and giggles!

A big congratulations to our winning teams:

1st place – Dunbartonshire Federation (Jane Scott, Connie Cathie, Fiona Haddow & Fiona Moffat)

2nd place – Dumfriesshire Federation (Diane Hope, Nicola Donald, Elizabeth Kinstrey & Maureen Dinwoodie)

Joint 3rd place – Aberdeenshire Federation (Maureen Sim, Yvonne Gray, Lynne Smart & Lorraine Murdoch)

Joint 3rd place – Stewartry of Kirkudbright Federation (Andrea Irving, Marion Gourlay. Liz Green & Elizabeth Smith)

Members’ Gathering 2026

A fantastic evening of prize giving took place at the Members’ Gathering, acknowledging winners from across the SWI’s national competitions.

Outstanding Member of the Year – Alice Meston, Catterline SWI

Vaughan Nash Winner – Craigie SWI, Vaughan Nash Runner Up – Blairingone SWI, Nancy MacMillan Trophy – Irene Sloan, Blairingone SWI, President’s Choice – Fiona Walker, Echt SWI

Mary Aitken Trophy (Preserves) – Lynne Davidson, Duffus SWI, Anne Wallace Sugar Sifter Trophy (Dundee Cake) – Moira Garden, Durris SWI, Evelyn Baxter Competition – Clare Greig, Millig SWI

National Outdoor Bowling Competition

Despite some rainy weather, that didn’t stop a brilliant day of bowling as part of the National Outdoor Bowling Competition, a big thank you to Argyll Federation for hosting such a wonderful day of bowls, congratulations to our winners:

🥇Argyll – Roberta Bowen, Anne Stewart, and Janet Campbell 🥈 Stewartry – Julie Murray, Fiona Whitby and Angela Murray

National Golf Competition

This year’s SWI National Golf Competition was a wonderful day on the course, with members from across Scotland coming together to compete and celebrate the best of SWI golf. A huge thank you to Renfrewshire Federation for hosting such a memorable event. Congratulations to all who took part, and especially to our winners:

National Spoken Word Competition

A huge and heartfelt thank you to absolutely everyone who came along and took part in this year’s Spoken Word Competition.

Eleven incredible teams took to the stage to share stories, poetry and live performance on the theme of Nostalgia, and what a theme it was! Each and every performance transported us by bringing back memories. The standard of entries was amazing, and every team should be immensely proud of what they brought to the stage.

A huge congratulations to our worthy winners, Dearness SWI, who delivered a truly memorable performance, well done to each and every member of the team! And a very well-deserved round of applause for our runners-up, Craigrothie SWI, whose performance was equally impressive and warmly received by all.

A special thank you to Angus Federation for hosting such a wonderfully organised and memorable event and of course, a big thank you to competition convenor Anne Howat, whose hard work and dedication behind the scenes helped make the whole day run so smoothly. Events like this don’t happen without people like Anne giving so generously of their time.

2025 Competitions