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A life-changing opportunity for Binita in Nepal

A life-changing opportunity for Binita in Nepal

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This receipt shows how much we have given to the Women  and Girls campaign for Pipal Tree. Thank you to everyone who bought the jewellery and the mandalas. Once again Bridgend Soroptimists made a donation to Pipal Tree which thanks to The Big Give Women and Girls Match Fund was doubled in value. This receipt shows our donation – thank you to everyone who bought jewellery and mandalas. Our donation will help support the education of girls in Madhesh Province, south Nepal. Girls like sixteen-year-old Binita Mahara, pictured here. Binita is a sixteen-year-old girl living with a disability (she was born with one eye) who this year successfully passed the very challenging Secondary Education Examination (SEE – equivalent to GCSE). This is a remarkable achievement for a girl who lives in a flimsy hut in rural south Nepal, her parents impoverished day labourers. Without our

Celebrating long service and welcoming new faces

Celebrating long service and welcoming new faces

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Bridgend Soroptimists had a double opportunity to celebrate at last week’s meeting. President Ruth was delighted to welcome Julie Phillips as a new member. Julie has joined us on a number of occasions and is now looking forward to being Soroptimist and contributing on a range of projects. We also celebrated Felicity Ladbrooke receiving her long service award for 45 years’ service as a Bridgend Soroptimist. Well done and congratulations Felicity! President Ruth said, “It has been an absolute delight this evening to formally welcome Julie and also to recognise the amazing service Felicity has given to the club. We are very lucky to have so many talented members and the club continues to go from strength to strength.” Celebrations continued over a relaxed evening of crafting when members made Christmas stars under the guidance of members Sue Jones and Sue Davies. The stars will

Soroptimists hear how Dean turned his life around

Soroptimists hear how Dean turned his life around

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The chair of trustees at Emmaus South Wales, Julie Raikes, recently visited Bridgend Soroptimists to talk about the work the charity is doing in south Wales. Emmaus provides shelter for homeless individuals and aims to give hope and a purpose to those benefiting from its much-needed accommodation. Emmaus South Wales is the club’s chosen charity for this year. On this occasion, Julie was joined by a young man, Dean, who spoke freely and inspirationally on how his life spiralled out of control from an early age, resulting in many periods of custodial prison sentences. In April this year he was invited by Emmaus to take up residence in one of the units they are able to offer destitute individuals. He was also offered professional care and guidance. Dean has taken very positive advantage of this opportunity and has completely turned his life around. He now

Soroptimists talk about mental health

Soroptimists talk about mental health

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Bridgend Soroptimists welcomed Lisa Aske to the September meeting to speak on the mental health provided to students by Cardiff Met University. Formerly a disability advisor with Cardiff Met, Lisa diversified into mental health when the need to provide support to students experiencing such issues became apparent. She now leads a team of wellbeing advisors and student support officers at the university. President Elect Sue Newton gave a vote of thanks to Lisa on behalf of the members saying how greater awareness of the level of mental health care on offer is most reassuring.

First graduates from our tailoring training in rural Nepal

First graduates from our tailoring training in rural Nepal

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Yesterday, 14 girls and women from Sarlahi District in rural south Nepal, completed their six months’ training in basic tailoring, organised by Lily’s Leaves. All graduates will leave the course with their own sewing machine as a gift and will be supported with start-up grants and loans towards setting up in business, if they so wish. One of the deaf girls from the Lily’s Leaves centre in Kathmandu, Muskan, went to Sarlahi to distribute certificates and congratulate the new graduates. Muskan was one of our previous trainees and is now on the staff of the Lily’s Leaves production centre, where she specialises in making silver jewellery. Another of the girls, Rabina, is a graduate from the six-month basic tailoring course in Kathmandu and has returned to this village to set up her own little business that she runs from home. She’s keeping very busy with local

Members enjoy a behind-the-scenes studio tour

Members enjoy a behind-the-scenes studio tour

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A visit to the BBC Cymru Wales TV studios was a popular choice for Bridgend Soroptimist’s summer outing. The opportunity to step into the future of broadcasting at BBC’s newest and most advanced studios on our doorstep in Cardiff was very appealing. The 90-minute tour gave members the chance to visit one of the largest BBC newsrooms, packed with cutting-edge technology including augmented reality, virtual reality and robotic cameras. Several members sat in the news “hot seat” whilst others tried their hand at weather presenting! They also had a sneak peek at TV galleries and other broadcast facilities to discover the secrets of making a BBC programme and follow in the footsteps of some of Wales’ famous faces. Following the tour they adjourned to the Parkgate Hotel for a well earned lunch and a discussion on future programme development!

Removing the stigma around homelessness

Removing the stigma around homelessness

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With Homelessness, The Crisis On Our Doorstep as her theme, President Ruth was delighted to welcome Romy Wood from Housing Justice Cymru to join our June meeting. Housing Justice Cymru is a housing need and homelessness charity, launched in Wales in 2016. Housing and Homelessness are devolved issues in Wales and are the responsibility of the Welsh Government. As the only non-denominational Christian housing charity currently working in Wales, they work with and support people belonging to all faiths and communities. In addition to her work with the charity, Romy Wood is an associate lecturer with the Open University and author. Romy gave an interesting talk about the work of the charity, illustrated with stories of recent beneficiaries and the issues they have faced.  

Celebrating with Frances – 90 years young

Celebrating with Frances – 90 years young

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Bridgend Soroptimists had a wonderful evening helping long-time member, Frances Rees, celebrate her 90th birthday. Frances was delighted with the many cards and greetings she received. She said, “It has been wonderful to share this celebration with my Soroptimist friends. The lovely birthday cake and glass of fizz have made the evening very special. Thank you to everyone.” Frances, a farmer by profession, has been a Soroptimist for almost 40 years. She has served as President of SI Bridgend three times, in 1991-1992, in 2000-2001, and in a three-way job share in 2017-2018 with Lily Laesser and Eurwen Richards to celebrate the clubs 70th anniversary. An extremely active member, Frances has been particularly interested in environmental issues, leading the way in getting discussions about food miles on the agenda and encouraging members to shop local. She regularly attends meetings and recently led a nature ramble

new members for SI Bridgend
New Members, Added Vitality

New Members, Added Vitality

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Bridgend Soroptimists were delighted to welcome three new members at their June meeting. Jenny Brick, Helen Baker and Debbie Hiley have visited the Club on a number of occasions and are looking forward to being Soroptimists and getting more involved in a range of projects. President Ruth said, “It is an absolute delight to welcome Helen, Debbie and Jenny to Bridgend. With their significant professional experience and wide-ranging interests, I have no doubt they will make a valuable contribution. Welcome ladies.”

Bridgend Soroptimists support homeless charity

Bridgend Soroptimists support homeless charity

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President Ruth was delighted to welcome Julie Raikes, chair and trustee of Emmaus South Wales and her colleague Del Jones, CEO of Emmaus Wales, to join us for the first meeting of our new Soroptimist year. Emmaus is the club’s chosen charity for the coming year. Emmaus is a homeless charity with a difference and was started after World War II by Frenchman Abbe Pierre. Although it now has a presence around the world, and 30 communities across the UK, Bridgend is the only one in Wales, alongside charity shops in Bridgend and Porthcawl. Julie and Del spoke about the history of Emmaus and how we need to remove the stigma surrounding Homelessness. Emmaus considers itself a charity with a difference because as Julie explains, “We not only offer a bed to the homeless, but also a reason to get out of it too! Our