Five members of SI Bristol travelled to Bournemouth for the annual conference with over 800 other delegates. The South West and Channel Islands Region was well represented, three members were chair people including our Sue P. On day one the conference opened with two inspirational speakers. Baroness Susan Greenfield spoke about her work on dementia and hopes to revolutionise diagnosis and treatment. George Anderson spoke about leading ourselves and others to better wellbeing mentally and physically. Penny Mallory an inspirational speaker, currently a performance coach, told us of her ambition, from the age of 6years old, to be a successful rally driver. She had a difficult childhood and then tried various adventure activities. She said that mental toughness is an important part of development and challenge, confidence, control and commitment is part of this. Communication is fundamental to performance and that we need to be

On Monday 14th October SI Bristol heard a most interesting and informative talk by Dr Tim Chambers, Vice Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, is a member, as well as past Master and Examiner of the prestigious Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London. Tim told us about the founding of the Society which was given its charter in 1672 and celebrating its 300 year a few years ago. In addition the Society has close connections with the Physic Garden in Chelsea. They have a large collection of documents and other memorabilia celebrating their history from their origins as practitioners in herbal medicine to developing skills in diagnostic techniques and are involved in the examination of potential medical practitioners. It has interesting associations with the ancient royal church of St Andrew by the Wardrobe and with the royal palace nearby. Tim also told us a little about his

On 26th September 2019, Marion, President Elect from SI Bristol (the first Classification Club for Women) attended the Business Meeting of SI Oakland (The Soroptimist Founder Club) at Z’s Café in Oakland, California. She was warmly welcomed by enthusiastic, interactive and diverse (in terms of both ethnicity and age) Club members. The meeting commenced with welcomes, introductions and a fundraiser ‘Sunshine’. An envelope was handed around so each member had an opportunity to brag or say something about what was going on in her life. The amount of the donation (from $1 to $20) was stated before the brag. Marion gave a short talk about the first two decades of SI Bristol’s history, which was well received and generated much friendly discussion. This was followed by a talk about St Mary’s Center (www.stmarycenter.org) in Oakland. This centre provides breakfast, lunch, a shower and a bed

On a beautiful sunny afternoon a coach full of Soroptimists, Soroptimisters and friends set out for the Watermill Theatre near Newbury. It was in a beautiful setting by the river and after a few drinks we met in the dining room for an early evening meal. The theatre itself was delightful and our seats were right at the front. Most of us were familiar with the story line and so it was very relaxing and easy to follow.   The cast were just amazing. Most of them were young with lots of energy and engaged beautifully with the audience. After the show we returned home delighted with the whole outing from start to finish. Many thanks again Ruth for a very successful and fun event.

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

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