This year 17 of us including Soroptimisters came to our annual to visit London and stayed at our very own Soroptimist boutique hotel.    On the first night we all gathered at our usual lovely Italian restaurant Taormina near the hotel and on the Friday night we all went to the Phoenix Theatre and enjoyed the hilarious comedy “Noises Off”.  During the day we made our own arrangements and as usual visited museums, art galleries, many other historic places and organised London walks.  Hyde Park is just a step away and we took advantage of the lovely weather and walked in the park too Many  thanks to Ruth and Pauline for making it happen.

  As a fairly new member of the Bristol Soroptimists, I attended a Regional meeting on Saturday for the first time.      It was being held in a new venue and my co-travellers and I had an interesting car journey on our way and must confess we did get a little lost. The new venue is really light and airy and the whole experience was truly lovely, especially meeting other groups within the region from as far away as St. Austell. The reports from the speakers were a real eye-opener regarding modern day slavery in the UK. The morning speakers were from the Medaille Trust telling us about the “Moving on Project” which provides women and their children with help and support if they have been affected by human trafficking and modern slavery.    The “icing on the cake” was the Club Star Project Presentations

  Yet again we were proud to join so many at St John’s War Memorial on Whiteladies Road to mark Armistice Day.   As usual it was attended local school children and there were prayers and the observance of one minute’s silence in honour of those who served and fought to ensure our freedom over so many wars.  Our own Sue P is very much involved with the event and organises our poppy wreath in advance of the event which President Helen presented on behalf of SI Bristol. We are proud to be Soroptimists as we remember the sacrifices of those who gave their lives in the wars and those who gave their support.  

    Welcome Nicki.  Nicki has already attended a number of our meetings for a while, and we were very pleased to welcome her on Monday.       Nicki first approached us at a fundraising event earlier in the year and she is already showing an interest in the work that we do.  As is our usual practice she told us a bit about herself which is always interesting and helps us get to know our new members and why they want to join us.  We are delighted that she is already following us and posting on social media.  

Once again Ruth organised an amazing visit.  This time a guided visit to the Victorian Garden Cemetery at Arnos Vale, a leafy setting rich in architecture where they hold events, including weddings.   There were lots of interesting things to see but one of the most exciting graves very close to the entrance, in the Ceremonial Walk, we found the grave of a Bristol Soroptimist, Carmen Beckford MBE (1928-2016), opposite Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s monument.  As a young Jamaican woman, Carmen travelled to the UK and trained here to become a nurse and then became a midwife. She was known as the Carnival Queen after helping to set up St Paul’s Carnival in 1967. She was a social activist, became the first Race Relations Officer in Bristol and was the first black recipient of an MBE in the South West. Our guide was Alan, a