We are excited to announce that the Soroptimist International London Chilterns Region Conference on Saturday 20th June will be held at Wycombe Wanderers Football Stadium.
Soroptimist International High Wycombe and District are hosting this conference which promises to be lively and inspirational with great speakers and plenty of opportunities for networking.
President Rita Beaumont’s theme for the Region 2025-2027 is “Good Health and Wellbeing – the Right of Everyone” – you will see that the speakers fit the brief well and there will be more to add on the day too.
The event will be from 10am to 3.30pm, with tea and coffee on arrival, a lunch of sandwiches and fruit, and tea and coffee at the end. Soroptimists are encouraged to bring a guest/potential member to this event which will showcase Soroptimists from the London Chilterns Region and beyond.
Booking information will be available soon, and a detailed agenda nearer the time.
Date and Time: Saturday June 20th 10am to 3.30pm
Venue: Wycombe Wanderers Football Stadium:
Adams Park, Hillbottom Road, High Wycombe, Bucks HP12 4HJ
Directions: wwfc.com/visit-us
There is plenty of free parking on site.
Speaker: Richard Lodge, CEO of Chosen, High Wycombe. This is a charity that supports women who are sexually exploited or trafficked for sex. Chosen provides such women with hope for an alternative future away from control, exploitation and addiction by providing an alternative place of belonging for them. Richard has years of experience of establishing social action projects including supporting those with unsustainable personal debt, and those afflicted by street homelessness/addiction.
Richard will talk about how unconditional and consistent acts of generosity to sexually exploited women can enable them to walk free from coercion and addiction, and into new and restored community life. He will give a real-life testimony of a woman who walked free in 2025 to illustrate the effectiveness of such support.
If guests would like to donate items to Chosen please bring unopened packs of knickers in ladies small sizes 6 or 8, warm socks or basic toiletries.
Speakers: Beverley Jewell and Helen Brabant-Bleakley of Amref Health Africa, Africa’s leading health NGO. Amref believes that health is a human right and the key to a brighter future. Africa has 25% of the global disease burden but only 3% of the global health workforce. Neonatal mortality is 10 times that in the UK.
Beverley Jewell first connected with Amref Health Africa in 2014 when she worked in Nairobi for 6 months supporting medical outreach programmes with data collection across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. On returning to the UK she volunteered at the London office and then became a Trustee in 2020. She has been able to visit programmes in Kenya and Tanzania in recent years focussed on, for example water security and health worker training
Helen Brabant-Bleakley is the Philanthropy Manager for Amref Health Africa UK working with Amref’s dedicated major donors and foundations. She was drawn to Amref because of its community-led approach, finding tangible solutions to systemic problems. She’s been inspired by meeting Amref trained health workers in Africa who are working every day to make health equality a reality for all.
Amref partners with communities in 35 countries to identify their unique health challenges and co-design solutions to close the gap between them and the healthcare that they need. Amref can adapt to changes and address new challenges – like the climate crisis, the rise in NCDs (non-communicable disease eg diabetes), pandemic preparedness, or the specific health needs of Africa’s young people – as soon as they arise. Amref grows and strengthens Africa’s health workforce, developing mobile and digital learning solutions that make world-class training available across the continent. Amref’s International University provides health sciences training to the continent’s future health leaders. Amref says “We are the go-to partner for governments across the continent that are seeking to embed equitable healthcare access into their policies and plans.”
Every year, Amref supports millions of people across Africa to access the health information and services they need. They design and implement programmes with communities that address their unique health challenges, from clean water to preventable diseases, maternal health to ending Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), training health workers on the social and economic factors that influence a person’s health.