Skip links


Programme Action Club Activities

The Foston Hall Project –  July 12th 2025

SIGBI Day of Action “Hope”

Saturday July 12th

Working with Anawim – the Birmingham-based women’s charity

Foston Hall is a prison and young offenders institution for women, in Derby.

At June’s Business Meeting, we heard about  the multi-faceted support offered by Anawim ,to women leaving this prison. We were told about the differing roles of staff at Anawim in providing help for women to move on positively after their release. The staff at Anawim had identified a small but highly significant contribution that we could make to support some of the women as they leave. At present they are presented with a barely adequate bag of toiletries to help them through their first 24 hours back in the outside world.
The Programme Action Group, in developing the ‘Foston Hall Project’, are following the advice of Anawim staff, to determine the way in which SI Kenilworth and District can help provide a positive, early start to women’s lives on leaving Foston Hall.
The target is to provide 50 attractive bags of decent toiletries and personal items for Foston leavers. Members are already busy assembling their donations to bring to July’s Business Meeting.

And beautiful bags to hold these self-worth affirming essentials are nearing completion.

On 12th July, SIGBI’s Day of Action, donations of toiletries and personal items will be collected at Milk & Mocha in Warwick Rd Kenilworth. We’ll be focussed on our Day of Action’s theme – “Hope”. And that’s the intention of our gift to women leaving Foston Hall.

Collecting winter coats for Anawim

As a Club we are very pleased to be able to support Anawim Anawim – Birmingham’s Centre for Women   – a Birmingham -based charity helping vulnerable women in many ways.

On this occasion, a Club member has appealed for winter coats, an ongoing need for women in difficult circumstances, and the Club has stepped up to the mark as always.

Cervical Screening Awareness Week 17th – 23rd June 2025

This campaign is vitally important because cervical cancer can be eradicated and wide spread screening is how it can be done.

We are providing information.

We were out in sunny Talisman Square in shifts on the morning of June 21st morning handing out Cervical Screening information cards to Kenilworth people as they went about their shopping. We were particularly pleased to be joined by Alison Insley, the town’s Deputy Mayor, always an active supporter of #soroptimists.
This was backing up the display of the same materials in Kenilworth Library – again, we are very grateful that they give us this opportunity to reach the community we live in.

We are contacting the local medical centres to ask them if they would use their waiting room screens  to show the Cervical Cancer video which has been produced by SIGBI.

Seeking advocacy of the campaign in parliament

SIGBI have provided an excellent letter to send to our MP and this has been sent.

An extract –

“We ask you to confirm the vaccination coverage in your constituency and clarify local plans for achieving the 90% WHO vaccination target.

Considering the challenges we also ask you to advocate to the Government to take the following actions

  1. Enhanced Public Awareness Campaigns: To educate the public on the importance of HPV vaccination and regular cervical screening.
  2. Targeted Outreach Programs: Especially in areas with low vaccination and screening rates, to address disparities and ensure fair access to preventive measures.”

Read this extract from the SIGBI campaign group with the  latest information from NHS England regarding  changes to their approach to screening.

CERVICAL SCREENING AWARENESS WEEK

NHS England announces a significant change in its cervical screening programme in time for Cervical Screening Awareness Week!

Around the world, every two minutes, a woman dies from cervical cancer, and even here in the UK, two women a day die from this entirely preventable disease.

Despite this, one in every three women fails to take up their invitation to attend a screening appointment; however, early detection of cell changes through screening can prevent up to 75% of cases…….

NHS England has announced that from 1 July 2025, all women of screening age (25-64) will be invited every five years in England, unless they are at a higher risk of cervical cancer because of high-risk Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and or cell changes, when they will be seen more often.

The move follows a recommendation by the UK National Screening Committee, following research led by King’s College London, which showed that 5-yearly screening is as safe as three-yearly, that the same number of cancers are found, and less frequent cervical screening tests are needed.

Eligible women will first receive a notification through the App, to alert them to book a screening appointment, followed by a text message if the App notification isn’t opened. Letters will remain in place for those who need them.

