Programme and Events 2035/26
June
The start of June saw us continuing with donations as Carol, the chaplain at Llanfrechfa Grange collected the following from Rosemary:
604 nappies of various sizes
22 knitted hats for premature babies
8 knitted little teddies in blankets
2 knitted teddies without blankets
100 bendy straws
Various toiletries
pyjamas
May
Our meeting was followed by 30 minutes of chair yoga led by Kate. This was both informative and relaxing for members. It was also appropriate as it is ‘World Health Month’.
This has also been a month of donations as Marian visited the Tenovus charity shop in Penarth to donate 20 Comfort Cushions which had been made by SI Cwmbran members and friends. The cushions can be used for clients using the Tenovus Mobile Screening Units. At our coffee morning at Age Connect we presented a cheque from the proceeds of the selling of pre-loved jewellery as well as donating 6 twiddle muffs.
April
Was the month of our AGM which saw our outgoing Presidents, Paddy and Sallie receiving a big thank you for all the work they have done over their years in office and welcoming in President Ann.
March
The 2nd March was our 45th anniversary and we celebrated by having our annual lunch at Greenmeadow with 76 members and guests. This was also a happy opportunity to present long service awards to
Edith Price, a founder member of our club, 45 years , Joyce Jarrett, also 45 years , Kay Touhig 40 years , Ann Hodgson 30 years and Marian John 30 years . Sadly Marie another long serving member couldn’t be with us today.
8th March saw us at the annual International Women’s’ Day event at the Riverfront theatre in Newport.
December
We finished 2025 with a very enjoyable Christmas lunch at the Little Crown in Wainfelin
November
From November 25 to December 10 we’re participating in 16 days of activism to end online violence against all women and girls. We’re raising awareness of this in our area by displaying orange wreaths at Greenmeadow Golf Club, Cwmbran Library and Congress Theatre, Croesyceiliog Hub and Pontypool Leisure Centr St. David’s Charity Shop, Old Cwmbran, Llanyravon Church and Tasty Wasty Food Hub and Llantarnam Grange. We’ll be having a coffee morning at Pontypool Leisure Centre where we’ll also be having a stand displaying more about 16 days of activism.
To start this time at our November meeting our speakers Amy Jones and Kelly Squires from Cyfannol. Amy explained how the Drop-In service support women in Newport who may be suffering from sexual exploitation and Kelly told us about their Children and Young People support service.
October
This month is Breast Awareness month and to show our support we invited to our monthly meeting on 13 October , Samantha Holiday from Maggie’s cafe Velindre with the theme of the meeting to wear or bring something pink. We had a raffle and donated the collection to Maggie’s cafe.
We had a fun Murder Mystery fundraising evening by a group of actors from Abergavenny called ‘Dai Laughing’.
On the 27th we visited the Grange University hospital where we were welcomed by the chaplains Jen and Andy and we put together ladies, men’s and children’s toiletry bags. Some to go to patients on the wards and some to the houses on site where parents of the children in hospital can stay.
Marian has also been busy visiting the Tenovus charity shop in Penarth to donate another 20 comfort cushions made by SI Cwmbran members and friends whilst Sallie gave 30 comfort teddies to New Pathways to support clients.
September
After our break in August our speaker was Sammy from Age Connect in Pontypool. Sammy explained the services they offered with particular regard to people with dementia. Sammy thanked us for all the donations we had given over the years from our sales of pre-loved jewellery and the latest we donated went to a music and movement class for people with dementia.
To raise Club funds we had stalls selling jewellery, scarves, coats and apple as well as a stall for donation of tins to the Croesy Food Hub.
At the end of September we had the great news that our Grange Hospital Partnership Project came second in the regional Programme Action awards.
February
The end of February saw an early celebration of St David’s Day, 1 March, at Llantarnam Grange for a coffee morning. We were pleased to welcome Helen, again, who knits the lovely Welsh dolls and some of our character teddies.
August
Although we don’t have a business meeting in August we are still busy. We held a very successful coffee morning hosted by Jen. As well as delicious cakes, coffee and tea, we had a sales table and raffle which raised £529.
Pamela was busy delivering comfort teddies and twiddle muffs to Hope GB, an autism charity supporting individuals and families.
whilst Marian has been busy delivering comfort cushions to Maggie’s cafe, Velindre.
July
The speaker at our meeting was Dr Bablin Malik, the CEO of Sight Cymru. The Charity, which is based in Pontypool, supports the welfare of people who are severely sight-impaired and impaired.
