Soroptimist members were set a challenge this year by President Ruth Healey to take action with a ‘90’ theme to mark SIGBI’s 90th year.
On 8 May, Medway and Maidstone Soroptimist , Julia Search hosted a Zoom Get Together with our 4 of our Friendship Link clubs. We were pleased that members from Heswall, Chaguanas, Osnabruck and Voorburg clubs were able to join for part or whole of the meeting.
Six Members of Medway and Maidstone Soroptimists took part in The Plastic Big Count over one week (11-17 March). This was the UK’s biggest ever investigation into household plastic waste. Intended to raise awareness about single-use plastic and to inspire people to reduce their own plastic consumption. You had to keep a tally of food and drink, cleaning and household items and anything else plastic. Each of us counted up and registered on-line. Each household taking part then received a digital footprint. The number of pieces of plastic per household ranged from 14 items (single occupant) to 73 (two persons). Most items related to food and drink. 225,000 participants took part in The Big Plastic Count 2024. The data has been analyzed to work out the true scale of the plastic waste crisis in the UK. It showed that :- The UK throws away 1.7
We were pleased to welcome Regional President Alison Driscoll as our guest speaker at the AGM Dinner on 11 April.
Members took part in President Alison’s Silent Auction at the March Regional Meeting.
Byron Primary School in Gillingham have been selling raffle tickets to raise money to buy some taps for schools.
To mark International Women’s Day Medway and Maidstone Soroptimists got together in Rochester for a lunch. Everyone brought along food contributions and we heard from our members about inspirational women they admire.
SI Medway and Maidstone are holding a Charity Fashion Show with Travelling Trends on 30 May at the Franklin Rooms in Gillingham.
In the mailing of 24 January, we were told of SIGBI’s plans for International Women’s Day 2024. As a Federation we were adopting the theme from the IWD website of “Inspire Inclusion”. ‘When we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there is a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment.’ SIGBI will be writing letters to the leaders of each political party of the UK asking them what they are doing regarding Inspiring and Including Women. An open letter is to be sent to various newspapers asking them to publish it on their letters page. Each club has been sent a link to the Trello board to access draft letters we can use to send to our own party leaders. When members from SI Medway and Maidstone got together in