This week, Soroptimists will be out and about in their communities, speaking to women and raising awareness of the need to take up that all-important invitation for cervical screening.

There will be further action later in the year.

Thank you for reading.

Railway Station Survey –  May 25

SI Kenilworth and District have contributed information to the SIGBI project  surveying facilites available at local stations to promote safe railway travel for everyone in our community, with an awareness of the potential vulnerability of women.

Taken from SIGBI website:

“First launched in 1996, ‘The Future of the Railways’ was an investigation into personal safety on the railways, which the charity’s members – known as Soroptimists – used to lobby the Government into taking action to do more to protect women on public transport.

It was launched in response to a Soroptimist being attacked on a train in the London area.

Soroptimists carried out grassroots research into the views and experiences of women passengers, as well as speaking to station managers and staff and visiting over 500 over-ground stations across Britain.

SIGBI published a report making recommendations to the UK Government on how to improve safety in stations, claiming the Government’s approach to passenger safety in railway stations was ineffective.

To further advance the work being done, the charity is kickstarting the project again – asking the same questions to the UK’s railway stations, to see how much has changed, as well as expanding it to airports and bus stations, to obtain a more detailed bigger picture of women’s safety across the country. The charity is also questioning whether the Government’s approach to passenger safety has moved on since 1996”

11th -17th May Women’s Health Week

It is proposed to use the template, provided by SIGBI, of a letter to our MP, asking what is being done in our local community to promote the eradicatioon of cervical cancer.

It is also proposed to produce fliers and cards providing information about women’s health, to be available at any SI Kenilworth events.

Social media will make use of resources from the Hub to promote awareness that cervical cancer is preventable.

Awareness weeks

17th-23rd June  Cervical Screening week

20th – 26th January Cervical Cancer week

A range of awareness raising activities will be provdied for these weeks.

Foston Hall Prison Project

It has come to our notice that there is inadequate provision, on release from prison, of essential items for women leaving this prison. It is proposed that we make a contribution to a much improved provision, even if only for some of the women, on release. This work will be our focus for Saturday of Service July 20th with the theme of “Hope”

Federation Programme Webinar held on 18th January 2025

The focus was Education and presentations were made of Club Education Projects across the Federation which weren’t short listed for Best Practice Awards last year. The recording of the webinar is available to view on the Hub.

UK Club & Regional Programme Action Officers Meeting  31st January 2025
with Federation Programme Director (Lindsay Green)
Our PA leader attended this on behalf of the Club and the Region.
It has been agreed that we will concentrate Soroptimist project work on meeting SIGBI’s charitable objectives and aligning these with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This will provide greater clarity to what we do and why we do it.
SIGBI will identify a few of the UN Days that they would like us to focus on.
Some of the new Advocacy and Programme Champions are now in place.
Cervical Cancer Awareness Webinar help on 25th January 2025
This is now available to view on the Hub.
Compassionate Kenilworth Meeting held 23rd January 2025
This was attended by Compassionate Kenilworth, SI Kenilworth and District, Kenilworth Lions Club, Kenilworth Rotary, Kenilworth Round Table, Men walking and Talking and Women’s Walking group. These groups werre invited to give an update on their activities in 2024 and plans for the future.
There was discussion about the proposal to set up a “Town Wide Volunteer Pool” to assist running large events in town.
Sewing machines for the Kori Project
The Kori Project has been supported by SIGBI. A request was made for more sewing machines and two were offered by a Club member. Club Executive have agreed to use charity funds to pay for servicing them ready for donation.
Extracts from SIGBI website of SI Kenilworth and District Programme Action 
Plant Sale at Kenilworth Lions Grand Show
The story of our project
What did your Club/Region/NA/Network do? We ran a plant stall at the annual Grand Show in Kenilworth which is run by the Lions. The Show attracts thousands of visitors, especially if the sun shine.
Why did your Club/Region/NA/Network choose this project? What issue did you tackle with this project? Was the club approached to help with the issue? This event provides us with a major fund raising opportunity during the summer. We also take the opportunity to provide members of the public with information about our organisation, the work we do with women and girls locally and also our advocacy work on VAWG.
How did you carry out the project? Who was involved in the project? What did they do? In previous years plants for our stall were donated by a local Garden Nursery where one of our members worked, as these were not available this year club members set about providing our own. From spring onwards plants were grown from seeds and plugs in members’ gardens, greenhouses and window sills. All were transported to the Show on the Saturday morning and we discovered our pitch wasn’t large enough for the large number collected. After a wet morning the sun came out as did the visitors who liked and purchased our plants. We nearly sold out!
What was the outcome of this project? In total £1045.81 was raised by the Plant Sale. This will donated to the organisations working with women and girls locally who we support such as Refuge, Flourish, Women’s Centre, Food Bank etc. We also again raised the profile of Soroptimism in Kenilworth and demonstrated to the general public as well as local politicians who visited the stall our ongoing commitment to ending VAWG.

