Outgoing President Julie Lankshear charged the Executive with the administration of the Club for 2021/22. This was accepted by Kathy Moore on behalf of the Executive. Immediate Past President, Catherine Beal, accepted the Past President badge and Julie the Immediate Past President badge. Members thank Julie and Catherine for their service.
SI Bournemouth members are proud to support the Wardrobe Foundation. Wardrobe Foundation is a social enterprise, based in Cranborne, Dorset. Our aim is to provide clothing gift bags to women in need of clothing support across Dorset and BCP. We work with charities, organisations and local community groups to deliver these gift bags. We also promote sustainability through re-selling and upcycling pre-loved items. All donations are processed at our HQ, where we launder and steam them and sort into three categories: gifting, upcycling and resale! Read their latest news here
Members and their friends were not to be deterred by a COVID restricted Christmas meeting in 2020 but instead they celebrated with two quizzes and the panto Aladdin! Past Club President, Catherine Beal, organized the panto with willing volunteers taking on roles with enthusiasm (well mostly) and the rest ‘booing’ with appropriate timing as is always the case in pantoland! A hamper produced by member, Jane Hume, was raffled raising £245 towards Soroptimist International President, Sharon Fisher’s Appeal, ‘Road to Equality’. The meeting was closed with a rendition of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’. SI BOURNEMOUTH MEMBERS WISH ALL THEIR FRIENDS, PARTNERS AND THE WIDER COMMUNITY A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HEALTHY, HAPPY 2021.
Members have been raising awareness of all forms of Violence against Women #GenerationEquality by taking part in the #16DaysofActivism via social media accounts
Bournemouth Soroptimist, Nathalie Sherring, is the Chief Officer of a local charity called Dorset Race Equality Council. She loves her volunteering role within soroptimists and explains her most recent role here……………. “I joined in 2016 and have had various roles within the club. This year, I have volunteered to be the Programme Action Group Officer for the club and to co-ordinate all the projects that the club do. Our main project headings are International projects, Violence Against Women, Planet/Environment. Within those main groups, there are several projects that the club members undertake. We also have a very strong Lobbying, Advocacy and Research co-ordinator who is very active: currently we are lobbying for the Istanbul Convention to be ratified by the UK and for the Domestic Abuse Bill to become a law.
SI Bournemouth members showed their support for International Women’s Day at their recent meeting when they celebrated their actions educating girls in Bangladesh and twinning toilets throughout Asia and Africa. #SoroptimistsStandUpForWomen #EachforEqual
Trustees Bobbie & Jean inform members about the work of Cementing Futures Trustees of the club charity, Cementing Futures, updated members and visitors on its work at their recent meeting. Not only that, Bobbie and Jean dressed accordingly for the occasion impressing members and visitors including the Mayor of Bournemouth, Cllr Susan Phillips! Cementing Futures, provides nursery and primary education in Bangladesh by securing premises, trained teachers and equipment along with a daily nutritional snack for the children.
Cllr Susan Phillips, Mayor of Bournemouth, proudly received Toilet Twinned status on behalf of the town at the club’s February meeting. Soroptimist International of Bournemouth began to raise funds for the Toilet Twinning charity to celebrate the club’s 80th anniversary in 2018. Since then, they have twinned more than 90 toilets in eleven countries across Africa and Asia, and have encouraged many others to twin too. Bournemouth town now joins an elite group of 35 other UK towns and cities to receive the award. Teaming up with Toilet Twinning to mark the anniversary was an obvious project because a common approach is shared to eradicate poverty and all Soroptimist International’s work is linked to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and both share a mission to work at a local, national and international level to educate, empower and create opportunities for women and girls. Toilet
True Story, True HonourIn recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, SI Bournemouth #orangedtheworld and partnered Bournemouth University and Dorset Police to host an ‘Honour Based Violence’ presentation by Sarbjit Kaur Athwal and Dr Clive Driscoll from the charity, True Honour. The True Honour charity campaigns to raise awareness of honour based violence, forced marriage and Female Genital Mutilation. Sarbjit’s sister-In-law was the victim of an honour based killing and she gave a very personal testimony at the event which was heartbreaking. She strived for years to convince police and social services that her sister -in-law had been taken to India and murdered. Eventually Dr Clive Driscoll who at the time was a DCI with the Metropolitan Police took up her case and obtained the first conviction for an honour based murder. Sarbjit tells the story in her book –
