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.

  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.

    “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.

On Monday 19th September our speaker was “Iggy”-Ignatius Harling from the charity Vita Nova Theatre Company . (www.vitanova.co.uk). He spoke not only about the work of his organisation with people in recovery from addiction, but also with great depth of feeling about his own journey. We sat fascinated by his personal story and gained insight into the struggle to move towards becoming a useful member of  Society. Although the Club has supported Vita Nova in the past this talk was welcomed by old and new members alike. There was a fascinating session with Ignatious at the end of his talk about drugs and the legal system. I am really pleased I was able to attend this Club Event.

As Soroptimists we are sometimes contacted by members from other countries who are visiting or studying in Bournemouth. We are able to invite them to a Club meeting or organise a meal out to meet and chat.Last month we welcomed two visitors from Germany.Here we are at a restaurant with Ingeborg Weiner and her locally based daughter in law Melanie.We were also able to meet another German contact Claudia Groddeck at the Forest Spice Indian Restaurant.The food was really tasty and we all had a great chat.

International Women’s Day at Bournemouth University. Our stand with its International Women’s Day Quiz attracted a great deal of interest from the staff and students. We had three spaces, one for IWD and our club, another for the Cementing Futures Charity and one to highlight issues surrounding Domestic Violence.The party balloons and promise of a book token prize for the winner of the quiz kept up a steady stream of visitors.

As a result of a simple email to Mr Robert Syms MP for Poole, he has now signed up to EDM 1318 Un Women “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

On Tuesday 25th January, nearly 100 pupils from Bournemouth School For Girls heard a presentation about Soroptimist International given by members of our Club. The history and structure were covered as well as our relationship with the United Nations.The occasion also gave an opportunity to highlight some of the projects we support, including Contact the Elderly, Bournemouth Womens’ Refuge, and Cementing Futures. The latter  being used to illustrate the workings of our Friendship Link with Dhaka.

No fewer than ten of our members attended the Federation Conference in Manchester last weekend. Here we enjoyed meeting hundreds of other Soroptimists, including many old friends. Meals out, parties and a banquet with over 1,000 guests kept us socialising. We were also inspired by speakers such as Dr Ian Oliver who gave us a global view of the connections between the illegal drug trade, trafficking of women and girls , the spread of HIV/Aids and terrorism. Dr Oliver said, “Aid to the developing world is essential to combat the effects of terrorism and the drug barons who infiltrate poor communities”. An update on  United Nations Resolution 1325 from Lesley Abdela highlighted that women are still excluded from top level peace talks in post conflict situations around the world, a matter of great concern since many of us were involved in the Campaign for the