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,

Many thanks to Medway and Maidstone Club and Sevenoaks Club for their knitting experts who have created a sackful of knitted Teddy Bears beyond their own projects. These were originally requested by emergency services to comfort children in trauma situations including children in Ukraine and arriving as refugees. The idea was then taken up by East Grinstead Club to offer similar reassurance for children arriving at the “We choose Freedom “ Women’s Refuge, which the East Grinstead Club supports, and the call for Teddies has produced a South East England 3 Club collaboration. All our participants feel this has been a very worthwhile extension project.