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Yuko’s Gift In Memory of Lynn: Donated to Kings Forest Primary School

Yuko’s Gift In Memory of Lynn: Donated to Kings Forest Primary School

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  Late last year Yuko our Friendship Link  from SI Aquamarine Kure in Japan made a donation in memory of Lynn E.       Lynn had close links with Yuko but sadly Lynn died during the Covid pandemic.  Lynn had been a very well-respected teacher at a primary school in North Somerset and as teaching was so important to her, we decided to give the donation to a local primary school. On 14th July, Dee G handed over the money to the Head Teacher at Kings Forest Primary School. The school has created a garden in which the children grow vegetables, have meaningful lessons about nature, and have an outside ‘pizza’ oven on which to cook.  They have a thriving ‘bug hotel’ and compost heap. The donation will be used to support these activities.

Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART): RiverBlitz 2023

Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART): RiverBlitz 2023

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  This year, between 7th and 14th July over 500 volunteers collected water samples from rivers in different parts of the Bristol catchment, tested them for nitrates and phosphates and submitted the results to the BART online database.   Seven Soroptimists (LB, LBB, MD, BJ, LN, MR and SS) signed up and attended a training session at River Land Yeo on Watercress Farm near Tyntesfield.  Each Soroptimist collected a sample from a river that was convenient for them to access: Coombe Dingle, the Floating Harbour (by the Arnolfini and by the SS Great Britain) the River Avon (near the Create Centre, near Spike Island and near the Bedminster Bridge), Snuff Mills and Winterhead (near Shipham). This RiverBlitz helps BART gain a snapshot of water quality across the catchment.  

Soroptimist Bristol Orange Café First Meeting 23rd June 2023

Soroptimist Bristol Orange Café First Meeting 23rd June 2023

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  The Soroptimist Bristol Orange Café Meeting a local volunteer-driven group of women aiming to raise awareness of violence against women and the work Soroptimists have done for the last 100 years in Bristol.   These meetings are being held by Soroptimist Clubs around the world – a membership of 72,000 women worldwide. You would find us easily, as we will be dressed in orange! Why orange, you ask? Well, the colour orange symbolises a bright, fresh future, as designated by the United Nations, and it’s used around the world for that purpose. The Orange Café meeting is held regularly on or near the 25th of  the month in various coffee shops in the city. The 25th of the month is significant, as it is the UN designated #OrangeDay, a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the prevalence of violence against women and the devastating

Relationship Bookmarks

Relationship Bookmarks

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    SI Bristol supported SI Weston-super-Mare in their ‘Railing Against Abuse’ project.        The bookmarks clearly explain the difference between a good, loving relationship and a bad, abusive relationship. A letter; signed by the Programme Action Officer, was posted to the Head of each Secondary School, asking if the Safe Guarding Officer would like to receive some free relationship bookmarks for use in their Safe Guarding classes. Based on responses, 1,388 bookmarks have been delivered to five facilities.

Clean Up Bristol Harbour: June/July and so on in 2023

Clean Up Bristol Harbour: June/July and so on in 2023

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  On 18th June 2023, Marion joined 24 other volunteers near the Arnolfini for a 2-hour litter pick.   The 25 volunteers were guided by three staff members. All necessary equipment was provided (branded hi viz jackets, gloves, litter pickers, bags with hoops and nets). By the end of the session, 31 bags of litter had been collected and the contents was sorted into glass, metal, plastic and other. The first three were recycled and the latter burnt, so nothing went to landfill. We even rescued an electric scooter. The volunteers were enthusiastic and everyone enjoyed the event. The next litter pick date is 23rd July. The website address is http://cleanupbristolharbour.weeble.com/ Following this Again on 23rd July 2023, Liz N, Marion and Sally joined 18 other volunteers for another 2-hour litter pick. All necessary equipment was provided by the organisers (branded jackets, gloves, litter pickers,

Speaker Meeting 12th June 2023: Amy Wade from Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust

Speaker Meeting 12th June 2023: Amy Wade from Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust

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  At our Speaker Meeting last night, we had a talk by Amy Wade from Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust.    The Trust encourages and provides opportunities for volunteering to help with monitoring rivers and taking action to prevent their further degradation among other things.   She began by illustrating the problems involved and then provided ideas for ways we could help including citizens’ science projects, joining the Riverblitz project between the 7th and 14th July and putting political pressure on our MPs by writing letters. Also our warmest congratulations to Anne, our longest serving member who was presented at the meeting with a Certificate for 55 Years of service as a Soroptimist. We were also delighted to be joined by three visitors who are considering joining our club

‘TheBigHelpOut’: SI Bristol make Therapeutic Teddies – Update 28th June 2023

‘TheBigHelpOut’: SI Bristol make Therapeutic Teddies – Update 28th June 2023

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Update 28th June 2023 On 16th June, three ‘families’ of therapeutic teddies  were handed over to Cherry (a participant at the Bristol Women’s Voice event at City Hall) who will use them to help her to counsel distressed children from mixed marriages.     Three ‘families’ of therapeutic teddies were made by Lizzie, Marion and a couple of friends of Marion.       Each teddy family consisted of two large teddies and two small ones. The yarn used for each head was a different colour to represent members of a mixed-race family. The teddies were donated to a therapist. The ‘families’ of teddies will be used by the Therapist in her work with children (in schools and in private therapy sessions) to help them explore their internal relationships with siblings and family members, especially those from mixed-race marriages. Such therapy can help to uncover unconscious

International Women’s Day 2023

International Women’s Day 2023

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  SI Bristol again and many other organisations joined Bristol Women’s Voice organised an event in Bristol City Hall on Saturday 11th March to celebrate International Women’s.   There was considerable interest in our Soroptimist display – especially regarding what the name actually meant!  An event which allowed us to network with the other organisations.  

A Visit to: Wessex Water’s Sewage Treatment Works Weston-super-Mare.

A Visit to: Wessex Water’s Sewage Treatment Works Weston-super-Mare.

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    A visit to Wessex Water’s sewage treatment works site at Weston-super-Mare. The 22nd of March was World Water Day and it is therefore an appropriate time to talk about the visit our club made to Weston-super-Mare yesterday. Water pollution is one of our club’s Programme Action projects, focusing on sustainable goals SG6 (clean water & sanitation), SG3 (good health and well-being), SG4 (education) and SG5 (gender equality). So on Tuesday 21st March 2023 seven members of Soroptimist Bristol were expertly guided by Sue Goodland around Wessex Water’s sewage treatment works site at Weston-super-Mare. This visit was part one of two, with Avonmouth’s treatment visit planned for June this year, We learned what happens on the journey of our waste through several natural processes, resulting in clear and clean enough water to be returned to the environment, and the recycling of the by-products of