 

Kenilworth Theatre Fundraiser for Baby Basics

The story of your project
What did your Club/Region/NA/Network do? Our local theatre in Kenilworth gave us the opportunity to takeover the 120 seated theatre for one night during their 6 day run of Bill Bryson’s ‘Notes from a Small Island. We paid them for the tickets and were then responsible for selling all of them. The ticket money plus raffle raised over £1500 for a local charity ‘Baby Basics’ who provide a moses basket and essential items for new born babies to vulnerable families.
Why did your Club/Region/NA/Network choose this project? What issue did you tackle with this project? Was the club approached to help with the issue? We became aware of the work of Baby Basics a local charity that provides a baby bank for vulnerable families. Following a talk by Baby Basics manager we became even more aware that the cost of living crisis has made it more difficult for some families to provide essential items for their new born babies and grants available are very limited, thus increasing the risk of very young children experiencing poverty.
How did you carry out the project? Who was involved in the project? What did they do? We already have contacts with our local theatre and they happily gave us the opportunity to hold a charity night at the end of June. Club members sold tickets to friends, family and other groups and organisations in town. Social Media was used to publicise the event. Raffle prizes were sought from members, friends and businesses in town. These were themed to the geographical areas covered in the play such as Yorkshire, Scotland, South coast, France. Raffle tickets were sold on the night. Representatives from Baby Basics came along to talk to the audience during the break and to show the items that our fundraising would provide.
What was the outcome of this project? The theatre was sold out on the night. We raised over £1500 for the charity who would use it to buy items for 11 families. For each family these were Moses basket, stand and bedding pack, baby bouncy chair, baby activity gym, newborn sling/baby carrier. We raised the awareness locally of the charity and the needs of new young families. We also demonstrated again the work that we do as Soroptimists to support women and their families in our local community.
Period Poverty Event in Kenilworth
The story of your project
What did your Club/Region/NA/Network do? For our Saturday of Service / Action (July 25) under the theme of poverty we decided to set up a Period Poverty project. The event was held on Saturday morning at a cafe, owned by one of our members in Kenilworth. Social Media was used to publicise the event and to invite the public, other women’s groups + friends and family of members to ‘drop in’ and either donate period products or to make a cash donation. The products have then been distributed to various local organisations such as Refuge, Women’s Centre, Community Centre and Schools. Also they filled a large suitcase to be taken to Ukraine for displaced women and girls.
Why did your Club/Region/NA/Network choose this project? What issue did you tackle with this project? Was the club approached to help with the issue? We were all aware of the existence of period poverty exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis. We undertook some research and were made even more aware of the hidden nature of period poverty. 14% women have missed work and 13% girls have missed school. In UK 1 in 10 women say they can’t afford period products.
How did you carry out the project? Who was involved in the project? What did they do? Farida very generously said that she would be happy to use her cafe as the venue and drop off point for our event. Our communications team devised a poster and used social media to advertise the event, give information about the issue and to invite anyone who wished to ‘drop in’ at the cafe on the Saturday morning to donate period products or to make a cash donation which we would then use to buy period products. Prior to the event we had contacted local organisations working with women and girls to find out their need for period products and to tell them about the event. Following the event members distributed the products to the various origanisaations.
What was the outcome of this project? We were overwhelmed by the response from women locally and by lunch time we had two tables full of period products and £190 donated in cash. Even two of the local supermarkets got involved as a member of staff from a local health centre bravely went in, told them what we were doing and asked them to donate products for free. She came away with two full bags – we think a potential new member. Again through our social media work and holding the event in the center of town we publicised Soroptimism and demonstrated our aims and the work we do to support women and girls.

