On Monday 26th February several members met for the monthly Orange Cafe at Chequer Mead. Those of us present  certainly added some colour to the cafe and enjoyed coffee and some excellent conversation     At our meeting on Wednesday 21st February we were delighted to welcome Pate Dale MBE and a member of the Croydon Soroptimists. She gave us a fascinating, and frequently amusing, account of her life in the immigration service in the Civil Service and her vast involvement with the Soroptimists. This included talking about her present role as the SI Representative to the Commonwealth. There has certainly never been a dull moment in her life!     Having been requested by SIGBI to contribute to publicity for International Women’s Day on 8 March, East Grinstead members were invited to attend their recent meeting wearing Suffragette colours of purple, white and green.

Once again the Club has collected much needed Christmas gifts for I Choose Freedom a women’s refuge in Reigate and Crawley Open House, a residential and drop-in centre for the homeless.  As in previous years members delivered their gifts to a Christmas grotto (above), this time located at President Jane Griffiths’ home.  Having handed over their presents, members enjoyed a time of fellowship with coffee, cake and chat.  Handmade Christmas goodies provided by one of our members were also on sale raising money for Club charities.  The colour orange was very evident in the grotto and some members wore orange accessories in support of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.  As shown by the number of bags in the accompanying photographs, members have once again been very generous in supporting these two very worthy causes.  Of course, their needs are ongoing throughout the

  SI East Grinstead Remembers On November 12th, President Jane Griffiths, President Elect Alison Skinner and other members of the Club took part in the Remembrance Sunday service in memory of those killed in two World Wars and other conflicts around the world.  President Jane laid a wreath on behalf of the Club alongside representatives of other local organisations.  A vast crowd turned out to mark the occasion and to give thanks for those who sacrificed their lives to give us freedom.

At East Grinstead’s Club meeting on Wednesday, September 20th, members were delighted to welcome and induct four new  members; Gill Beeney, Aileen Hargreaves, Kate Benstead, and Angela Sharpe, pictured with President Jane Griffiths (centre). All of them have attended meetings and functions over the past few months and we are so pleased that they have  been  encouraged to join us. We look forward to working with them.                   On September 23rd Members gathered at the Holiday Inn, Wrotham, for our 64th Regional Annual General Meeting. President Lynne welcomed us all to her last Regional Meeting, as her year in office ends at the London Conference. At the final part of the day, it was time for Annette to announce the first winners of the Grace Onions ‘Our Planet, Our Future’ Award.  The very worthy winners chosen were SI

In 1962 whilst the world held its breath over the Cuban Missile crisis and The Beatles released their first single, Soroptimist International of East Grinstead was born. Today, 60 years later, the Club is flourishing with 33 members and playing an active role in the local community as well as supporting projects overseas. This year’s President, Sue Darney, has overseen a weekend of celebration with a Tree planting on Friday 23rd and a Celebratory Dinner on Saturday 24th September. For a period of two weeks spanning the celebration weekend a display illustrating the history and work of the Club appeared in the window of East Grinstead Library. The dinner on Saturday evening was held at a nearby Golf Club and we were honoured to welcome the Mayor of East Grinstead, Councillor Adam Peacock, SIGBI President Cathy Cotteridge, President of our Mother Club Tunbridge Wells, Caroline

When we started planning events for our Diamond Jubilee we decided that we would combine our celebrations with a project inaugurated for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. We were going to help form the” Green Canopy” Anne Richards took charge of some Lime saplings and nurtured them carefully which was quite a task during the long, hot, dry summer. They survived the extreme conditions and steadily started to grow and branch out. Jane Griffiths liaised with Mr David Mills MBE, the owner of the British Wildlife Centre in Lingfield, to provide a suitable planting area. Mr Mills kindly agreed and a space was secured. The date was set for Friday 23rd September. The very deep holes had been dug by the staff at the Wildlife Centre – a task for which we were so grateful as it would have been a mammoth task to excavate

East Grinstead enjoy al fresco cocktails and nibbles Once again this year, on a humid August evening, we were able to enjoy cocktails – some alcoholic, some non-alcoholic – and tasty nibbles in Past President Sue Edgar’s garden. There was standing room only by the time over 30 members and guests had joined the celebration. This was a great opportunity to meet together informally with plenty of time to mix and chat as well as introducing and encouraging some potential members. Each visitor was given a raffle ticket on arrival and three ‘special’ prizes were handed out at the end of the evening. The event raised funds for local charities supported by the Club including Crawley Open House, Being Neighbourly and a Women’s Refuge As the revellers departed and feet were put up by a great team of helpers, the garden became a quiet space

The aim of CREW – Challenging Recreational Experience Weekend – is to promote positive rehabilitation of children and young people cared for in Peanut Ward at Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH) East Grinstead. Many of the children bear scars from burns and plastic surgery injuries as well as birth defects. Children with burn scars often require numerous operations throughout their childhood and into their late teens.  Some are able to cover their scars with clothes but only when they participate in activities such as canoeing and swimming are they willing to expose their scars to others. The camp on the Isle of Wight accommodates around 30 children and young people aged between 7 and 16 years. QVH Charity, the charity dedicated to supporting the hospital, has to raise £8.000 every year to fund this camp. CREW is run by QVH staff and past patients now too

On August 25th Soroptimist in the UK are wearing orange to draw attention to the practice of Forced Marriage, which is recognised as a form of Modern – Day Slavery. What Is Forced Marriage? Forced marriage is when one or both people do or cannot consent to the marriage, and pressure or abuse is used to force them into marriage. Forced marriage is illegal in the UK. It is a form of domestic abuse and a serious abuse of an individual’s human rights. Statistics The International Labour Organisation (ILO)estimates that 15.4 million people around the world are in situations of forced marriages and it is estimated that 84% of these are women and girls. There are three main types of forced marriage: Forced marriage of adults Early or child marriage Trafficking for marriage Reasons for Forced Marriage There are many reasons for forced marriages occur,