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SI Bristol Visit to: St Nicholas Market and Air Raid Shelter 8th August 2024

SI Bristol Visit to: St Nicholas Market and Air Raid Shelter 8th August 2024

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    A group of six Bristol Soroptimists, and three Soroptimisters, enjoyed a tour of St Nicholas Market and Air Raid Shelter.     We had a ‘Brizzle Drizzle’ on the day, but it didn’t dampen our spirits as our guide kept us very interested and upbeat.  This Bristol historical site was fascinating and offered a glimpse into the city’s experiences during World War II. The tour was led by Duncan, a knowledgeable and entertaining guide, who shared Bristol’s early history from a Saxon settlement in Castle Park, the history about the Nails at the Corn Exchange and stories of life in the air raid shelter. At the air raid shelter, situated deep inside the beautiful Corn Exchange building in Corn Street, we experienced the atmosphere of wartime days with dim lighting and sounds which would have accompanied the time people spent there. We saw

Watercress Farm July 19th 2024: A Future Project

Watercress Farm July 19th 2024: A Future Project

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On a very hot summer’s day, a group of five  Soroptimists and two Soroptimisters joined a 2-hour tour of Watercress Farm at Wraxall, near Bristol, organised by Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART).   The visit was part of our Club’s environment project.  We were accompanied on the tour by four members of BART and expertly guided by Gil from the Belmont Estate. Gil supplied us with an incredible amount of detailed information about the history of the creation of Watercress Farm, its current development work and future plans for the site. Watercress Farm is part of the Belmont Estate and it is a rewilding project. The site includes rough pasture, formerly arable fields, woodland and a small river. There is a resident population of Yellowhammers and Kingfisher with Spring migrants and other passage birds. Whilst there we enjoyed the sight of a Hobby hovering above

Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART): Testing the Water

Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART): Testing the Water

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As part of Soroptimist Bristol’s long-term project to raise awareness of and address the issue of pollution of water and how water quality can be improved four Soroptimists from SI Bristol registered to take part in the annual River Blitz project organised by Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART). This year River Blitz covered the period 5th to 14th July and we joined many other Citizen Scientists in enabling BART to assess water quality in the BART catchment area. Having received our testing kits and equipped with wellington boots and rain coats we set off in three groups to visit locations in Coombe Dingle (River Trym and Hazel Brook) and on the River Avon in Bristol (at Cannon Bridge, Gaol Ferry Bridge and the Bridge near the Create Centre). Water was collected in test tubes and then tested by dipping dip sticks. Samples were measured against

Speaker Meeting 8th July 2024: Safety on the Streets – Nick Gazzard

Speaker Meeting 8th July 2024: Safety on the Streets – Nick Gazzard

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Nick Gazzard’s daughter, Hollie, was brutally murdered by her partner 10 years ago following a relationship characterised by domestic violence, abuse and stalking.   Her family, Dad, Nick, Mum, Amanda and sister Chloe, decided to deal with this terrible loss in a positive way and set up a Trust in her name which aims to educate, inform and protect young people from such behaviour by providing programmes for use in schools and colleges and information provided through social media. They have also developed an amazing app called Hollie Guard which actually provides young people with protective measures they may take to raise an alarm with family, police or other named people to alert them that they are in danger in ways which would be unknown by an attacker.   It is incredibly sophisticated and has saved lives in various ways, not always related to physical attacks but

Another Orange Café: June 25th, a United Nation’s Designated Day to Combat Violence Against Women

Another Orange Café: June 25th, a United Nation’s Designated Day to Combat Violence Against Women

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Soroptimist Bristol had a great morning at our Orange Café on June 25th, which is the UN’s designated day to combat Violence Against Women.  The seven Soroptimists attending were joined by a visitor who came specially as she wanted to find out more about our Club’s work and what we do to raise awareness about violence against women.  We talked and distributed leaflets to other ladies at tables near ours, explaining why we were all wearing the colour orange.  It was great to have Susan W join us for this morning’s session.

