SI Heswall has 5 Friendship links within the Britain and Ireland Federation and the Europe Federation. We correspond with all clubs 3 or 4 times a year and send greetings at Christmas.
SI Lund in Sweden has kept a friendship link with Heswall for over 50 years. Lund club members have visited Heswall in 1975 and in 2009 for Heswall club’s 60th year celebrations. Heswall club members have made return visits to Sweden.
SI Masaka friendship link formed when Heswall club members went to Masaka, in Uganda, with a local Church group to help support local villages in July 2014. One member from SI Masaka joined us at the SI Conference in Harrogate and stayed with one of our club members. We have kept in contact with the club during the Coronavirus pandemic and 52 people in Masaka have contracted the virus, but no deaths.
SI Chennai Downtown is another recently established friendship link. SI Heswall responded to a request from SI Chennai Downtown in India, to form a friendship link with them in May 2014. Our club friendship link Officer has meet Chennai Downton friendship link Officer several times at Soroptimist conferences, in Harrogate, Cardiff and Liverpool. Chennai Downtown has been very active in supporting women during the Coronavirus by making masks.
SI Maidstone in the UK and SI Heswall have held a friendship link for over 10 years. Earlier this year SI Maidstone closed after 60 years of service and many Maidstone members moved to the nearby SI Medway and the club then became SI Medway and Maidstone. To celebrate International Day of Friendship on Thursday 30th July SI Heswall members met by zoom with SI Medway and Maidstone and their other linked clubs – SI Accra (Ghana), SI LeQuesnoy (France), SI Osnabruck (Germany) and SI Voorburg (Netherlands). The participants enjoyed sharing project news and hope to repeat this way of keeping in touch.
SI Torquay and SI Heswall created this friendship link following a meeting of club members at the 2016 conference in Malta.