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Bridgend welcomes new Soroptimist President

Bridgend welcomes new Soroptimist President

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Bridgend Soroptimists held their AGM at the Heronston Hotel last night and welcomed their new President, Lesley Davies. Although outgoing president Gaynor Hoare was unable to attend, she expressed her thanks to members for their support and commitment over the previous two years. Eileen Bayley stood in for Gaynor and presented Lesley with the chain of office. President Lesley said it was an honour to be taking up this role and she looked forward to continuing to promote Soroptimism with a busy programme. Her theme for the year is the Safety of Women and Girls with a focus on modern slavery and trafficking. Find out more about President Lesley here.   President Lesley then welcomed Ruth Davies-Kemp as President Elect giving her the President Elect insignia of the Williamsburg brooch. The gold brooch is a replica of the Mace of the Colonial City of Williamsburg

Celebrating 75 years of service

Celebrating 75 years of service

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Bridgend Soroptimists were delighted to be celebrating 75 years of giving service as members of SIGBI (Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland). All agreed that this is an amazing achievement for the Club and its members. Supper, a celebration cake and a glass of fizz helped the evening go with a swing. Long-standing member Anne Morgan shared fond memories of days gone by, noting the incredible impact the club has had on the lives of women and girls, not just in the Bridgend area but also internationally through projects such as Education in Cape Verde and Empowering Girls in Nepal. One project that Anne highlighted is the support the club has given to victims of domestic abuse through the women’s refuges in Bridgend. Members were instrumental in ensuring support programmes were available locally and expanding the facilities available for women affected by domestic abuse, in

Protect women’s rights in the workplace

Protect women’s rights in the workplace

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Standing up for women is at the heart of being a Soroptimist. Following an alert from WEN (Women’s Equality Network Wales), a number of Bridgend Soroptimists added their names to the letter sent to the House of Lords regarding the proposed changes to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. At the WEN Gender Network meeting in March, members discussed the enormous risk that this bill poses to women’s employment rights – protections around equal pay, family-friendly policies, pregnancy and part-time working could be lost overnight on 31 December 2023. WEN then drafted the open letter to peers in the House of Lords, who will consider the bill for report stage on 19 April, urging them to protect women worker’s rights and asking for amendments to the Bill to achieve that. Bridgend Soroptimists will be monitoring the progress of this Bill and intend to do

Brownies show they’ve got talent!

Brownies show they’ve got talent!

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In the last 2 months Brownies across Bridgend and Porthcawl have been honing their performance skills to take part in a Brownies Got Talent competition. The competition which is sponsored by Bridgend Soroptimists involved over 100 Brownies from 5 different Brownie groups in Newton, Kenfig Hill, Llangynwyd, Coity and Litchard. Each of the girls performed in front of an audience and the acts included singing and dancing, playing an instrument, doing magic, gymnastics, dog obedience, story-telling and even whistling! Every participant gained their Performing badge and also received a Brownies Got Talent certificate. Nine girls won through the unit and division heats to take part in the Grand Final and competed for the Brownies Got Talent trophy in front of an audience of around 100 people. The three ladies set the difficult task of judging the final were Gaynor Hoare, President of Bridgend Soroptimists, Donna

Fashion, Fun and Friendship

Fashion, Fun and Friendship

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Once again Bridgend Soroptimists hosted a very successful fundraising Fashion Show at the Heronston Hotel. A sell-out event with over 100 guests, there was something for everyone and for every event.From casual to formal, we were treated to a range of beautiful outfits from Samantha B in Ewenny, Bridgend. Several members of SI Bridgend stepped ably into the role of models bringing a mix of elegance, sophistication and glamour to the proceedings. As well as bringing along the fabulous fashions, Samantha compered the evening with great humour and also generously offered a significant discount on clothes bought from her in the 2 weeks following the event. The fashion show, an excellent raffle with prizes generously donated by Club members and local businesses, and the contribution from Samantha B is expected to raise a significant sum for the bereavement charity, Cruse Morgannwg, as well as other

Educating Girls in Cape Verde

Educating Girls in Cape Verde

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Jill Delgado and Joan Payne, both members of SI Cardiff and Trustees of the Soroptimist Members’ Educational Trust, gave a presentation on the charity Jill founded in 1997 to encourage girls in the Cape Verde Islands to stay on for, and then complete, their secondary education.Jill explained that the Trust had financially supported a total of 68 girls and that SI Bridgend had been immensely supportive sponsoring 7 girls. In addition, individual Club members (Carys Brown, Rayner Rees and Joyce Chatterton, who is also a Trustee) have sponsored a further 4 girls which meant that Bridgend Soroptimists have hugely assisted 11 girls to achieve their potential. The girls we support are all from the island of Sao Vicente and the funding has enabled them to remain in secondary school, subject to them passing their exams. Without this support, the girls would have to leave school

St David’s Day Greetings from Canada

St David’s Day Greetings from Canada

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Soroptimist International is a global organisation of women working togetehr to transform the lives of women and girls. Bridgend Soroptimists sharing friendship and projects with their Friendship Link Clubs in Canada, USA, Pakistan, Australia and Finland. We were delighte dto receive these St David’s Day greetings from Margaret, a member of SI Courtenay in British Columbia, Canada: “Thinking of all members of SI Bridgend & District on your special national day.. Earliest Daffodils are blooming in nearby Filberg Lodge garden in Comox and were not affected by light snow here this weekend. Thank you to your three Bridgend members who attended the recent Western Canada Region chatline friendship webinar – it was lovely to share our Soroptimist projects and to see friends from far and wide. Darlene Jamieson who organizes these webinars has family in our area and planned to visit. President Jean, another member

Working Together in Friendship

Working Together in Friendship

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President Gaynor and members of SI Bridgend were joined by members from SI Port Talbot, SI Neath and SI Swansea at a lunch in support of the bereavement charity, Cruse Morgannwg. This was the fourth event in the collaboration between the four clubs to support this worthwhile charity. The guest speaker was Claire Horrex, Community Fundraising and Engagement Manager for Cruse for South Wales and the South West. Claire gave a very interesting talk explaining that Cruse is a national charity with support from local groups of volunteers. In the last year Cruse has reached over 100,000 people across the UK. Since the pandemic, support is now generally provided by phone or video call which means that those seeking help get a quicker response. The charity also supports families at major incidents, including Grenfell, and has a helpline run by volunteers. In 2022, Cruse Morgannwg

Bridgend Soroptimist on The Big Climb!

Bridgend Soroptimist on The Big Climb!

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This week at our Bridgend Soroptimist meeting we had the pleasure of hearing from one of our club members, Sue Jones, who gave a fascinating talk about her journey to Nepal and Everest Base Camp – My Big Climb. Sue was joined on this remarkable endeavour by her daughter Rhiannon and grandson Dafydd – Dafydd had chosen to undertake this adventure as part of his 18th birthday celebrations and was delighted his Mum and Grandma were going to join him. Unfortunately the trip was delayed by over two years due to the pandemic and finally took place in the autumn of 2022. Sue trained tirelessly to embark on this amazing adventure although nothing could have prepared her for the challenge she faced when she reached Nepal. Through a series of incredible photographs and heartfelt explanations, Sue took us on the journey with her. She was