Visit to Wessex Water Treatment Site at Cannington, Somerset

Visit to Wessex Water Treatment Site at Cannington, Somerset

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  On Tuesday 18th June 2024, six Bristol Soroptimists paid a third visit to Wessex Water as part of our aim to learn more about drinking water and sewage treatment in our area.   We had previously visited Wessex sewage treatment centres in Weston-super-Mare and Bristol.   This time we went to the Ashford Education Centre at Cannington, near Bridgwater, home to the Ashford Reservoir, constructed in 1934 which, along with the Hawkridge reservoir in the Quantocks are fed by local streams and provide water to the on-site treatment works built in 1879. Sue Goodland, Education Adviser expertly and informatively, guided us round the reservoir and told us about the abundant flora and fauna to which it is home – including swans and 3 cygnets.   She then took us round the treatment centre and explained stages in the purification of water to make it fit for drinking,

Speaker Meeting 10th June 2024: Sabeena Pirooz, Solicitor and Director of The Sky Project – Child Marriage,

Speaker Meeting 10th June 2024: Sabeena Pirooz, Solicitor and Director of The Sky Project – Child Marriage,

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Soroptimists are always open to learning and our speaker Sabeena Pirooz (a senior clinical negligence solicitor and Director of The Sky Project) taught us a great deal about a subject very few of us knew about in detail but is a huge cause for concern for some women and girls. In 2009, Sabeena learned that many 16-year-old girls were not returning to education, and some appeared to ‘disappear’, so she started ‘The Sky Project’ to confront the issue of forced marriage and honour based abuse. The project has three main aims: To educate and raise awareness of the issue, train professionals and form a multi-agency network.  From these aims, the outcomes should hopefully stop domestic violence and abuse, suicide and self-harm, depression, sexual abuse, Female Genital Mutilation and honour killings (14 a year). A forced marriage is coercion which can be physical, psychological, emotional, or

Speaker Meeting 8th May 2024: Henry Rossiter – The Watercress Project

Speaker Meeting 8th May 2024: Henry Rossiter – The Watercress Project

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Our Speaker  Meeting on Monday, 8th May welcomed Henry Rossiter, talking about the Watercress Project. At this south Bristol wildlife haven in-the-making, 1331 different plant and animal species are thriving in their rewilding project, increasing by 165 – and counting –  in just the last year. The Belmont Estate in Wraxall is a ‘redefined and reimagined country estate on a mission to regenerate land, reverse biodiversity loss and reconnect communities to nature.’. This is Henry’s family 400-acre nature restoration project. In 2019 the Rossiter family purchased nearby Watercress Farm where they also run  an educational project that involves schools’ visits, ensuring children learn about biodiversity and have the opportunity to explore nature freely. In addition, they run family days of nature-driven activities around their resetting and rewilding projects. The Watercress project is fascinating regenerative estate aiming to connect through environmental conservation. They are extending their

Guided visit to St Mary the Virgin at Henbury, Bristol 10th May 2024

Guided visit to St Mary the Virgin at Henbury, Bristol 10th May 2024

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    A small group of Soroptimists – Sally, Denise, Ivete, Lynda and her husband Martin – were guided through St Mary’s Church, the churchyard and village hall on a wonderful sunny day.   St Mary’s history dates from the Anglo-Saxon period around 692 in what was then known as ‘Henbury in the Saltmarsh’. It was then a large parish going as far north as Aust. The first Norman building was succeeded by the present one which was begun in the 12th century. In 1806 the medieval font, which is now in the churchyard, was replaced by the current black marble font.   Well known residents of the churchyard include the novelist and  Egyptologist Amelia Ann Blandford Edwards whose obelisk is decorated with the Egyptian hieroglyph “Ankh”, as a symbol of the cross because it had the similar shape. The meaning of “Ankh” is “life”.

The King’s Coronation Tree Planting: Attended by Two of our Members

The King’s Coronation Tree Planting: Attended by Two of our Members

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  Soroptimist International of Bristol received an invitation from Peaches Golding OBE CStJ, Lord-Lieutenant of the County and City of Bristol, to attend the planting of The King’s Coronation Tree.   Soroptimist International of Bristol received an invitation from Peaches Golding OBE CStJ, Lord-Lieutenant of the County and City of Bristol, to attend the planting of The King’s Coronation Tree This was the  official commemorative oak tree to King Charles III, in Brandon Hill Park, Bristol on Thursday 25 April at 14:30 hrs.  The event was in conjunction with the Lord Mayor of Bristol. Sharon and Ivete were delighted to represent the Soroptimist Bristol club on this memorable occasion and helped to plant this special oak tree which is located close to the Cabot Tower.  There were many city dignitaries present, the Sea Cadets and  several Bristol schools.