Winton Carnival was held on a very hot and sunny day, at the end of June. The Cementing Futures Team had an excellent site with three fundraisers going at one.There was a tiger tombola ,a general tombola and arm painting which proved popular with children. Over £300 was raised towards the school in Bangladesh, with awareness raised of the issues of education in poor areas of Dhaka. Useful contacts were also made with staff and students at Bournemouth University. Debbie Rogers,leader of the group, said “We had an amazing day”

This cake, iced ready for a fundraiser, bears the logo and colours of the Cementing Futures charity. A novel idea making use of the bright colours and eye catching design. Just a small contribution towards the target which is to build a school in Bangladesh.

A very generous cheque for well over £1000 was presented to our club by the President of SI Oxford, Margaret Norwood. Oxford have been busy fundraising for our Cementing Futures Charity. Margaret is a former member of our own club and the occasion brought smiles all round as you can see. Thank you to everyone at Oxford who contributed to the sum raised.

At Cardiff, in October 2009, members from SI Dhaka and SI Bournemouth received a Soroptimist International Best Practice Award from SI President Hanne Jensbo This was for the work undertaken on  project called, ‘Cementing Futures—Literacy in Bangladesh’ Bournemouth members were inspired by the urgent need for education to support SI Dhaka in their work in Bangladesh, after meeting members of SI Dhaka at the SIGBI Federation Conference. Some club members visited Bangladesh and decided to support the literacy project started by SI Dhaka by building secure premises where they provide primary education and other oppor-tunities for the young pupils.A business plan was put in place and a separate charity named-Cementing Futures– was formed.A website, a DVD and other promotional materials were produced. Much fundraising has taken place – working closely with SI Dhaka and their partner organisation Nijera Sjikhi to realise intended outcome of the

The Fun Fundraising Evening held at the Cumberland Hotel  on 19th March was a huge success.With a toastmaster in a red coat,an Elvis impersonator to help us dance,and excellent food what more could you want.? Well of course there was a splendid raffle and lots of extra games to persuade people to part with a little more money and of course the incomparable Debbie Rogers and her band TartN’trouble.We were delighted to have raised over £1,400 which will all go to “The Friends of Bournemouth Womens’Refuge”. Of course the organising took lots of hard work but the committee,ably lead by Yvonne Fairchild,can be well satisfied with their efforts.

A well known local Elvis Impersonator,Willard Ford, has been secured for our fun fund raiser on 19th March at the Cumberland Hotel.The event will also have music provided by “Tart’n Trouble”.Tickets at £29.50 include supper,a drink on arrival at 7pm and lots of laughter.This is our fundraiser in aid of The Bournemouth Women’s Refuge.If you would like to come please ring either 01202 759921 or 01202 390986,or email us via the get in touch with us section of the website.

At Cardiff, members from SI Dhaka and SI Bournemouth receive the Best Practice Award from SI President Hanne Jensbo A very happy and proud occasion for all members of our Clubs and particularly the Cementing Futures Team

SI Best Practice Award SI Bournemouth has been awarded an Soroptimist International Best Practice Award for the project ‘Cementing Futures – Literacy in Bangladesh’, under the Programme Goal of ‘Eliminating poverty and gender discrimination through ensuring women’s full social and economic rights’. The decision was announced by  the SI Board which met in Denmark on Tuesday, 4 August 2009. A formal presentation will be made at the SIGBI Conference in Cardiff in October. President Lynne Lacey said “I am so proud of what the Cementing Futures Programme Action Group have achieved so far; their innovative ideas and endless energy have been amazing and the support from members of the Bournemouth Club has been unstinting. The Club’s relationship with our sister club in Dhaka has always been strong but it is wonderful to see how this has been built on.  The friendships that have been formed

ITEMS HEADING FOR AFRICA This sewing machine and other items -wool,kntting needles and haberdashery have been collected ready to go to Africa with the Charity “Tools For Self Reliance”.They will be collected at our Regional Meeting in September ready to go to Netley Marsh and eventual transport away to help communities become more self reliant.

July saw the launch of our new Lobbying Group.This group has been formed to follow up work in support of the issues brought to our attention by the United Kingdom Programme Action Committee( UKPAC). We hope to be able to find a way to disseminate issues to club members and enable them to lobby MPs, MEPs and Government Ministers as well as Local Authorities to achieve our organisation’s long term aims.We are looking at the Map of Gaps, www.mapofgaps.org , dealing with the issue of the provision of Womens Support Services,and supporting the UNICEF Campaign for improving sanitary arrangements in the developing world. …