SI Reigate and District

Bridge Afternoon

mark@mendozauk.com — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:46:35 +0000

The club recently held a bridge afternoon at Reigate Hill Golf Club. Around 80 players enjoyed not only a pleasant afternoon playing bridge but also festive refreshments and a raffle.

The event raised over £500 for charities supported by local SI members.

SI Reigate and District support St Catherine’s Hospice

mark@mendozauk.com — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:25:23 +0000

At the recent AGM of SI Reigate and District, President Shirley Cotton presented a cheque for over £3000 to Victoria Lawrence, community fund raiser for St Catherine’s Hospice. The money had been raised over the past 12 months through a range of activities including three members taking part in the Midnight Walk in Horsham last June. St Catherine’s was the President’s chosen charity of the year and members were pleased to receive an update from Victoria on the way that the work of the Hospice was developing in the Tandridge area. As St Catherine’s requires £4.7 million each to continue their support of
terminally ill people and their families, members were delighted that their
hard work in fundraising had been so successful.

At the AGM members looked back over the wide range of fundraising and social activities of the past year and also looked forward to the Annual Conference of SIGBI (Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland) which takes place in October in Brighton in the Dome’s Pavilion Theatre. The theme of the conference is ‘Inspiring Action, Transforming Lives’ and there will be a range of workshops and key speakers including Ann Cotton, Founder of CamFed the campaign for female education in Africa, and the writer and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig.

Soroptimists Celebrate 100th International Women’s Day

reigate-and-district — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:06:19 +0000

Across the world, members of Soroptimist International will be celebrating the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day on and around 8 March 2011 please see the website www.soroptimist-gbi.org

The United Nations first designated 8 March as International Women’s Day in 1911. It is now recognised all over the world as a special day for women to commemorate their achievements and to reflect on their position and roles in different parts of the world and situations for more information see the website: www.internationalwomensday.com

Soroptimist International has celebrated International Women’s Days over the last 100 years and will be making International Women’s Day 2011 special for its 100th Anniversary.

On 8 March this year, members of Soroptimist International will be joining Women for Women International’s “Join Me on The Bridge Campaign” www.womenforwomen.org/bridge with Annie Lennox on the Millennium Bridge in London. More bridge events are planned all over the UK and the world.

Lots of other events are planned by clubs on their own or with other partners – with around 3,000 Soroptimist clubs in 125 countries we will be a very noisy “global voice for women”!

Shirley Cotton, President SI Reigate and District says ” International Women’s Day is very special for us, as we are a global organisation for women and we give service locally, nationally and internationally, to benefit women and girls. We particularly wish to celebrate International Women’s Day this year, the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day. “

Talk by SI Federation President and County Guide Commissioner

reigate-and-district — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:01:59 +0000

At a recent meeting members were joined by Liz Morgan-Lewis, SI Federation President and Margaret Frosztega, County Guide Commissioner for Surrey East. It was fascinating to hear Liz outline the similarities between the aims of the two organisations and the moves on the national and international fronts to work together to further the interests of girls and young women. Liz also gave an account of her first quarter as Federation President, which included chartering a new SI club in Trinidad of 22 members under the age of 26; details of plans to celebrate International Women’s Day on 10^th March; and, details of the International SI Conference to be held in Brighton in October this year.

Margaret Frosztega told members that in Surrey East 4000 girls from the ages of 5 -16 are involved as members of Guiding groups as well as 1000 adults, half of whom are leaders and the rest are helpers on an occasional basis. She gave details of activities and celebrations connected with the 100^th Anniversary of Guiding including a wide range of fund raising activities. Volunteers with a wide range of skills are being sought to help as administrators and treasurers to individual Guiding Groups.

Talk about Soroptimism to Reigate Rotary

reigate-and-district — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:56:01 +0000

At a recent meeting of Reigate Rotary, Shirley Cotton, President of Soroptimist International (SI) of Reigate and District talked to members about Soroptimism. She briefly outlined the history of the international organisation from its formation 1921, when eighty women formed the first Soroptimist club in Oakland, California. Since then, membership has grown to over 90,000 women across the world. This makes SI the world’s largest classified service organisation for women. Soroptimists are committed to a world where women and girls together achieve their individual potential, realise their aspirations and have an equal voice in creating strong and peaceful communities worldwide.

