During the week of International Women’s Day 2024, a group of Dorset-based organisations that campaign for women’s equality called leaders and other interested parties to a Summit Meeting to discuss how they can work together to change the culture of gender-based violence in Dorset. Dorset is reportedly the 6th safest place to live in the UK but 82% of sexual assault crime in Dorset is against women and trans-women and people who are non-binary or gender fluid are experiencing rising hate crime. Soroptimist International Bournemouth, Dorset Women CIC and the charity Acts Fast have joined forces with Dorset Police and academics at Bournemouth University to start to find solutions. A Summit Meeting was held on Wednesday 6th March to challenge local leaders and decision makers to work harder together to create a change in culture. The Police and Crime Commissioner, David Sidwick, Lead for VAWG

On a cold and windy weekend in February, a group of members met outside the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Civic Centre to raise awareness of Soroptimism in advance of this year’s International Women’s Day. Although there were few people out and about, we captured the event in photos that have been shared with the leader of BCP Council, Vikki Slade. Vikki is hosting a civic event on March 8th to celebrate the fact that “the Leader, Deputy Leader, Chair and all three Mayors of our towns are women. Most of our senior council officers are also female, and I also know that businesses and organisations across our towns are led by professional women in senior roles. This is an opportunity for us not just to recognise and celebrate female leadership, network and connect with others, but also to look at ways we can encourage and

Following our previous post on this website, we are pleased to share the results of the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) ’16 days of activism against gender-based violence’ artwork competition. Sixteen students displayed their work; more than 300 members of the public visited the exhibition and voted for their top three choices. It was difficult to decide whose outputs had the most impact; every student had votes in first, second and third places and all are worthy of hearty congratulations for their creativity, thoughtfulness, and insight. However, we are pleased to report the following: 1st place- exhibit J, Renee Claude 2nd place- exhibit M, Hope Millard 3rd place- exhibit I, Abbie Snelling The event was attended by Councillor Lesley Dedman, Chairman of BCP Council and Violet McClean, Senior Gallery Officer/ Curator at AUB who jointly awarded the prizes. Each had positive words to share with all

Starting on November 25th SI Bournemouth, in conjunction with the BCP Community Support Team, the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) and SI Poole, launched an exhibition at The Avenue in Bournemouth to mark the 16 days. The space was made available by Bobby’s, an iconic venue in the town centre of Bournemouth that houses concessions and stalls, and we were given a position within the South Coast Makers’ Market free of charge for six days. We offered students at AUB the opportunity to submit artworks that highlight the issues to do with gender-based violence, raising awareness and provoking thought. The result was extraordinarily successful- sixteen budding artists produced diverse, challenging, and stimulating works that the public have been highly impressed with. Visitors are invited to vote for the three works they thought fit the brief the best and the top three scorers will receive financial prizes of

SI Bournemouth has started to prepare for Christmas by digging deep with donations. At our meeting on November 20th, we invited members to bring along donations for the Christchurch food bank, gift bags to go to older people in care homes and goodies for our Christmas hamper, to be raffled for charity at our next meeting. The results were impressive- a crate full of staple foods and Christmas treats was collected to go to the food bank. Tracy Blick, who runs the food bank, came to talk to us last year and made a significant impression so we were all happy to provide support. Dorsetmums collects and delivers small gift bags to people in care homes who appreciate little treats and we have collected for them for several years. Sixteen people will wake up on Christmas morning with some lovely gifts and will hopefully be

The Violence Against Women and Girls Group at SIB undertakes activities to promote healthy relationships and raise awareness of the issue of domestic abuse. We require funds to be able support relevant initiatives, so the group recently held an afternoon tea, organised by Lisa Maw, on November 16th to raise money. Twenty-one members and guests attended to hear an interesting talk by an ex-police inspector, Richard Hutley, who reviewed the history of policing in the UK and then focussed on the current situation with violence against women. This was followed by a lavish afternoon tea supplied by members of the group. We charged £10 per head and invited the seniors and past members to come along. It was a nice opportunity to catch up with old friends and several participants helped to make orange bunting before the talk began that will be used at our

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.