• Economic Empowerment
• Environmental Sustainability
• Food Security and Healthcare
• Learning Opportunities
• Violence and Conflict Resolution
• 3E Project: Healthcare

Programme Awards 2010

ECONOMIC & SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The winner was:

SI Nottingham for their project “Women into Work and Mock Interviews”

This project began with club members working in their local comprehensive school setting up mock career interviews, to help prepare students for job and college interviews and to give them more confidence and improve interview skills. In this last year Nottingham members have been working  in the local Women’s centre organising courses to enable participants to have the background material and information, along with practical help, to write a CV, construct a covering letter, complete an application form and to participate in a mock interview. This has enabled women who have been long out of work, or indeed may not have worked before to confidently enter or return to the work place. This project empowers, enthuses, encourages and enables women into work.

Other Nominations were:

SI Solihull & District working with their friendship link club SI Johannesburg & District for their project “Sithabile Child and Youth Centre”.

Members from both clubs wanted to raise much needed funds for the centre, and at the same time work together in partnership to help eliminate poverty in this area of South Africa. In the photograph you can see some of the children from Sithabile designing wonderful colourful designs onto tea bags; they are being helped by Marjorie, a member from Solihull club. The designs are beautiful – and they are stitched onto bags by members of Johannesburg and Solihull clubs. These super bags are sold at Soroptimist conferences, meetings and study days. Over £4000  has been raised for the centre so far,  it has been decided that this money will be used to improve the centre, a new roof on the main building is needed, also a fence to surround the entire perimeter wall.

SI North Bombay for their project “Empowerment of Tribal Women”

The Kath Kari tribal women are some of the world’s most marginalised women who suffer from extreme poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and an absence of basic facilities such as food and clean water. Hygiene and proper sanitation are beyond their means – heath care is non-existent. Members of SI North Bombay have organised a programme for the women on various issues – education, health care and environment, they have given motivational talks to urge and encourage the tribal women to learn some skill and develop leadership qualities for better job opportunities.

The dream of SI North Bombay is to make this village and others like it into model villages where children are educated, and there is clean water, food and health care for all, and where the women can become self sufficient and work their way out of poverty. SI North Bombay has organised classes to teach tribal women vocational skills. In the first session 35 women were trained to make bead jewellery and 6 women were trained in knitting skills. These women are now in turn teaching other tribal women the skills.

EDUCATION

The winner was:

SI Weston Super Mare – Skirting Science

Even now the subjects that young people choose to study and the career paths they follow appear to remain gender specific. Congratulations to SI Weston Super Mare for recognising this and taking action.   For the second year in succession the club has held a ‘Skirting Science’ event that aims to encourage more young girls to consider scientific careers. Skirting Science was a one-day event with nineteen science and engineering interactive workshops hosted by scientists and engineers from all over the UK. The event was attended by two hundred and fifty thirteen to fourteen year old girls from twelve schools in North Somerset and Bristol. The interactive workshops were intended to inspire and encourage the girls to think about careers involving science that they may not have considered before. The programme report states; that on the day, there was a tremendous atmosphere, girls and teachers appeared very inspired by the exciting opportunities offered to them. This project involved a considerable amount of detailed planning and was evaluated by all who took part in the day.

Other nominations were:

SI Blantyre - Mary’s Meals

It is an accepted fact that children who are well nourished will thrive and learn so SI Blantyre are to be congratulated for this project.  The club along with their project partners Mary’s Meals provide a daily nourishing meal to children at Mtenje School in rural Blantyre. When poor families know their children will receive a daily meal they are more likely to make sure that their children attend school regularly. Members of the club visited the school and met with Mary’s Meals staff and the volunteers who prepare the meal of Likukuni phala which is a mixture of soya maize and sometimes nuts. SI Blantyre intends to continue to Mary’s Meals and the the school on an annual basis and to monitor the retention of pupils at the Mtenje School. SI Motherwell and Wishaw who is the Friendship Link club to SI Blantyre should also be acknowledged for helping to report this project.

