The past year has been another productive one for SI Bournemouth and it seems timely to recap on a few of our most successful ventures as the year end draws near.
We supported International Women’s Day by holding a VAWG Summit at BU bringing together more than 60 people interested in changing the culture of misogyny and violence, attending an event for Women leaders in BCP and supporting the Women Community Impact Awards in Dorset. Our 11th STEAM challenge took place with more inspiring products being produced by secondary school girls, we presented at the ‘Creating Health & Harmony in the Community Conference’ and a member of the club won her bout at a Black-Tie Boxing Tournament raising funds for cancer research.
We had some notable speakers at our meetings- Claire Seymour MARAC Chair, Alimatu Dimonekene Human Rights Activist and Sarah Moneypenny-Dixon Sustainability Expert; all of them were impressive and made us think. We have offered Honorary Membership to Jessica Toale, MP for Bournemouth West, and Councillor Lesley Dedman, Chairman of BCP Council as significant female leaders in our community.
Our fund raising and charitable donation activity included raising funds at our summer social to donate to Julia’s House Hospice, a sponsored walk for Water Aid raising £235, staffing a Hydration Station at the Bournemouth Run making more than £400 for club funds, donating to both the Christchurch food bank (food for Christmas parcels) and the Salvation Army (Christmas toys) and making a loan per month to Lendwithcare to help female entrepreneurs in developing countries to take forward conservation projects.
Finally we held our second Art Exhibition as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence with the Arts University Bournemouth that was highly successful in raising awareness and challenging people to think differently about violence in relationships. We have continued to lobby MPs and sign petitions on relevant issues and maintain friendship links around the globe. Quite a productive year!
If you are interested in this and would like to come along to a Soroptimist International Bournemouth meeting to find out more, please email us at sigbibournemouth@hotmail.co.uk.