Rosemary met with Jennie Edwards, who has replaced Carole at the Grange as our contact and gave her:
40 large incontinent pants
2 teddies and comfort squares
1 premature baby dress and hat
3 bonnets
70 sleeves for cannula tubes
For our social activities we had a very enjoyable boat ride on the canal with a delicious afternoon tea, organised by Jen and Mary.
On the 28th July we had a coffee morning by the beautiful Llandegfedd Reservoir.
Join us
We are always pleased to have new members and if you want to know more, join us for a coffee morning or just have an informal chat over a cup of tea or coffee please click on the Contact us link.
Programne and Events 2024/25
March
The 2nd March was our 45th anniversary and we celebrated by having our annual lunch at Greenmeadow with 76 members and guests. This was also a happy opportunity to present long service awards to
Edith Price, a founder member of our club, 45 years , Joyce Jarrett, also 45 years , Kay Touhig 40 years , Ann Hodgson 30 years and Marian John 30 years . Sadly Marie another long serving member couldn’t be with us today.
8th March saw us at the annual International Women’s’ Day event at the Riverfront theatre in Newport.
February
The end of February saw an early celebration of St David’s Day, 1 March, at Llantarnam Grange for a coffee morning. We were pleased to welcome Helen, again, who knits the lovely Welsh dolls and some of our character teddies.
January
We started the year by having our annual Programme Action evening showing what Projects we’ve been involved in over the last year, as highlighted above.
This was followed by an interesting talk from Judith Major from Tenovus.
16 day of Activism – 25 November – 10 December Say No to Domestic Violence, Orange the World.
In support of this campaign Newport Civic Building will be lit orange and on the 10th December Pontypool Civic Centre will be lit orange. We also liaised with the Congress Theatre and Pontypool Library who are supporting us to raise awareness of gender based violence as part of the United Nations 16 days of Activism with posters and wreaths. We held a coffee morning at Llantarnam Grange.
31 October
Today we had a celebratory afternoon tea at Teios in Pontnewydd. We were celebrating special birthdays of Edith one of our founder members and her husband, Des, and presenting Edith, Joyce and Marie with Honorary Life membership certificates to acknowledge the huge contribution they have made to Soroptimism in general and to our Club in particular. Marie joined the Winchester Club in 1980 before transferring here and Joyce joined in 1981.
At our October meeting we welcomed Rebecca McDonald head of operations for appeals at Sparkle, one of our charities this year, to present her with a cheque for £1,000 raised at the garden party we had at Mary’s in June.
During our September meeting we looked at different ways of running/organising our club because as with so many other Soroptimist Clubs and other organisations we are having difficulty recruiting members to be officers.
At our July meeting we welcomed 4 potential new members who also listened to a very inspirational speaker Su Baldwin who gave us an illustrated talk “My journey -Circumnavigating the world on an Ocean _Racing Sailboat.
12 June
We again enjoyed ourselves at Mary’s house for afternoon tea. Following sandwiches we had scones, lemon drizzle cake, brownies, Welsh cakes, bara brith all made by our members. The weather was not so kind to us this year. Shawls and wraps rather than sun hats.
22 May
Carole, the chaplain at Llanfrechfa Grange hospital, kindly invited us for coffee in the lovely chapel at the hospital. We continue to help the hospital and this time donated some bendy straws to make it easier for children when drinking. After coffee we walked through the walled garden to look at our cherry tree then across to the two houses which are available for the parents /carers of children who do not live locally and can stay there.
25 April
Today in the lovely surroundings of St David’s Hospice, having had coffee and cake we presented St David’s with a cheque for £1,000. Over the years we have been supporting them we have given them £30,000.
8 April AGM
11 March – Safety of Women and Girls Open Evening
SI Cwmbran organised an informative, successful and highly aware-raising talks and discussion evening from contributors. This considered the topic from various view points which encouraged empathy of the various stakeholders. The speakers were Deputy Commissioner of Gwent Police Eleri Thomas, DI Angela Hodge ( Domestic Abuse Safeguarding Team in Gwent Police speaking on Clare’s Law), Debra Richards…
3 March Charity Lunch
1 March St David’s Day
Members of SI Cwmbran celebrated St. David’s Day with a coffee morning at Llantarnam Grange, Cwmbran today. Thanks to Llantarnam Grange for their delicious Welsh cakes and bara brith. SI Cwmbran sends St. David’s Day greetings to their friendship club SI Gdansk. Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus.
8 January
SI Cwmbran had an interesting Programme Action speaker meeting last night with Andy Margare and Josie Perry from Torfaen Recycling Team. Members were informed about new initiatives that the council are implementing and how we can all help achieve the recycling targets.