 
 

 

Extract from PA Officer Report to Club AGM April 25.

 

Fresh Thoughts Booklet (PRF 64410) – The information booklet for women fleeing domestic abuse had been produced by SI Poole & Purbeck in early 2024 and was made available to other clubs to adapt it for use in their area. We worked with our local Refuge team, Warwickshire County Council DA Commissioner & Warwickshire Police to change the content to suit Warwickshire. Our Warwickshire version both in Pdf format and printed was available for use from November 2024. It is being used throughout the county and we plan to have a launch event later this year.

 

16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence Against Women & Girls (25th November to 10th December) (PRFs 65714 & 65717) – this was an important focus of our Programme Action work again this year. Our 16 Days were launched by an event at Milk & Mocha attended by members, local dignatories and representatives from other organisations. As well as the daily social media posts about VAWAG issues, we had an orange wreath at Kenilworth Castle, we decorated our Christmas Tree at St Nicholas in orange, we decorated the benches in Abbey Fields orange, on the 25th the public were asked to sign the White Ribbon pledge, we had a VAWAG information display in the library and decorated the railings outside orange, we collected orange food for Anawim Food Bank and we made up Christmas boxes of gifts bought with money raised at the town Christmas Tombola for the women at Anawim. It was a very busy 16 Days with many activities involving all members.

Refuge – we have continued to support our local Refuge with money from our Refuge Well Being Fund being used in a variety of ways to support individual women and families both in the refuge, dispersed accommodation and when they are leaving. Members have also generously responded to specific requests for goods for women and children throughout the year.

Lend with Care – this project led by Gill S. and her team has continued during the year. Money is lent to women entrepreneurs around the world via Lend with Care most of which is from repaid loans.

International Women’s Day 2025 – Purpling the Park – we celebrated IWD on March 8th again this year by decorating the benches in Abbey Fields in purple decorations with quotes from inspirational women.

Also to celebrate IWD we organised and hosted a free event for women ‘Your Menopause Matters’. The speakers were Deborah Thomas a local physiotherapist and Dr Rebecca Jacques a local GP, both Deborah and Rebecca specialise in women’s menopausal health. 46 local women attended the event.

We also had the following PA speakers at our meetings :

Gordon Cowie from Friends of Sick Children in Malawi – who came to update us on work at the hospital in Malawi.

Kate Wilson from Medics to Medics – came to update us on her impressive and very dangerous work taking much needed medical supplies and aid to Ukraine.

Paul Street, Project Manager for ‘Safe and Sound’ at Colmore BID in Birmingham following our involvement in the ‘Walk in Her Shoes’ event came to talk to us about their work to make the Colmore area of Birmingham safer for women

Refuge – Mel Jones and Anne Derbyshire provided us with an annual update of Refuge work locally and how our Well Being Fund had been used.

Kate Steventon – came to tell us about the Family Learning Service where she works with families to encourage parents to read with their children.

 

Small groups of members also took part in the following PA related events –

‘Walk in Her Shoes’ in Birmingham in June 2024.

‘Hope’ – Celebrating Political Women in Coventry & Warwickshire at Warwick University in February 2025.

 

We have also continued our Advocacy work by –

Police & Crime Commissioner Elections May 2025 – we contacted each of the 3 candidates explaining our commitment to the elimination of violence against women and girls and asking them for their plans to tackling VAWAG in Warwickshire.

Writing to our MP’s in Kenilworth, Balsall Common, Coleshill and Leamington about matters as requested by SIGBI.

Signing petitions for example for Refuge, Women’s Aid, Greenpeace, Plastic Count