SI Grange Over Sands – International Literacy Day

International Literacy Day is a key date in the Soroptimist year so it was particularly good that SI Grange Over Sands’ celebrated International Literacy Day. The project raised awareness of issues surrounding literacy as well as raising funds for Book Aid International. Members visited three primary schools to talk to children about the lack of access to books for children in sub Saharan Africa and how books can change their lives by helping them to become literate and so access further education.   Using information from Book Aid International, they told children about the cost and difficulty of obtaining books and the lack of community libraries. They held interactive sessions as members then read to the children and the children in turn read to them. This was followed with a discussion. The programme report states that members and the children discussed the ‘bleakness of a world without books’. In response to this the club decided to send enough money to Book Aid International to provide a community library.

ENVIRONMENT

The winner was:

York Ebor – Ladies Public Toilet Survey

The theme chosen by the Club President of York Ebor for the year was “Sanitation” both locally and internationally.

As well as the local population York also has approximately 4 million visitors each year and the club members were concerned about the replacement of a women’s 12 toilet facility with a six toilet Super Loo

Learning to live with endless loo queues is something girls become resigned to from an early age, but the club thought that consideration needs to be given to the thousands of women of every age group who have a continence problem, which can confine them to their homes if facilities are not made available.

The club contacted the City of York Council for permission to carry out the survey. The questionnaire of 55 questions was created based on a yes/no tick box response.

To provide a broader picture it was decided to visit each loo on more than one occasion. They visited the five locations on different days of the week, at different times and included a Bank Holiday.

The data was analyzed and the report listed both positive and negative outcomes with recommendations to the Council.

The photograph shows Past President Joanne Fraser presenting the report and a “Best Public Loo” award to the Lord Mayor of York and the officer responsible for Public Amenities.

Other nominations were:

SI Virtual One – Bee Plus Project

The honey bee population is declining worldwide and this will affect food resources.  This project is designed not only to raise awareness of the problem but to educate Junior School children about honeybees and what they can do safely to mitigate the impact.

The club adapted the British Beekeepers resource pack to enable a one week project to run in Junior Schools.

A successful Pilot Project, sponsored by Rowse Honey which involved 4 schools, 16 teachers and 430 children was completed in summer 2010.. Three of those schools are already planning to put hives on or near their properties.

This can be rolled out to any club interested, and plans for 2011 are to target 10,000 children across the UK.. The club hopes that schools may raise funds to provide hives for impoverished women overseas through charities such as Bees for Development . In the longer term they would like to work with this charity developing new materials for schools in other countries within the Federation.

Stop Press!

I am are delighted to be able to tell you that the Rowse Honey Company were so pleased with the quality and success of the pilot project that they have agreed to work in partnership with SI Virtual One on the roll out of the project in 2011

East Grinstead – Environmental Community Support

Briars Field Centre is run by a member of East Grinstead and is established to serve the local community, particularly schools and community groups, in raising environmental awareness and increasing the diversity of land use in this locality. East Grinstead Soroptimists have access to this facility and support it in its endeavours and also those of Lingfield Nature Reserve

East Grinstead Mental Health Association approached SI East Grinstead with their needs for outlets and activities for mental health patients in addition to supporting their fundraising. The Club realised the that these volunteers could use the Field Centre and prepare for school visits.

Work undertaken by participating volunteers involves several activities in each weekly session. This keeps interest high and adds value to conservation work in the locality. Problems of physical and mental health are well documented in research. The partnership offers safe, socially interactive situations for exercise in a Green Gym increasing physical exercise and improving health.

The work done by Soroptimists includes

• Running the conservation activities
• Running School Groups and RSPB Wildlife Explorer Groups
• Taking part in conservation work such as surveys on bluebells, birds and dormice.
• Raising funds to support the activities
• Committee work for East Grinstead Mental Health Association.

HEALTH

The winner was:

SI Ikeja –World Aids Day

The Project was organised to mark World Aids Day. It involved an awareness raising talk at Ojota Motor Garage which is made up of men who are long distance drivers and the women who make a living as sex workers at the garage. 109 people were screened for HIV and AIDS and those who tested positive were counselled and referred for care. Male and female condoms were distributed. There is still disbelief on the realities of HIV and AIDS. This results in a lot of carelessness in activities which predisposes people to the infection.

