At the business meeting on Thursday 8th September, we marked Betty Mashs’ 50th year in soroptimists!  We presented Betty with a collage depicting all her years in soroptimism, a life drawing of her penned by fellow member and local artist Jane Powell, a certificate from head office and a bouquet of flowers. Prior to joining Kenilworth. Betty was a member and former President of Coventry Soroptimists.  

On Saturday 23rd July, in glorious sunshine, Ann hosted her wonderful Garden Party in aid of the charity Look Good Feel Better.  We were joined on the day by Federation President Elect Ann Hodgson and a wonderful time was enjoyed by all who attended.  Many thanks to Ann and Shaun, who opened up their home and garden to us for this very worthy cause.     The weather was great and as always all the club members pulled together working and having fun at the same time. Our Soroptimisters Shaun, Marshall and Dave also did a great job. The large home-made BBQ for bangers and kebabs along with salads, puds and a few summer drinks made for a happy time for all and there is never a lack of conversation with Kenilworth Soroptimists around. We were joined by 2 new potential  members who we look forward

Our June dinner speaker was Rachel O’Reilly, Professor of Chemistry at Warwick University. She gave us a talk about her research into polymers (materials built up from smaller units) and their applications. Her group can construct polymer nano cages that can contain an active ingredient inside that is released only when needed. The cages are tiny: a nano metre is one thousandth millionth of a metre. She told us that they could be used, for example, in laundry powder to keep the different enzymes from interacting with each other until required for getting on with the job of cleaning up all the different types of dirt we get on our clothes: grass stains, wine, blood, egg yolk …. Who knew laundry powder could be so interesting! It was a fascinating insight into the life and work of a research scientist and left us in awe

Kenilworth Soroptimists, together with sister clubs in Coventry and Leamington & Warwick, enjoyed warm sunshine while welcoming the crowds to their eye-catching stall at the Peace Festival last weekend.  Purple balloons and bunting drew visitors to the stand to find out more about the work of Soroptimists’ Purple Teardrop campaign; ‘Stop Human Trafficking’. The Soroptimists drew petitioners’ attention to signs of trafficking such as several women living in run-down, usually rented accommodation, never alone when seen outdoors, and premises frequently visited by different men. Kenilworth Soroptimists were delighted by festivalgoers’ support of Purple Teardrop’s work in helping vulnerable victims of human trafficking into the UK.   ‘By the close of the festival we had collected over 1000 signatures for our petition to outlaw sex for sale advertising’ said Patricia Weinbren, President of SI Kenilworth.  ‘We want to say a big thank you to the public for

Kenilworth Soroptimists completed the Race for Life 2016 at Stoneleigh in 1 hour 1 minute, and thereby with the support of club members (and others) raised money for cancer research

Some intrepid Soroptimists from our club were out and about for the recent Two Castles Run. Well done to our two runners. We also provided seven Marshalls (who made £350 for our charities)

Thanks to the generosity of a local grower, we are able to sell good quality bedding plants at the Lions Grand Charity Show each year and raise funds for our charities.  This year we are supporting Friends of Sick Children in Malawi (FOSCIM) where funds that we raise help to support the local training of nurses in specialist paediatric care.   It is always a team effort, with members and their Soroptimisters helping in any way they can to get our stand up and running.  This year’s late start to the season meant we had fewer plants to sell but that didn’t stop customers coming to buy. Our grateful thanks to Kenilworth Lions for giving us a stand at their Grand Charity Show each year so that we can raise funds for our charities.  

Our Guest Speaker at our June Business Meeting was Santosh Kundi from  S.I. Leamington who  gave us a flavour of life in Kenya today.  We looked at a film showing us the different lives of two schoolgirls, one living in Nairobi, and one living in the countryside near Meru. She brought along various artefacts from Kenya: decorated gourds used for milk and other liquids, a child’s vehicle made from wire, musical instruments, khangas and more. The khanga is a piece of cloth, highly decorated and coloured, that the women wear. Santosh demonstrated one of the many way of wearing it using one of our members as a model.   The contrast between these lives and those of the women and children described in the SIGBI article:  https://sigbi.org/our-charities/meru-womens-garden-project-2016-2019/ showed clearly the level to which the Meru project aims to raise the women of that area.

A well attended coffee morning recently raised the magnificent total of £241.35 for the Ovarian Cancer Charity. With an additional donation of £14.00 and an agreed rounding up, the Charity will receive £250.00. While enjoying a variety of home-made cakes and coffee, we were given a talk by member Marion who is a brilliant photographer. She shared with us a selection of her beautiful photographs of flowers taken in National Trust gardens, RHS Wisley and from Europe (swathes of tulips under the trees …).