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

On June 4th 2025 more than one hundred participants attended the fourth ‘Creating Health and Harmony in the Community’ conference at Bournemouth University. The guests were welcomed by the Skittle Alley Strummers playing their ukuleles and were then stimulated by and engaged with a series of interesting speakers. His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, Michael Dooley, led the day with his energy and enthusiasm for Harmony present throughout. SI Bournemouth had a stand that we shared with SI Poole, Purbeck and District so they could distribute their Fresh Thoughts booklets. The club secretary chaired one of the sessions on the day and the feedback was very positive by all those attending. Another positive link with the community in Dorset.           If you are interested in this and would like to come along to a Soroptimist International Bournemouth meeting to find out

Jessica Toale, MP for Bournemouth West and the first female MP in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP), visited SIB on April 9th to talk to members of the club and friends about her journey to Westminster. She shared her background, motivation to enter politics and some of her experiences along the way. Everyone present was a resident within the BCP area and we were all very pleased to hear about her commitment to, among other things, revitalising the town centre and improving women’s safety, working with the council and citizens to achieve significant improvement. In recognition of her accomplishments as a strong female leader, we were pleased to present her with a certificate of honorary membership saying we wished to “recognise you as an outstanding woman in our local community. As a global volunteer organisation with the aim to educate, empower and enable women and

Soroptimist International Bournemouth, part of a global volunteer movement with the aims to educate, enable and empower women and girls, created this challenge in 2013 to inspire girls and encourage them to overcome barriers to careers in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics). We invite secondary school students to develop initiatives that will improve the lives of women and girls in poorer parts of the world; they work together in small teams to develop the concept, write up a brief and, if shortlisted, create a prototype. The teams then pitch these to experts in the field and are judged. This year we had teams from Parkstone Grammar, St Peter’s and Lytchett Minster Schools and the projects they produced included dealing with plastic in the oceans, helping to prevent ‘period poverty’, water purification and dealing with Chagas disease- quite an impressive variety. The prizes were

The eighth annual Women’s Community Impact Awards took place on International Women’s Day 2025 at a glittering evening at the Hilton Hotel in Bournemouth. Seven Soroptimists were there to support our colleague, Bobbie White, whose achievements over many years were recognised with a Women of Impact Lifetime Achievement Award. Bobbie moved to Dorset and joined SIB in 2007 and has been active locally, nationally and internationally since then. She was the architect of the club’s STEAM Challenge, is an active member of the VAWG group, leads our international activity and the list goes on. We were delighted and very proud that Bobbie was recognised in this way, a very well-deserved accolade!          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.

Jessica Toale, MP for Bournemouth West and honorary member of SIB, invited local residents to discuss experiences of women’s safety in Bournemouth town centre and to learn how design, culture and policing can help improve things. Two members of the club attended the event with approximately 50 others at the Patch in Bobby’s. There was a panel of 5 experts who each shared thoughts; this was followed by a walkabout in the town centre where participants had the chance to talk about where they felt most and least safe and why. A Q&A session allowed for questions and issues to be raised, and the event closed with the commitment by Jessica’s team to follow up with all those who registered. A very useful exercise and we will watch the next steps with interest.               If you are interested in this and would