Kernow Soroptimists were honoured to be involved with the very special Project Diamond Opening Weekend at St Austell Rugby Club in October. Members attended the Ladies Day event and made presentations of two ‘soroptimist’ rugby balls to the Valkyries Team (Women’s) manager and the the Under 16’s girls team. This was in celebration of the opening of new club facilities for women and girls at the club house. Women’s rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and we are seeing more and more women and girls inspired to take part. The recent victory of the Red Roses in the Rugby World Cup has shown us all the power, skill and determination of women in sport and how important it is that women are given the same opportunities and support as their male counterparts. As an organisation that empowers women and girls,

It Starts with Men! Kernow Soroptimists are proud to have joined a community of hundreds of organisations who have made their commitment to ending violence against women, and making workplaces equal, positive and safe environments for everyone. Over the next year we will be implementing our White Ribbon ‘Seven Actions’ led by Soroptimist Jennie, our White Ribbon Champion. The Supporter Organisation Seven Actions are to: 1.)     Encourage people to wear a White Ribbon and make the White Ribbon Promise to never use, excuse or remain silent about men’s violence against women. 2.)    Ensure that at least one person in the organisation is a White Ribbon Champion. (Soroptimist Jennie is our accredited champion) 3.)    Hold an awareness-raising (and fundraising if appropriate) event each year. 4.)    Show that we support White Ribbon by displaying the Supporter Organisation badge on our website, email signatures and in public places. 5.) 

Kernow Soroptimists are very proud to be SIGBI’s first CIO(Charitable Incorporated Organisation).  We were registered with the Charity Commission on 28th May 2025. We would like to thank SIGBI Governance Director Giselle for her excellent support with our application and constitution and the SIGBI Directors for working with us at the last minute to tie up some procedural loose ends!! Before jumping straight into the benefits and hurdles, we spent time as a club, making sure that everyone understood the meaning of ‘CIO’.  A CIO is a ‘Charitable Incorporated Organisation’. This legal structure is designed specifically for non-profit organisations in the UK. Introduced by the Charities Act 2011, a CIO combines the benefits of having a separate legal identity, like a company, with the simplicity of a traditional unincorporated charity. There are many benefits of becoming a CIO, not least the liability advantages. If a

In April SI Guernsey held a Friendship Weekend to which Kernow Soroptimists were invited. Soroptimists Jennie and Wendy arrived on Friday 25th April and were welcomed with a lovely gift bag packed with Guernsey goodies.               On the first evening, we were taken to ‘Grow’ which supports adults with learning disabilities and difficulties develop self confidence and life skills. We then met some gorgeous dogs from Paws for Thought, who showed off their amazing skills at caring for adults and children, with a wide variety of needs. Both of these charities are supported by SI Guernsey.               On the Saturday morning we had a very interesting walking tour, explaining the history of Guernsey and the events surrounding the Liberation of the Islands at the end of World War 2.  This served as a

Three members of Kernow Soroptimists (Angela, Jennie and Jill) travelled to India in November 2024, to be part of an international group of Soroptimists touring the country.  We were hosted by members of SI Chennai Downtown and treated to an amazing two weeks of experiences.  Please look at our website page to find out more about our trip.

Kernow Soroptimists enjoyed a wonderful celebratory ‘high tea’ at The Headland Hotel, Newquay on Saturday 17th August to mark their recent club charter event. The staff at the Headland looked after us well and we enjoyed a few glasses of bubbly along with our sandwiches, scones and cakes. Thanks to Soroptimists AJ and Jill for the layout of the table and to @keysfromthequay (and Adrian) who made us some beautiful keyring momentos. Soroptimist Jenny did a great job of having our charter certificate framed and it was passed to our first ‘charter champion’ Soroptimist Caro for the start of its journey around our club members throughout the year. Kernow Soroptimists are well and truly launched!

Soroptimist Jill joins the South West and Channel Islands Regional Executive Team for 24-25. She was voted into the role of Programme Action Officer at the July ’24 AGM meeting and takes up her role in November ’24. Jill is passionate about programme action and is looking forward to working with the 16 other club Programme Action Officers. Jill joins fellow club member Soroptimist Jennie who has been the Website Administrative Officer for the last year and continues in post for 24-25.  

We are very proud to announce the chartering of S.I. Kernow (Kernow Soroptimists) by SIGBI President Ruth on 19th June, 2024. We were joined by President Elect (& Acting Director PR / Marketing) Gillie, Immediate Past President Cathy, Director of Programme Lyndsay (and mascott Rosie!), Director of Membership Dishi, and Director of Finance Chris, all from the SIGBI board. We also welcomed South-West Regional President Daphne, Regional Membership Officer Jane and President Nisha of Soroptimist International-India (NASI-India) and incoming President Naina. We had a really lovely ceremony with members on line spanning most of Cornwall. Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported us over the last seven weeks as we put everything in place to make this possible. In particular, we would like to thank Soroptimist SIGBI for being so forward looking and allowing alternative models of active participation to suit the modern