Shirley outlined the current international and national SI projects and gave details of the activities that the local club engages in to raise money to support local charities such as St Catherine’s Hospice, MacMillan Nurses, Lifestraws (Rotary supported charity Brynmawr), the local women’s refuge, Canine Partners (trained dogs for people with disabilities), Age Concern, Welcare (supporting parents with children under 5 years of age) and the Safehaven Training Centre in Horley.

The Club also supports a range of campaigns to prevent violence against women; elder abuse; forced marriages and honour killings; trafficking and the sex trade.

Talks by Age Concern and SAVI

reigate-and-district — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:37:48 +0000

At recent meetings of Soroptimist International of Reigate and District, members were interested to hear about the work of two local charities. Mike Ward, from Age Concern of Merstham, Redhill and Reigate, gave a brief introduction to the range of activities and support they offer. He then gave a somewhat harrowing account of the types of abuse that many elderly people suffer both in institutions and at the hands of their own family members. This abuse can be physical, psychological, financial, sexual and also neglect. He outlined the way that Age Concern work to support elderly people in difficult situations in liaison with other agencies. Further details can be found from the website www.ageconcernmrr.org.uk .

Cecilia Power and Geoff Pearson, from Surrey Association for Visual Impairment (SAVI), outlined the support that SAVI provides for the 6,000 people in Surrey who are visually impaired. SAVI is based in Fetcham, was established in 1922, employs 80 people, mostly part-time and has over 311 volunteers. They aim to provide help for those with eye problems to be able cope with their lack of sight. Geoff informed members although SAVI is currently half funded by SCC the rest of the money required to fund the service comes from donations and in the current financial climate more will need to come from that source. Cecilia, who is herself visually impaired, gave some graphic and amusing examples of the difficulties that visually impaired people have to cope with in social situations. Further details can be found from the website www.savi.org.uk .

September Update

reigate-and-district — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:19:19 +0000

The Club has had a very busy few months. Our 47th Charter Event at The Bridge House, Reigate was very well attended by both members and other clubs.

Afternoon Tea at Glenys’s on 31 August was very successful and raised £246.50 for St Catherine’s. We were very lucky with the weather and the afternoon was filled with lots of chatter and laughter.

On 24 September President Shirley hosted a McMillan Nurses Coffee Morning at her home which raised over £200.

On the social side, we were blessed with late summer sunshine for our relaxing Sunday lunch cruise on the River Wey which was enjoyed by several Club members and their guests.

Annual BBQ & Grant of Friendship Visit

reigate-and-district — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:44:57 +0000

The club recently held their annual BBQ at which they welcomed Anu Ulp from Estonia, enjoyed wonderful food and raised £435 for St Catherine’s. Anu is visiting the UK on a Grant of Friendship and spending time with clubs in the region. She addressed members of the club at their monthly meeting and described the activities of her SI club in Tartu, the second largest city in Estonia. She entertained and informed club members about the language, food, history, politics and culture of her country. President Shirley Cotton, presented Anu with a framed print of the Old Town Hall in Reigate and a tea towel of Victorian Reigate.

Reigate Park Festival – Saturday 26 June

reigate-and-district — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:44:49 +0000

At the Reigate Park Festival on Saturday 26th June, members of the club manned a stall. On one of the hottest day of the year, we raised awareness of Soroptimism and our Programme Action work. We also raised £75 for … Continued

St Catherine’s Hospice Midnight Walk – Saturday 19 June

reigate-and-district — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:44:42 +0000

Three of our members were among the 1000 women who took part in the St Catherine’s Hospice Midnight Walk on Saturday 19 June starting and finishing in Horsham Park.

The sponsored 13 mile walk was to raise money in aid of St Catherine’s Hospice, a charity dedicated to providing specialised end of life care to people, their families and friends and carers from Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex, Dorking and East Surrey.

The care the hospice provides is free of charge and each year £4.8 million of voluntary income needs to be raised to fund this work.