On January 1, 2025 Jean Harvey notched up 55 years as a Soroptimist, having been inducted in the now defunct Grimsby and Cleethorpes Club from where she transferred to SI Bournemouth in February 1973.  Little did she think then that she would still be a member of SIB 52 years later, how time flies!  However, Jean has now decided the time has come to move north for personal reasons and the club is very sad to see her go. So, at our meeting last evening, we were able to present Jean with her 55-year certificate, a card of good wishes and thanks and the commitment to donate £55 in her name to Mary’s Meals, a charity serving life-changing meals to children living in some of the world’s poorest countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded in 2002, they served over 2.4 million meals

For the second year SIB held a stimulating and thought-provoking art exhibition as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence from November 30th til December 7th. Twenty-eight students from the Arts University Bournemouth produced amazing work and the public were invited to vote for the three pieces that had the most impact on them. Many of the more than 500 visitors asked how they could find out the winners and we were pleased to be able to say that they would be published in the Echo and shared on our social media channels. Therefore, we are delighted to announce those with the most votes (although it was wholeheartedly agreed that every entrant was indeed a winner!). In third place was Alethea Parsons with ‘One touch’ In second place was Mansi Gupta with ‘She found her wings’ And in first place was

The Planet Group decided in 2023 to make monthly loans to Lendwithcare, an organisation that brings together entrepreneurs in low-income countries with the people that have the power to help them. Each month a member of the Planet Group selects someone to sponsor with a £15.00 loan. We focus our loans on women working on projects that are helpful to the environment, helping to fulfil our programme action group aims. We have now made 12 loans totalling £180 helping 35 entrepreneurs, 152 family members and creating 28 jobs. We have received back £44.73 which we are reinvesting. We believe that we will be able to break even in the next year and continue to make loans without having to invest further funds. A great way to help women and the planet! If you are interested in this and would like to come along to a

As part of our communications plan before the art exhibition for the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, we contacted the Bournemouth Echo. Pleasingly they published an informative article about last year’s display with the details of the 2024 exhibit. Here’s the link: https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24655842.art-exhibition-held-bobbys-bournemouth/ Have a read- it says it all! Keep an eye on our website, Facebook and Instagram pages for more details as the date approaches but please put it in your diary now- November 30th til December 7th 11.00-4.00 on the second floor of Bobby’s in Bournemouth Square! 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.

As part of our aims to be involved in the local community and to engage in projects that empower women and girls, we are delighted to say that two notable women in BCP have accepted our invitation to become honorary members for the year. Councillor Lesley Dedman, Chair of BCP Council, has many years of leading roles in the town having served on the council and as Mayor for five terms. Now elected to the Chairmanship of BCP Council, Lesley considers this role of huge importance, being the public face of a mainly anonymous body, and giving a wonderful opportunity to promote the hard work carried out by the council for the people of the area. Lesley will be awarding the prizes to the successful students at our art exhibition for the ’16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence’ for the second time in December

SI Bournemouth once again staffed a hydration station at the Bournemouth 10 km and half marathon run on Sunday October 13th 2024 to raise funds for the club. The run attracts people from across the BCP conurbation and from around the country- we noted participants from Plymouth, Portsmouth and the home counties to name a few. Many SI members and friends turned up to hand out bottles of water to the more than 3000 runners who were very appreciative, the vast majority thanking us heartily for the drink despite their exertions! It was a very productive and satisfying day on the beautiful Bournemouth seafront. 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.

Nigel Hedges, ex-Chairman of BCP Council, ambassador for the Bournemouth Chamber of Commerce and leader of the ‘Creating Health and Harmony in the Community (CHHC)’ initiative invited SI Bournemouth to a breakfast meeting with Jessica Toale, MP on October 4, 2024. The meeting was attended by members of the CHHC, ‘a rich showcase of passionate organisations and individuals that create health and harmony in Dorset in their own special way’. SIB has been contributing to the group over the past three years, presenting at the annual conference and engaging in opportunities to share and learn from each other. Jessica embraced the chance to join the group to find out more about CHHC and to meet some leaders from the local community. Dr Gail Thomas, secretary of SIB, attended and was able to share details of the Soroptimist movement as well as some of the notable

On a wet and windy Sunday in September, the Planet Group at SIB did a sponsored walk to raise funds for SIGBI’s charity of the year, Water Aid, an international not-for-profit organisation, determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere. All members of the club were invited to do a circular walk at an area of natural beauty alongside Christchurch harbour. Participants could do the circuit as many times as they liked aiming to secure sponsorship for the distance that they signed up to do. On the day, the heavens opened, and it was pouring with rain at the start time. Despite this a small select group undertook the walk and succeeded in raising £215. Well done those brave walkers!

Sarah Moneypenny, founder of UK SustainAbility, joined our meeting to share her experiences of helping individuals, organisations and businesses to implement sustainable practices. Sarah talked about the science behind climate change and, as well as being realistic about the disproportionately negative impact of climate change on women, was able to offer some glimmers of hope for the future. She suggested that we should ‘vote’ politically and with our money by choosing companies with genuinely green policies, switching to renewable energy sources and starting with one change per week in respect of recycling, composting and reducing beef and dairy consumption. Sarah also encouraged us to use our Soroptimist network to educate, sponsor climate change initiatives and organise ourselves to become greener. The SIB Planet Group will be taking up the challenge to reinvigorate our reduce, reuse and recycle campaign and to try out new green ideas.