Soroptimism also offers a valuable social dimension to its members; many of the Eastbourne Soroptimists have moved into the area from elsewhere and found new friends by joining the Club and taking part in activities and meetings.
Here are some of the things we do:
FUNDRAISING
Our Club President’s charities this year are The Girls’ Network, providing art materials for Eastbourne Refuge and educational packs for the Mint House in Pevensey.
In recent years we have raised money for the Eastbourne Samaritans, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Changing Faces, the JPK Project, the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, women’s cancer charities, the Eastbourne Foodbank and many other local and national charities.
Internationally, we’ve been able to send money to support the people of Ukraine (using the Soroptimist network in Eastern Europe), and have been working with our Soroptimist link club in Japan on various projects including improving conditions for children affected by the Japanese tsunami and raising money for work with street children in Kenya. We have also supported Mary’s Meals, Médecins sans Frontières‘ work with Ebola victims, and more recently, along with other UK Soroptimist Clubs, the Meru Women’s Garden Project in Kenya.
But Soroptimism isn’t just about raising funds. Here are some of our other activities:
PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES
We support the local Women’s Refuge with parcels of toiletries, Mother’s Day gifts, Easter eggs, and Christmas boxes, contributed by Club members and their friends.
Christmas is a busy time for us, as we collect and hand over useful gifts for local homeless people, in conjunction with the Salvation Army in Eastbourne. And we join with the Lewes Soroptimists at the local Foster Carers’ Christmas Party, helping to provide and wrap presents from which children can choose something to give their foster parents.
Some of the Club members meet once a month for craft activities, which started when the local hospital asked us for 
small blankets to cover the knees of elderly patients in the Frailty Ward. The Craft Group have been knitting 15cm squares and sewing them together to make these knee blankets. This is now a contining activity because many of the patients become so attached to their blankets that they take them home with them when they leave hospital! The Craft Group also makes Twiddle Muffs for patients suffering with dementia who like to have something to hold and fiddle with.
A more recent initiative has had Club members sewing heart-shaped cushions for the local hospital to give to women recovering from mastectomies – they’re more comfortable to use than conventional cushions.
AWARENESS-RAISING
Club members have been involved with the WASPI campaign which is fighting for all British women adversely affected by the changes to the State Pension law.
And we raised awareness and gathered signatures for the Purple Teardrop Campaign to oppose the trafficking of women and children.