Other nominations were:

SI Carnforth and District—Ovarian Cancer Awareness Campaign.

The Project involved collecting information about the diagnosis, access to treatment and variation in access by locality. They have approached other Programme Action Officers for information in their Regions and they are supporting a local MP who has also started a Campaign.

Ovarian Cancer is the 4^th most common Cancer to cause death, it is a women only disease—often caused ‘the silent killer’ as by the time it is diagnosed it is often too late for effective treatment. Health Professionals often misdiagnose symptoms due to lack of awareness so there is a need to increase awareness among them along with the media and policy makers.

SI Kirkcaldy and District—Towards Sustainable Health Resources in Lesotho

The Project involved raising money to provide training along with in-country partners in Advanced Midwifery in a hospital in Lesotho. Funds were also raised to pay for books and internet access to aid distance learning. The photograph shows two of the young mothers who were attending the hospital.

HUMAN RIGHTS & THE STATUS OF WOMEN

The Winner was:

SI Pune Metro East for their project Domestic Violence

They decided to facilitate a workshop on domestic violence as part of the 4th Year student curriculum.  This was held at the Tehmi Grant Institute of Nursing Education attached to Ruby Hall, a large well-known hospital in Pune.  ASHA (Action for Self Reliance, Hope & Action), an NGO that works in conjunction with the local police at grassroots level, ran the course.  Nurses are often the first point of contact for victims of domestic violence and need to be aware of the medical, social, psychological and legal aspects of the Domestic violence Act 2005.  About 200 medical professionals and nursing students attended.  Similar workshops are planned for the future.

Other nominations were:

SI Blackpool for their project – purchase of a home used as a women’s Refuge

In the 1990s, SI Blackpool was left a legacy and bought a property which was offered to the Fylde Coast Women’s Aid for use as a refuge for women fleeing violent domestic situations. Two years ago, another property was needed which the club purchased, renovated and furnished giving extra legal, financial and other help.  Laurel House opened its doors last December and was soon occupied.  Club members  give talks about their ongoing involvement and raise awareness of the importance of domestic violence in the wider community.

SI Tenby & District for their project – “Slavery today through the eyes of children”

They decided to hold a competition for children in schools by asking them to depict  various aspects of slavery in essays, poems or pictures. The entries were displayed in the local museum and collated into a booklet which was launched at the Welsh Assembly and sold throughout South Wales.  The prize winning Event was attended by Joyce Watson, AM, and partners, Chevron International.  As a result, SI Tenby & District have raised awareness of the issue of Slavery today amongst children, schools, parents, teachers and the wider community.

INTERNATIONAL GOODWILL AND UNDERSTANDING

The winner was:

SI Cheshire, North Wales and Wirral - Hospitality Tent at the Eisteddfod

This wonderful project has been going for many years but was only recently submitted on the data base. A huge tent is set up in the Eisteddfod where people from diverse cultures and different international Communities come to see and hear International music and dance, and also get introduced to Soroptimism. A fantastic way in which different cultures are brought together to celebrate, music , dance and Soroptimism.

Other nominations were:

SI Ipsae, Mauritius - Women in Politics

Fantastic work is being done by SI Ipsae to train women to take up positions of responsibility. By training women to build their confidence and to prepare them to get into Politics, SI Ipsae is doing great work towards Gender Equality. This is a very important project as women who take up important positions will also then lend a voice to important decisions and have a role to play in Peace negotiations.

SI Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead- Sheila Rooney Travel Scholarship

A wonderful project started in the memory of Sheila Rooney who was a fellow Soroptimist and a fellow club member. A young women is by a committee to travel to a different country to learn the language, culture and to do social work. She is introduced not only to Soroptimism but also to a whole new and diverse way of living. She comes back with a greater understanding of the diversity of human beings and empathy with the way other less fortunate people live. A project which is a fantastic tribute to a friend and a fellow Soroptimist and gives an opportunity to a young person to travel and learn.

Congratulations to all the clubs who have been nominated!