On a lovely summer afternoon, members, friends and guests joined together in the home of Soroptimist Frances, for an enjoyable afternoon to raise funds for the Sandville Self Help Centre .  http://www.sandville.org/ Presidents Joy and Rayner have chosen the Sandville as their charity for the year and Gwyneth Poacher, founder and Nurse Director of the Centre attended the Garden Party to give everyone an overview of the services they would be helping to provide. Also at event were the members of the Bridgend Soroptimists Contact the Elderly group as guests of the Club.

At their annual garden party, held at the garden of Sir Geoffrey and Lady Inkin,  the members of the English Speaking Union presented Rayner, with  cheque for £500 for Soroptimist International Bridgend Club’s Kirachi project and specifically for our Soroptimist Friendship Club in Kirachi to buy books for their book project. They provide sets of books to each girl staying on at school beyond school leaving age. Rayner, Anne H and Carys ran a tombola and sold cards and bears and raised another £140 for the project.

Joint Presidents Joy and Rayner, accompanied by Club members , visited the Sandville Self Help Centre on Wednesday June 23rd. We were taken on a tour of the centre by the inspirational founder Gwyneth Poacher. The Sandville http://www.sandville.org/ is a centre staffed by 83 volunteers who provide many services for those with problems, check out the website. It was a beautiful evening, the views across from the centre were spectacular whichever way you looked. The Sandville has been chosen as the Presidents’ charity this year and SI Bridgend are holding a Garden Party and a Concert in Ewenny Priory (See Programme  http://soroptimist-gbi.org/bridgend-and-district/programme-2010-2011programme-2010-2011 ) to raise funds for this very worthy charity. The evening was rounded off by a delicious hot buffet in the nearby historic Prince of Wales Inn at Kenfig where the landlord Gareth Maund gave a short sketch of the history of the building.

On Monday 17th May President Joy and other club members attended the inauguration of member Barbara Parish as Mayor of the town of Bridgend. Members enjoyed a pleasant and interesting evening experiencing  a Town Council meeting and then enjoying a glass of wine and some nibbles. Congratulations Barbara and good luck for the year to come.

President Joyce presented Joanne Williams from RNIB Cymru with a cheque for £1000 for the ‘Talking Books’ project. The money had been raised during Joyce’s year through a variety of fund raising events.  Our hostess for the evening, club member Marjorie, followed the presentation with a very interesting and enlightening talk about Clarice Cliff. What an amazing woman Clarice was – she should have been a Soroptimist! Marjorie and Joyce provided members and friends with a delicious buffet to finish the evening. Many thanks to them both!

Bethan, Christine and Eileen with the finished tree. ” Members of SI Bridgend once again decorated a tree for Nolton Church Christmas Tree Festival which starts on 8th December and ends on Saturday 12th December with a gala concert by the Bridgend Male Choir. Proceeds of this year’s festival will go to Heronsbridge School.”

What a great time we had at this year’s Federation Conference in Cardiff! Excellent speakers, truly Welsh entertainment, good company and lots of friendship and fun. Congratulations to club member Helen, as Conference Chairman, for such a successful Conference after her 2 years of hard work with all her committee and so many willing helpers. We were delighted that Rayner and Talat were able to present the joint SI Karachi and SI Bridgend education project and even more delighted when they received a Programme Action Best Practice award for the clubs. Congratulations to everyone in both Clubs. It was lovely to meet up with Talat again too. The photos give just a snapshot of the few hectic days – Helen was so busy she couldn’t even remember to dress the right way on the last day! If club members have more photos please send them

At our first Autumn meeting in our new meeting place, the Heronston Hotel, Barbara Miles thanked Ruth Marks, Commissioner for Older People in Wales (the first anywhere in Britain) who had come to talk to us about her post and the work she was doing. President Joyce welcomed our latest member,  Cathie Rowe, into the club. We all hope that she enjoys being a Soroptimist with us locally and further afield in the Region, Federation and Internationally.

19 members enjoyed lunch and a chat to celebrate Club member Margaret Bertorelli’s 50 years as a Soroptimist in Bridgend. Membership Officer Eileen presented Margaret with a long service certificate and congratulated Margaret on her years of service with the Club. President Joyce spoke of how hard Margaret had worked for the Club and how pleased she was to be able to celebrate her achievement. Joyce presented Margaret with a card and a lovely basket of flowers. Margaret thanked the Club and told us that she hadn’t realised she had been a member for so long. She said that she had a lot of “firsts”. When she joined the Club Margaret was the youngest member, then the first member to have a baby and then the first member to hold the three offices of secretary, treasurer and president. Margaret told us also that she had