As part of SIGBI’s 2024 initiative to raise awareness of International Women’s Day (8th March), members from SI Bristol gathered in front of City Hall, College Green, Bristol.     We wore blue which is one of SIGBI’s brand colours and made heart signs with our hands – the 2024 theme representing ‘Inspire Inclusion’. We were honoured to be joined by Bristol’s Lord Lieutenant Peaches Golding who is an Honorary Member of SI Bristol.

This December, members from SI Bristol Liz N and Marion and other members of the Lord Mayor of Bristol’s Children Appeal Committee had two successful fundraising events. One was a Carol Concert in St George’s Hall, where we collected the amazing sum of £1051. Those present at the Concert enjoyed listening to several choirs, a brass band and also singing favourite Christmas Carols. A few days later, accompanying Santa’s sleigh from the Water Tower on the Downs, along Whiteladies Road, Park Street and Broadmead to Cabot Circus, we collected £650. Santa and the Lord Mayor (Councillor Paul Goggin) rode in the sleigh, which stopped frequently to allow passersby to take photographs and make a donation. With carols blaring, it was impossible to ignore the sleigh!

  To mark the start of #16Days of activism and the United Nations’ UNiTE campaign to #OrangeTheWorld, SI Bristol members Ruth and Ivete delivered 29 orange bags of essential toiletries and treats to be given out to survivors as they arrive at Next Link Domestic Abuse Services in Bristol. The majority of survivors flee without possessions, over the last few months our members collected these items to support them. The reality is that women and children will often arrive at Next Link with no personal belongings. This is because they may see a fleeting chance to leave their abusive situation, and they take it, without having a chance to pack anything. For women leaving a domestic abuse situation, packing their children’s favourite comforters, toys, clothing and toiletries – let alone a Christmas gift – is often the last thing on their minds. Soroptimist Bristol will

      Each wearing orange, six members of SI Bristol caught the train to Weston-super- Mare.   On the journey from Worle Councillor Wendy Griggs, Chairman of North Somerset Council, spotted our banners and introduced herself. She remained with us until we joined the rest of the Soroptimists and others outside the station. Where she met up with the Mayor of Weston super Mare for the March. We marched through the shopping area, handing out bookmarks, to Grove Park where we tied ribbons on the railings round the pond. Each of the 110 ribbons represented a death from domestic violence over a year. Other Soroptimists joined us there and there were seven from SI Bristol in total. From there we gathered at the bandstand for speeches about domestic violence and the importance of eliminating it. Two statistics stand out: only one quarter of instances

  Thanks to all our efforts today we raised £243 for Mary’s Meals.  Not a bad morning’s work!  There was hardly anything left, so we could say we sold out! All Mary’s Meals donations between now and the end of January will be doubled in their “Double the Love” campaign so that will make £486 from today’s fundraising which will feed 25 children for a whole school year with a nourishing breakfast. That is a wonderful feeling! Thank you to everyone who helped at the hall today and also to all who contributed with items for the Soroptimist Bristol stall at Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church Hall in Bristol

  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.