As our ‘wish’ for 2025, SI Bournemouth decided to invest some energy in recruiting new members to extend the capacity of the club to help meet our aims to educate, empower and enable women and girls to reach their full potential. Happily, we have a steady stream of interest in the club generally, but we wanted to try for a step change. Therefore, we held two membership events on October 15th and 17th at the West Hants Tennis Club where we meet and sent out a flier to local women’s networks. We talked to several potentially interested women who were doing classes or playing tennis, giving out literature and taking contact details to follow up afterwards. We also emailed the Women’s Academic Network at Bournemouth University and the women’s group at University Hospital Dorset. To date we have had responses from six potential candidates, and

SI Bournemouth once again staffed a hydration station at the Bournemouth 10 km and half marathon run on Sunday October 12th 2025 to raise funds for the club. Many SI members, family and friends turned up to hand out bottles of water to the more than 5000 runners who were very appreciative. It was pleasing that our Ms GB finalist, Krystel Vida, was there with her sash on to support the effort with many runners congratulating her on her achievement. It was all a bit fast and furious when the main group of half marathon runners came through; there were lots of sore hands from having to take the tops from bottles at the rate of knots! However, it was another productive and overall satisfying day on the beautiful Bournemouth seafront. Thanks to everyone involved.     If you are interested in this and would

Our short-listed candidate for the Miss Great Britain pageant 2025, Krystel Vida, had quite a busy day on October 10th! As part of her campaign, she took advantage of the opportunity to be interviewed twice- firstly by the BBC in Southampton and secondly on Dorset Coast Radio in Bournemouth. Both interviews were a success; Krystel was able to articulate why she wanted to enter the competition and how participating has given her a chance to develop skills and a platform for the future.  The judges look for a competitor who embodies all that a modern woman should: strength, intelligence, ambition, integrity and compassion- all things that Krystel has in buckets load! We wish her well at the finals on October 17th; we will be with you in spirit.         If you are interested in this and would like to come along to a Soroptimist

The Women’s Independent Advisory group was set up by Dorset Police to gain independent advice around their approach to dealing with Violence Against Women and Girls.  The group meets quarterly, generally online, and SI Bournemouth currently has two regular members of this group, Liz Dominey and Bobbie White. However, there was a face-to-face meeting on October 9th hosted at the Vitality Stadium, home to AFC Bournemouth. It was a lively and engaged meeting and the feedback about the sharing of ideas and initiatives has been very positive. As our art exhibition as part of the UN’s ’16 days of activism against gender-based violence’ is approaching, this was a timely opportunity to meet with others committed to reducing violence and abuse. . If you are interested in this and would like to come along to a Soroptimist International Bournemouth meeting to find out more, please email

An artistic installation named “World Kiosk” by the artist-led collective Variable Matter, is an immersive experience to “pause, listen and feel the threads” of a story, and the broader concept of using kiosks in the art world as interactive platforms or cultural venues to engage with art and community. In September 2025 the installation was part of the Arts by the Sea Festival in Bournemouth and three members of Soroptimist International Bournemouth volunteered to act as hosts. Having done some training, we each participated for two hours during the festival, inviting people to sit, listen to people’s stories on headphones, read specially printed newspapers with more narratives, have some free herbal tea and then chat about the experience. Participants appeared to really enjoy the opportunity to pause and think about others and then provided written feedback on postcards. Overall it was interesting and we felt

Since its inception in 1945, Miss Great Britain has become the longest running and most prestigious pageant in the UK. Pleasingly it has moved with the times and is no longer primarily related to external beauty but expects the contestants to be modern women who embody strength, intelligence, ambition, integrity and compassion. These are all characteristics that Soroptimists applaud! Krystel Vida, an active member of SIB since June 2023, is one of the finalists who will compete in Leicester in October 2025. She has an impressive story to tell of rising above difficulties in her own life, becoming a successful translator, a committed Soroptimist and an effective fund raiser for cancer research through her amateur boxing. Krystel is being sponsored by the Thrive Programme, an organisation with the aim of “Empowering people with the skills, confidence and courage to make the most of their lives,

On a bright and warm Friday evening, 20 Soroptimists and friends met with Tom Hayes over dinner to learn about his journey, his achievements and his ambitions. We had asked Tom to join us as he has been in post for a year and, despite a very full diary, he graciously accepted the invitation to talk to us beyond the limit of the working week. The feedback was very positive; attendees found Tom engaging, committed, both interested and interesting, and very astute. He shared details of his earlier work in violence against women and girls, his ongoing commitment to gender equality and his aim to support girls into STEM subjects, all issues that align very well with SIB. He also talked about actions he has taken to improve quality of life in his constituency ranging from improved playground facilities to more appropriate parking regulation. It

Dr Alex Blower, research fellow at the Arts University Bournemouth, has had a book published about how education is failing working class boys. As boys become men, and some of them will be misogynistic and abusive men, our club is increasingly interested in thinking about how to influence male emotional development positively. Five members attended a launch of Alex’s book on July 17th and were impressed with his experience, insights and call to action. We will be supporting the ‘Boys Impact’ movement that works to address attainment gaps for boys and young men.           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.

Here is a link to a podcast of an interview with SIB Secretary, Gail Thomas, about the good work our club and SI does. We hope you enjoy it! https://player.autopod.xyz/942959

Thirty years ago, an attack on a Soroptimist travelling on a train in the London area sparked a campaign to improve personal safety, particularly for women, on the railways. Surveys were carried out by Soroptimists covering over 500 British railway stations in different parts of the country. The surveys led to several reports being drawn up and published. SIGBI has asked clubs to repeat the exercise, and SIB has played its part. Eight members each visited one station in and around Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole including Bournemouth, Branksome, Christchurch, Hinton Admiral, New Milton, Parkstone, Pokesdown and Poole. We introduced ourselves to staff and used the proforma distributed by SIGBI to consider all the aspects of safety. In the stations where staff were present, we generally found them to be very forthcoming and helpful. It was an interesting and productive exercise and it would appear that