SI Cirencester & District club hosted a ‘ Gift Box ‘ in the Market Place from the 15th to the 29th of July. WHY DID WE HOST A BOX? These gift boxes were around London during the Olympics, a unique project launched by Stop the Traffik and the United Nations Initiative, to fight against human trafficking. They are around seven foot square and from the outside look very appealing with bright colours and a ribbon to draw people’s attention to what looks like an exciting piece of art work. However the reality is very different. When you step inside it has stories around the walls of examples of human trafficking. After drugs, Human Trafficking is the largest crime and it is known that around the amount to fill thirty-five double decker buses of people are trafficked every day. “STOP THE TRAFFIK” is a global grass

Rebecca training for the London Marathon STOP PRESS……. Rebecca raised £7,008.67 which, including Gift Aid, comes to a final total of £8,133.34 and she has now been told by Pancreatic Cancer UK that she finished as the top fundraiser.  Rebecca Dennis, the daughter of IPP Sue and her husband John, ran the London Marathon this year on the 21st April. Rebecca  raised money for the charity which very close to all our hearts at the moment.  Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Once again our lovely ladies braved the elements at Cirencester Charter Market. This was the first fundraising event of President Marietta’s year in aid of The Children's Deaf Club.   There were some lovely donations of gifts for our ladies to sell. Thank you to all who donated, thank you to all who stopped by today and had a chat, an even bigger thank you to those of who crossed our palms with silver!

SI Cirencester are delighted to announce that President Marietta’s Charity of the year is the Gloucester Deaf Association which support deaf and hard of hearing people in Gloucestershire. To celebrate the partnership, GDA’s Jenny Hopkins and Gemma Sills attended our  dinner meeting in April which was held at the Royal Agriculture College in Cirencester. President Marietta said, “We are very happy to be working with such a wonderful local charity. After meeting GDA at the beginning  of the year, I was completely bowled over with the struggles young deaf people face in their education. Through our support we hope to enable GDA’s Education Centre for Deaf People to get off the ground”. GDA’s Chief Executive, Jenny Hopkins said “GDA is extremely grateful to Marietta and the Cirencester and District SI for supporting our charity in this way. With their help, we will be able to establish an education centre designed to

A very big thanks to all members who gave their time on 22 March – Water Aid Day , The weather was not as bad as the forecast, but very cold, the morning rota ladies did a grand job  and then rain started to fall, so by 2.15 we closed all operations. The weather was not on our side, BUT we did make some money, and with very generous donations from club and friends made £145. 36p. Also I think we were the only evident activity for this Charity, so a big cheer for  Cirencester Sorptimists. Also a big If thanks for very generous gifts of wine and water. Once again we have braved the elements.

To the left are the details of 2012′s competition. Here are the dates for 2013: Monday 11th March @ 1.30pm @Hatherop:  Hatherop v Lechlade v Down Ampney Wednesday 13th March @ 1.30pm @ Southrop:  Southrop v Powells Thursday 14th Match @ 1.30pm @ Kempsford:   Kempsford v Ampney Crucis v Bibury Monday 18th March @ 1.30pm @ Stratton:     Stratton v Siddington v Kemble

SOROPTIMISTS PRESENTS CHEQUES  At the club’s February business meeting, Cirencester and District Soroptimists presented cheques to Duncan Willoughby of Sue Ryder, Leckhampton, and to Vicki Hayward of Cotswold Care. The charities received £2000 each as a result of the profits raised from the concert organised by the club last autumn in the Bingham Hall when the Caldicot Male Voice Choir and the Corinium Players Ensemble provided the musical entertainment (Please Click) The presentation of the cheques was made by president-elect, Marietta Crockford, and immediate past-president Anne Brooker. Vicky Hayward was also given a hand-decorated plate by Jackie Gloyn on behalf of the Soroptimist Club if Ogre-Kegums inLatvia.  The Cirencester club has a link with the Latvian Soroptimists, and their club president had planted a tree in the hospice grounds during 2011. In January, the club welcomed Aoife Swain, a student in dentistry, who had received a

Liz Odell from ShelterBox came and spoke to the club at our April dinner meeting.  The club voted to sponsor a shelter Box at a cost of just over £500.00.  ShelterBox gives you the facility of tracking your box so that you can see where in the world it helps in any given emergency The Box Number that SI Cirencester and District donated to was: UK0067066 and it has been used in Nigeria to assist those affected by flooding. Here is a brief background on the Nigerian flooding: A ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) is delivering aid following devastating flooding which has consumed large swathes of Nigeria. Over a million people have been displaced in the African country where the worst flooding in 50 years has caused rivers to swell and forced families to flee their homes. The River Niger and its tributaries are amongst those now overflowing