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Regional Meeting Taunton September 21st 2019

Regional Meeting Taunton September 21st 2019

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SI Bristol was well represented at The Regional Meeting in Taunton, where 8 of us attended.   In the morning there were two speakers. The first Lynne Ingram told us about the Asian Hornets which are invading the UK. They are large black and orange wasps and are a significant threat to honey bees and if they get established they will have a devastating impact on our insect population. The nests have been spotted and destroyed but they will inevitably increase. It should be noted that European Hornets are native to the UK and are beneficial. If Asian Hornets are spotted there is an app to report the sighting AsianHornetWatch or report it at alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk The second speaker Camilla Hawley from “Safe Families for Children” spoke from the heart and told how they work with families to prevent children going into care. This organisation started

July 8th National Centre for Integrative Medicine – Dr Elizabeth Thompson (One of our Club Charities for the year)

July 8th National Centre for Integrative Medicine – Dr Elizabeth Thompson (One of our Club Charities for the year)

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Dr Elizabeth Thompson, CEO of NCIM, told us about the work of the Centre and how it focuses on inspiring health and wellbeing. NCIM has a new approach to healthcare that gives people control of their own health and wellbeing and makes the most of conventional, lifestyle and holistic approaches. As it is one of our two charities we were delighted to hear about the work which will help us inform people when fundraising over the next two years. SI Bristol would like to tell you a bit more about the logo Some people see the logo for NCIM as two hearts – one the right way up and one up-side-down – while others see it as two plasters.      

Garden Party in aid of Learning for Living and The National Centre for Integrative Medicine.

Garden Party in aid of Learning for Living and The National Centre for Integrative Medicine.

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President Denise organised a lovely Garden Party at her home on Saturday 29 June in aid of Lifeskills – Learning for Living and The National Centre for Integrative Medicine our two charities this year (see other posts for more information  about our charities). There were several tents with stalls set out in Denise’s beautiful and colourful garden.  They were very well supplied with books, paintings, jewellery, woodwork, other creative donations, greeting cards, plants and garden produce, cakes, sandwiches, tea and coffee, a raffle and many other donations to raise funds for the charities. There were also several information leaflets about Soroptimist International, the Bristol Club and our two charities. We had a beautiful sunny day, the hottest this year for the event. Many thanks  to friends and Club members who supported us in many ways and a big thank you to President Denise and her

A warm welcome: Yuko visits us from Japan

A warm welcome: Yuko visits us from Japan

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At our club meeting on June 24th, we welcomed Yuko Tsuji who is a member of our Soroptimist Friendship Link from SI Aquarmarine Kure near Hiroshima, Japan.   Yuko has made 3 visits to our club and we always love seeing her and as usual exchanged gifts.  She told us about her club’s ongoing project which is to raise funds for the disastrous flooding her area received last year.  There were 800 landslips which destroyed bridges, roads and train lines and 200 people lost their lives, Their latest event to raise funds is a concert on August 11th when a very well-known orchestra from Tokyo will be playing.   We wish them well and hope that the concert will be very successful.

79th Regional AGM, Conference and SI Brixham Friendship Weekend June 7th-9th June 2019

79th Regional AGM, Conference and SI Brixham Friendship Weekend June 7th-9th June 2019

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This was Audrey Taylor’s three months as Regional President and the Regional AGM, Conference and friendship weekend was held in Brixham. Six of us attended the day and SP (one of the Regional Presidents this year) and DH attended the whole weekend. The first part of the morning was the AGM including reports, election and announcement of Regional Officers. The three speakers were inspirational: Nigel Smallbones, a former Countryside Ranger, Liz Long, founder of Lisa’s School and Ella Scott, International Aid Worker, Federation President Sue Williams gave a very positive presentation including the Growth Plan, the introduction of a new website amongst other very interesting and encouraging information. More information on the talks can be found on the Regional Website. SP and DH enjoyed the other events and we brought home lots of teddies to add to our collection. The weekend was very enjoyable and

Visit to Lifeskills: One of our charities for the year

Visit to Lifeskills: One of our charities for the year

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A group of our Bristol Soroptimists visited the Lifeskills charity centre based at the Create Centre, Bristol, on 3rd June. Lifeskills is one of our chosen charities for the year. The visit was organised by President Denise and the team at the centre gave us a very warm welcome. Members of S.I. Bristol are active in the local community both individually and collectively. Lifeskills aims to show pupils that they should be taking personal responsibility for their own safety. Children learn how to assess risk and cope with difficult situations by taking part in realistic, interactive activities distributed over 19 different rooms which include houses, a road, shop, dark alleyway, a river and a railway line. Visitors can actually experience difficult or dangerous situations, learn from their mistakes in a safe environment and how to deal with them. Volunteer Guides take small groups of children

Bag Packing Fund-Raiser for the Lord Mayor of Bristol Children’s Appeal 22nd June 2019

Bag Packing Fund-Raiser for the Lord Mayor of Bristol Children’s Appeal 22nd June 2019

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  On Saturday, 22nd June, 2019, a team worked at Marks & Spencer in Broadmead to collect money for the Lord Mayor of Bristol Children’s Appeal. Helpers stood at the end of the check-out counters in the Food Hall and offered to help shoppers pack their bags. Six SI Bristol Soroptimists took part (LC, DH, PH, YM, LN and MR). For the day’s effort, £419.96 was raised, making it possible for two vouchers, of £20 each, to be given next Christmas to 10 children.

Visit to Kelmscott Manor and Buscot Park

Visit to Kelmscott Manor and Buscot Park

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On 9th May a group of Bristol Soroptimists enjoyed a very convivial day visit to Kelmscott Manor (a grade l listed house dating from around 1570) and Buscot Park, both situated near the river Thames and Lechlade. The visit was beautifully organised by Lucy. Kelmscott Manor was the inspirational Cotswold retreat of William Morris and his family – poet and craftsman from 1871 to his death in 1896. He described Kelmscott as ‘heaven on earth’, with good reason. He signed a joint lease for the property with his friend and colleague Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Pre-Raphaelite artist. The house contains an outstanding collection of the possessions and works of Morris, as well as of his family and associates (Benson, Edward Burne-Jones, Rossetti and Webb among them) that includes furniture, original textiles, pictures and paintings, carpets, ceramics and metalwork. It holds a beautiful English style garden

News from Yuko Tsuji: SI Kure Aquamarine, Hiroshima, Japan.

News from Yuko Tsuji: SI Kure Aquamarine, Hiroshima, Japan.

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Lynn Ellis is the Friendship Link with our Japanese Soroptimist sisters. Yuko Tsuji is our contact . She has twice attended our club meetings since we started our link. Lynn was able to meet up with her last summer, when she was over here to visit her son at school. Yuko was over here in March, but her business was such that we were not able to meet up. However, Yuko might be coming here in May. I hope so! Yuko has sent recent news from her club News from Yuko Tsuji (Yuko is top left as you look at the photograph) Our club candidate for Soroptimist Ruby Award received the 2nd place for Japan Nishi Region just recently. I will share articles with photos later. The award winner is a female journalist who used to be our member who went into affected areas of