Soroptimist Friends
The first of our Friendship Links, established in the early 1950s, is with the historic colonial city of Williamsburg.
Initially letters were exchanged between individual members of both clubs, followed up by visits to Bridgend from members of the Williamsburg Club. Bridgend members visited Williamsburg too and the two clubs exchanged gifts. Bridgend sent copies of Annigoni’s portrait of the Queen to Williamsburg during Coronation year. On a more practical level during these post war years food parcels were received every Christmas from our American friends.
In 1963 two members from Bridgend visited the Williamsburg Club taking photographs, letters and a tape of messages from club officers and founder members. These intrepid travellers called into Williamsburg again after the Soroptimist International Toronto Convention of 1967.
In recent years whilst our communication with SI Williamsburg has been less frequent, they are fondly remembered. An early gift from them was a brooch of the Mace of the City of Williamsburg and this is given to our President Elect each year to wear as insignia of her position.
The link with SI Courtenay was also established in the early 1950s, initially through letters but quickly followed up by personal visits in both directions.
Canadian Soroptimists visited Bridgend in 1964 and received gifts of Ewenny pottery. During this visit, members of SI Cardiff joined Bridgend and their guests at an informal dinner. Members met again in 1967 at the Soroptimist International Convention in Toronto.
There has been regular contact since the 1980s with SI Courtenay, primarily by letter and email, as well as the occasional zoom call. One member of SI Courtenay has spent some time in Wales with members of our club and, as a regular attendee at International Conventions, she always seeks out Bridgend members at any Soroptimist gatherings, whether in Helsinki, Sydney, Montreal or Istanbul!
In 2024, SI Bridgend sent congratulations to SI Courtenay on 80 years of service to their community and Soroptimist International.
In March 1958, SI Bridgend agreed to accept SI Uusikaupunki in Finland as a Friendship Link. Even from those early days, the link has been extremely active with extensive correspondence and not infrequent visits between members of both clubs.
The first visit was in August 1960 when a member from Finland was entertained by Bridgend members. In 2003, several Bridgend members enjoyed Finnish hospitality and in 2007, eight members of SI Uusikaupunki joined us for our 60th anniversary celebrations.
In 2015, six Bridgend members received a wonderful welcome and outstanding hospitality in Uusikaupunki as part of the Finnish club’s 60th anniversary celebrations. In 2025 the travels continued with four members travelling to Finland to celebrate SI Uusikaupinki’s 70th anniversary.
There has been regular contact by email and, as our technical skills have progressed, we now enjoy zoom meetings a couple of times a year when we share information about our club projects, as well as the cultural significance of various celebrations.
Since early 2000, we have forged a Friendship Link with SI Moreton North Inc. in Queensland, Australia.
The link began following personal contact between members of the two clubs and developed further when a member of SI Moreton North Inc. became one of the International Project Liaisons for Project Sierra, the Soroptimist International Quadrennial Project for 2007-2011.
There was regular ongoing contact between the two clubs via email and the link was consolidated by one of our members frequent visits to Queensland where she attended Moreton North’s club meetings.
Since 2020, we have enjoyed a number of zoom meetings with Moreton North which bring a very personal slant to the project reports and information shared via email. The most recent meeting was held to celebrate World Peace Day enabling us to share thoughts on the concerns and issues affecting us all and our hopes for a peaceful future.
A new Friendship Link started in 2026 is with SI Canada West Online. A new style club, SI Canada West Online attracts members from across Canada and, with no physical location, meets primarily online.
Whilst still in its early days, the potential for this link is exciting. Bridgend members have already joined several online meetings ‘Sharing Soroptimist Stories’ and look forward to opportunities to extend our friendship through joint project work.