As part of Mental Health Awareness  Week  ( 10-16  May 2021 ), we were treated  to a Beautiful Hands session led by Tanya,  a Neal’s Yard Consultant.  We learned how to make a simple  hand scrub  from oil and salt or sugar and used a few products to soften our hands. It was a very relaxing session and we all felt we had been pampered. We also raised money for our 3 domestic abuse charities, the final amount will be published on this post shortly. Information about Mental Health Awareness Week can be found here First published: 12 May 2021

                                                                               We all had a wonderful evening last night Celebrating International Women’s Day on 9 March 2021.  We were joined by Federation President Johanna Raffan MBE for Question Time. All of the questions put to Johanna were devised by club members. It was very interesting to hear about the possibilities of having clubs  focused  specifically on  younger members and how clubs will continue to move  forward in embracing technology such as Zoom. Johanna spoke about all the Centenary plans  for this year including an  exhibition which will be displayed in prominent  places around the  UK including the  Scotland  and  Northern Ireland  parliaments and it will be available digitally across SIGBI. The Centenary  reception

Our toys for the refuge made headlines in the recent publication of Soroptimist News see page 5. The page is dedicated to Soroptimists helping children. “Epsom Soroptimists are supporting 3 domestic abuse charities this year, one of which is Reigate and Banstead Women’s Aid (RBWA). The Play Therapy Unit at RBWA is always in need of good quality toys, especially in this time of pandemic when there are shortages of goods, so the Club donated a selection of toys. The toys are used in the charity’s Play Therapy sessions, to enable children to express, process and make sense of the trauma that they have experienced.” This is a quarterly magazine with all the latest Soroptimist  news and can be accessed on computer devices or by downloading the app on mobile phones:  https://sigbi.org/news/magazines/  Originally published 6 April 2021

SI Epsom and District Club is committed to educating, empowering and enabling women in the UK and worldwide. We have been involved with African Vision Malawi  (AVM) since 2016 as proud  sponsors of a young woman named Grace. She is from the M’bang’ombe village in the Lilongwe district of Malawi and is soon to become 18 in July 2021. Having raised awareness of Grace through initiatives such as inviting AVM to speak to a garden full of members and friends,  it was possible to sponsor Grace through her education at Namitete Secondary school.  A total of £1, 100 was put towards 4 years of schooling.  Grace has been keeping in touch lately with letters and photos telling us about her progress in school.  She aspires to be a mechanical engineer  by  attending  a university  to  achieve a qualification in this area.  Sadly,  there has been

                                                                          The Big Heart Quiz was a great success raising over £500 for the 3 domestic abuse charities: True Honour, East Surrey Domestic Abuse Services and Reigate and Banstead Women’s Aid. As this was the day before Valentine’s Day,  the quiz focused on the theme of love! There were  over 50 participants taking part in the 4 rounds including a music round. The quiz was hosted and  creatively designed by Quizmistress Alexandra Curtis, fabulous work!   Well done to all the participants and  winners. In first place were the Southside Gang, in second place were The Ventricles and in third place were ‘We have no authority at this quiz’! The winners were

The Domestic Abuse Bill had its second reading this week in the House of Lords and we were fully behind Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s proposed amendments to the Bill. Club members sent an astonishing 210 letters to  quite a few Baronesses.  This action was initiated by a request that Southern England  Soroptimists send letters to all Baronesses in order to highlight crucial points in the Bill and request that they be included. The letters sent by SI Epsom & District called for the following amendments: Making non-fatal strangulation an offence in its own right To update coercive control laws to allow abusive behaviour, which has continued even after a relationship has ended, to also be prosecuted To add specific protections for migrant women and anyone regardless of their immigration status To provide further protection through the family courts like prohibiting unsupervised contact for a

    We received two surprise greetings this year. The first was from SI Okayama, Japan, a card wishing us seasons greetings and a happy New Year. It was actually signed by 28 members which is quite an achievement given the current situation. The second greeting was an email from SI Lviv, Ukraine: Dear Sisters, we wish you a joyful holiday season, Merry Christmas but most importantly, a very peaceful, healthy and happy start to the New Year! May the peace and joy of Christmas touch you and those you love. With best wishes on behalf of the SI Club Lviv Ukraine President Nadiya Kharchenko 2020-2022 We returned greetings with virtual cards sent to both Clubs and look forward to another year of keeping in touch with them throughout 2021.

Our soroptimists have been very generous this year in donating funds to the 3 domestic abuse charities we support: East Surrey Domestic Abuse Services (ESDAS)  Reigate and Banstead Women’s Aid (RBWA) and True Honour . Some members expressed the view that it is also important for the families to receive gifts,  especially at this time of year when they are often far away from the normality of family life. One very new Soroptimist member, Tina, (possibly one of Santa’s elves in disguise!) decided that instead of giving the usual presents to work colleagues, she would organise a Secret Santa for ESDAS. Not only did she involved these colleagues  but she also asked if any Soroptimists would like to donate presents and they did! Tina was able to collect a sizeable amount and they were collected by ESDAS.  The items included books,  socks, infusers, mugs,  scarves

This year,  the 16 Days of Activism involved a huge campaign  on social media in raising awareness.  Each day carried a specific message such as action against Trafficking, FGM, Child Marriage  and the Abolition of Modern Day Slavery. As well as our own posts,  we shared posts from the 3 domestic abuse charities we are supporting, True Honour, East Surrey Domestic Abuse Services and Reigate and Banstead Women’s Aid. Our Orange the World Flyer promoted the event and had links to information produced by the UN on the Shadow Pandemic, signs of domestic abuse and how to signpost victims to appropriate agencies and organisations. A generic version of the poster has now been included in the SIGBI Toolkit for the 16 Days of Activism.SI Epsom & District Orange the World Flyer     Orange badges were worn at meetings throughout the 16 Days of Activism.

  Last night, we listened to a talk about Modern Day Slavery with  Dr Clive Driscoll, Deputy Chair of True Honour. Clive spoke from his own experience as a Detective Chief Inspector a few years ago when he worked in Brixton. The situation with slavery has not changed  in over 150 years from when it was abolished. There are over 40 million slaves globally and 71% of them are women and girls. Clive suggested that the  action we can take is to deprive those who are doing the trafficking of an income. For example, not to give money to people we see on the streets, buy them a cup of coffee or give them a sandwich instead. He also stressed the importance of multi agency working with police, GPs, teachers, social workers etc. Below are some links to find out more about Modern Day Slavery: