Last Mince Pies of the Season

On Friday 13th January,one  of our members hosted a mince pies and wine evening at her home to raise funds for one of our environmental projects. Here are four of us enjoying a chat and nibbling what is likely to be the last mince pie of the season. Thank you Barbara for your hospitality.£147 were raised as a result.

Carys Gets The Fudge

Five Club Members went off to Brighton for the Conference at the end of October. The photos show just some of the socialising we did,meeting up with our friends from Penrith,Lurgan and beyond. The whole weekend was packed with opportunities to network,learn more about the organisation and what we are trying to achieve. One of the keynote speakers was the broadcaster and writer Sandi Toksvig who had us rolling with laughter.The traditional gift of fudge from Penrith was accepted on Bournemouth’s behalf by  Carys.The entertainment on the last night was provided by a band “In The Pink” which is actually lead by Debbie Rogers,one of our members.We were all so proud when others told us how much they had enjoyed her play.

Eating Italian

50 Years A Soroptimist

At our meeting on Monday 17th October we celebrated a special event. Joan Bishton has been a Soroptimist for 50 Years. She was presented with a card,a cake and a big bunch of flowers to mark the occasion. Here she is being presented with the flowers. Joan joined the organisation at Slough in 1961 and transferred to Bournemouth on retirement. So congratulations Joan. We think you must hold some sort of record.

Member Jean Harvey didn’t wish to be left behind when other trustees of our Cementing Futures Charity  planned a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of funds. Instead, with the support of our Friendship Link Club in  Penrith she scaled the forbidding heights of Dufton Pike in Cumbria’s Eden Valley. Since Dufton Pike is rather shorter than  Mt Kilimanjaro she decided to make the journey to the summit a sufficient number of times to equal the height of the African mountain. This involved no less than 20 trips up and down over a six day period. Every time she reached the top, the Bangladeshi Flag was produced. Here she is with some supporters on one of the 20 journeys! A now very fit Jean raised over £2,050.

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone at S.I Penrith who looked after Jean and provided the vital support.

“Benedict’s Brother” by Tricia Walker is the  choice for our taster bookclub being hosted by Sarah on Monday 10th October. Supper, lots of chat and an interesting evening all for £10. The event is in aid of our Dhaka Fund -a somewhat belated celebration of World Literacy Day.

If you would like to join us for the evening, please get in touch via the Contact us section of this website, we will give you a warm welcome.

“That this House recognises that around the world women continue to suffer discrimination and injustice simply because of their gender; notes that underlying inequality between men and women is the driving force that results in 70 per cent. of the world’s poor being female; recognises that empowering women will drive progress towards all the Millennium Development Goals; welcomes the launch of UN Women, the UN Agency for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, on 1 January 2011; recognises that the agency is an example of UN reform to improve efficiency and co-ordination; and calls on the Government to provide support to the new agency to ensure it has the resources required to end the discrimination that keeps millions of women in poverty. “

A member of our lobbying group made contact with her MP after becoming aware of the EDM .

“I am delighted that my MP has signed this Early Day Motion. I know many people question the effectiveness of this mechanism but it does help raise awareness on some serious issues.”