We had an interesting speaker at our meeting last Thursday. Professor Kate Moss has many years experience in applied research and has recently been researching into the impact of homelessness on women. (https://www.derby.ac.uk/staff/kate-moss/) She discovered that Domestic Abuse is frequently a precipitator of homelessness throughout Europe and described women’s homelessness  as  a hidden problem as many women do not make use of the facilities available for homeless people, preferring to sleep in doorways or bus shelters or spend time travelling on trains and buses. Kate also reported how women’s homelessness is impacting on sex work, sexual exploitation and sex for rent. She gave examples of easily found adverts on websites that list rooms for rent with very clear messages of sex for payment. Her recommendations have been for a gendered approach to homelessness and for the provision of more suitable homeless services for women. She

Soroptimist International Derby is delighted to be part of the exhibition being held at Derby Museum and Art Gallery. It is running from September to February 2023. History Makers: A celebration of Derbyshire women and gender diversity Explore inspirational stories and consider what it means to make history past and present. In this exhibition and project lab, join with some amazing organisations and individuals from across the county, to consider how we might empower and support history makers now and in the future. Find out more about the project here. History / Herstory / Theirstory / Ourstory / Mystory Our stand highlights the various projects we have completed over the past 85 years and there are biographies of members dating back through many decades. For further details Derbyshire History Makers celebrated in new exhibition exploring History, Herstory, Mystory, Theirstory, Ourstory | Derby Museums    

What is Orange the World? The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is marked around the world every year on November 25th and is followed by 16 days of activism; a campaign to end gender-based violence. Orange the World is led by the United Nations to mark awareness of the campaign which ends on Human Rights Day December 10th . Buildings and organisations all over the world take part in this campaign by lighting up their buildings in orange in an act of solidarity for the campaign and as a public call to action. It is an opportunity to raise awareness at a local, national and international level about violence against women and girls. Globally the UN report that 1 in 3 women are abused. As we mark the annual 16 days of activism against gender based violence campaign in 2022 this

On Friday 7th October 2022 SI Derby celebrated a special milestone – its 85th Charter Anniversary celebration.  This was a very successful evening, hosted by SI Derby Immediate Past President, Jill Blount. SIGBI President Elect – Ruth Healey, gave an inspiring talk about future changes.  Charles Hanson, celebrity antiques expert and auctioneer, was very entertaining and concluded his talk with an impromptu auction of tickets to his base in Chester.   Members raised £320 for the Rosie May Foundation.  This was totally unexpected, and we are extremely grateful to Charles for his generosity. The table flowers were made by Carole and Judie made the delicious cake. The table name place cards were made from seeded paper which members could take away and plant wildflowers as a souvenir of a wonderful evening

We had another successful Rosie May Foundation fund raising tombola at The Big One in Chaddesden this weekend. Thankfully, the organisers helped us to move pitch ( a bit of a challenge seeing as we had already set up!) so that we could maximise the footfall and still have space for Rosie the Tuk Tuk to offer rides to anyone interested. Mind you – we were not expecting that Rosie would become a temporary Batmobile or that we would be seeing both Batman and Mickie  Mouse riding in Rosie! We are now £264.40p closer to purchasing a Pink Tuk Tuk for the charity to help them with their quest to improve the lives of women and girls in Sri Lanka. We welcome new members to help us advocate for women and girls and to support us with assisting the refuge in Derby. We have more

Our last business meeting coincided with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on 2nd June. After some of us enjoyed a meal together prior to the meeting, we raised a glass of (non-alcoholic) fizz – (driving!) and partook of  some Jubilee themed cakes made by members. We had planned to hold a Royal Quiz and even had a Royal Bingo game ready, but we had so much business to conduct that we ran out of time! If you want to find out more about our club and the projects we are involved in, please contact us via our email soropsderby@gmail.com. New members are always welcome.

                  We are pleased to announce that we will be joined by the founder of the Rosie-May Foundation, Mary Storrie, plus one of their Trustee’s Daksha, who will be able to update us on the Foundations projects. We are supporting the Foundation and raising funds with the aim to buy a Pink Tuk Tuk for them to use in Sri-Lanka. More information about this can be found here: https://www.rosie-may.com/the-future-is-pink/ Please come and join us for a meal at the Kings Highway at 6pm if you would like to know more about the projects we are involved in and if you are interested in joining us – just email us  soropsderby@gmail.com to let us know to expect you.  

For several years we have been supporting a local women’s refuge by providing welcome packs twice a year, and by maintaining their garden. We continue to do this, including throughout Covid. The welcome packs consist of essentials that the women and their children need when they flee domestic violence , often leaving everything behind and therefore arriving without even the basic essentials such as soap or a hairbrush. Thanks to linking up with a local Co-Op Member Pioneer who we met at a summer fete last year, we will be able to provide some additional items to the refuge that will help the women and children while they are living there or even provide them with some items that will help them when they are able to leave and set up a new home. Thanks to the very kind donations from people shopping at the

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Break the Bias”. As Soroptimists we work to end gender equality. Here in Derby we also support “Women’s Day Derby” who have put on a range of activities to celebrate International Women’s Day. They have created some huge puppets of inspirational women and will be parading through Derby with them. We will have a table where we can meet potential new members and tell everyone about our club. If you’re local, pop in and see us in Derby Museum on the Wardwick, between 12.30 and 16.30 Saturday 5th March – we’d love to see you!

Our President, Jill, decided to join in with a national fundraiser in support of the charity Refuge. Information about this charity can be found on their website; www.refuge.org.uk How will walking 56 miles and raising money impact Refuge? More than 1 in 4 women (27.6%) in England and Wales aged 16-74 have experienced domestic abuse at some point of their lives. In 2020-21, Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline calls and contacts were up by 64%. This has not decreased. Every £185 raised could help fund the running of the Helpline for an hour, providing lifesaving information for women who wish to flee. Jill is thrilled to announce that she was able to raise £195 and even walked a few extra miles – totalling 60 in all! Supporting this charity fits in well with the ethos of Soroptimism and with the work we do on a