With one week to go, it’s ‘all systems go’ with our plans to ‘Orange up’ BCP for the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence from November 25th to December 10th. Here is our programme of events for the duration; we hope many of you get involved! Programme 16 Days Of Activism against Gender Based Abuse Here are members of the club making bunting at our recent meeting.

On October 14, 2023 the fifth ‘Walk for Freedom’ was held in Bournemouth as part of a global campaign to raise awareness of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. One hundred and thirty people, one of them Soroptimist Claire Seymour, walked through the streets locally while awareness was raised similarly in 50 other countries. The organisers, A21 UK said “We refuse to sit back and allow human trafficking to prevail without a fight. We have radical hope that if we play our part, slavery can be eradicated in our lifetime. This is what Walk for Freedom is all about. It’s a day where thousands of people, in hundreds of cities, take millions of steps – causing a ripple effect of impact. Through your action, awareness was expanded, and people have been awoken to this injustice all across the globe.” A very worthy cause indeed.   If

The Planet Group at SI Bournemouth held a sponsored walk recently to raise funds. The money will be used to support small business loans via the platform KIVA (https://www.kiva.org), focussing on international projects that help women and the environment. Kiva says “More than 1.7 billion people around the world are unbanked and can’t access the financial services they need. Kiva is an international non-profit with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive… addressing the underlying barriers to financial access around the world. Through Kiva’s work, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment and families can afford needed emergency care.” On a windy Sunday morning, a small but determined group came together and walked around the very pleasant Riversmeet Greenspace in Christchurch, sponsored to do so by friends and family. We raised £250

SI Bournemouth once again staffed hydration station number 1 at the 10 km and half marathon run on Sunday October 8th 2023 to raise money for Cementing Futures, our charity that promotes education, hope and dignity to girls living in the slums in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Twenty members and friends turned up to hand out thousands of bottles of water to the runners, who really needed it as it was gloriously sunny and unseasonably warm. They were very polite, 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.

On September 18, 2023, forty-eight members, friends and family of Soroptimist International Bournemouth came together to celebrate eighty-five years of contribution to women and girls locally, nationally, and internationally. The event was held at the West Hants Tennis Club where we normally meet and they served us a lovely meal, followed by a specially commissioned cake. There was a slide show being displayed throughout the evening that shared several of highlights from over the years, for example, our annual STEAM challenge, drink spiking campaign, charity Cementing Futures that supports girls’ education in Bangladesh, toilet twinning project and VAWG conference. A quiz, created by a recently joined member, Gail Moneypenny, followed the meal and was all about things to do with the number 85; it was somewhat challenging but good fun. Our President, Kiera Mauro, gave a suitable speech and she cut the cake with the

On Friday August 25th 2023 SI Bournemouth dipped its toes into the world of Orange Cafés for the first time. SIB member Lisa Maw had developed a relationship with Dot, the manager of the Well Coffee Lounge who was happy for us to come along wearing orange, willing to talk to customers about the issues to do with violence against women and girls. The Well Coffee Lounge was set up by a local charity, Safe and Sound Dorset, to be a hub in the centre of Boscombe to bring together the community who have a mutual love for good quality coffee. It’s also there to help provide the charity with a means to directly finance its prime aims and objectives which are to help women who are isolated or at risk in the community. The charity has been running for just over six years in

Every July, SIB holds our monthly meeting by the beach to appreciate the beautiful part of the world where we live. We have fish and chips, games, and fund-raising opportunities while enjoying the view over Poole Bay and the Purbecks. This year we had a ‘name the bee’ competition as well as a ‘guess the number of sweets in the jar’. We raised £100 for the Liberty Project, a southwest based charity that provides a safe house for potential victims of human trafficking and modern-day slavery, supporting people during a reflection and recovery period. We had Poppy Blundell from the charity speak to us recently and were struck by the important work that they do, helping people in considerable need. The main event of the evening was three rounds of bingo where winners were given a small prize as well as a Soroptimist sweatshirt. Christelle

SI Bournemouth and Bournemouth University held a thought-provoking, stimulating and highly successful conference on June 29th, 2023 focussing on issues relating to violence against women and girls. Two hundred delegates participated and listened to amazing presentations by True Honour (honour killing), Unity in Vision (female genital mutilation) and White Ribbon (men’s perspectives on VAWG) in addition to attending workshops. The key note session was an ‘in conversation’ one led by Kate Adie CBE (previous Chief News Correspondent at the BBC and the Chancellor of Bournemouth University) with Paula Harriott, Head of the Prison Reform Trust. Paula revealed that she had been in a coercive and chaotic marriage that led to her imprisonment for four years on drugs charges; it was a sobering discussion but one that has led her to have positive insights into how the prison system needs to be changed especially in relation

In 2017 Dame Vera Baird KC, then the Police and Crime Commissioner for the area, initiated a unique partnership between SIGBI and criminal justice partners in Northumbria. She engaged local Soroptimists in an observation project in which they watched over 220 sessions of the Specialist Domestic Violence Courts (now Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts), answering a range of questions in particular about how the largely female victims were treated. The results uncovered serious failings and shortcomings in these courts. These were then analysed to produce a report in 2018 asking: “Specialist Domestic Violence Courts: How Special Are They?”. That work provided the foundation to replicate the same initiative in Wiltshire in 2018 and in the Midlands in 2020 and throughout many other areas of England in 2022. The collective reports together show something very close to a comprehensive report on the way in which the Specialist

On Monday June 19th, Christelle Attisso was inducted to SI Bournemouth as our fourth new member in 2023. President Kiera Mauro shared the duties of Soroptimists, offered the right hand of friendship and gave Christelle her badge and information pack. Members enthusiastically welcomed Christelle; we are delighted that she has joined us and are sure she will make a significant contribution to the club.   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.