CLUB NEWS LETTER MAY 2019
Programme Action Update
It’s difficult to believe how frequently these reports are requested and thus how quickly the time is passing. I guess it’s because we are so busy. Preparations for the Fashion Show on 18th September are well under way. The organisers and the venue are booked. Posters, flyers and tickets will hopefully be available at our next Club meeting. I will have a list of volunteering requests – models and help with refreshments will be needed on the night, and of course selling tickets in advance. We plan to have a cake stall so you might want to contribute to that. There will be an opportunity to donate raffle prizes. More of all of this at our next meeting/s.
We have again delivered welcome packs to 2 of the Women’s Refuges. Thank you for all of your contributions. We are in talks with SI Lincoln about the possibility of similar help with the Newark Women’s Refuge, but this is in the early stages. We have also had a request for donations to Safe Haven Accommodation but again no decisions have yet been taken.
We have started (thank you to Sue W) delivering sanitary wear to Emmanuel House where they now support women as well as men. They have asked for deliveries every 3 months and thank you to those of you who have already volunteered to be on the rota.
Hilary from We R Here will bring us up to date with their work at our Club meeting on 15th July. At the same meeting, we will have an accessories sale – funds to We R Here – so do 
please start sorting out your once-loved and gently-used scarves, jewelry and bags. Can I give a plug here about We R Here’s Open Day on 21st June – I sent the flyer around a few days ago.
We are still waiting to hear from the Women’s Centre about how we can help with the projects there. Some of you already have indicated your wish to support this and I hope to have more news soon. The same is true for following up our previous work with the Stop Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery campaigns. More soon I hope.
I think you will all agree that Micha’s talk to us about her own struggles with mental illness and PTSD was really inspiring, and I am sure there will be opportunities for follow-up on mental health issues.
So, there is plenty of opportunity to become involved with continuing and future projects and I look forward to our working together within the PA programme.
Barbara
Many thanks to Mary, Sue, and the Mystery woman (Maureen of course!) who braved the June weather (including hailstones!) to tidy up and plant the garden at WeRHere. They certainly d
eserve medals!
CLUB NEWS LETTER APRIL 2019
Programme Action Update April 2019
Just when we thought Spring had arrived and we could enjoy working in our gardens, there’s another cold blast to put a stop to those plans. However, there are a number of plans for Programme Action work which we can all get involved in.
First, a few of us met to plan the Accessories Sale and also the Fashion Show. The Accessories Sale will be held at the Club meeting on 15th July, raising funds for We R Here and, appropriately on the same evening, we also have an update from Hilary on the work of We R Here. So, please start collecting your once-loved jewellery, scarves and handbags so that others can enjoy buying them.
We have booked the hall and the organisers for our Fashion Show on the evening of Wednesday 18th September. Please note this date in your diary. Thank you to the small group who have already begun planning – there will soon be opportunity for all to join in this project.
Following Frances’ visit to Sharewear, I have also taken bedding which was more than was needed by the Refuges, and (wearing a different hat) have collected men’s wear, which I am not expecting us to collect at Club. However, they are also looking for ‘prom frocks’ which some of you may have tucked away in your wardrobes. There’s a photo of Frances and one of me on Sharewear’s website.
Through Sue M’s link on Facebook, we have made contact with Emmanuel House who are now working with women as well as men. They would like sanitary wear and I am hopeful that we can respond. The donations need to go to Goose Gate in Hockley and I would be grateful for your help in getting it there. Please think about whether you could help.
Three of us recently had a meeting with Helen Voce and her colleague at the Women’s Centre. It was a fairly fruitful meeting in working through a list of ideas for ways in which we might work together, for example literacy classes, budgeting and planning menus and meals, and craft groups. Perhaps we can discuss these and other suggestions at our next Club meeting so that, if you feel you can help with any of those, or indeed have any other suggestions for supporting the women at the Centre, we can begin to plan.
The Women’s Centre are also appealing for cutlery (does not need to be brand new) so if you have an excess of cutlery, perhaps we could begin a collection at our next Club meeting.
Thank you for your continuing support for PA work – it is, after all, what we are about.
Barbara
Members News
A plethora (is that the correct word?) of Certificates were handed out at one meeting.
New members Certificates presented to:
New members Sue, Daphne, Ros, Mary, and Lisa Long Service Certificates
Helen received a 30 year Certificate. Congratulations to all Long Service Members and thank you for all the hours of service you have given |
CLUB NEWS LETTER MARCH 2019
Programme Action Update March 2019
Donations:
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Welcome Packs to the Womens Refuges, a large quantity of sanitary wear to the Women’s Centre. I am delighted that it has been of use.
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Some babygro’s for the Sharewear March appeal.
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Pants, tights and wipes to the red boxes in schools. If you know of any schools who would be grateful for these items, please do let me know. I know that Audrey has a contact so I will bring what I have collected to the next Club
Four of us attended the International Women’s Day event organised by We R Here. We were able to display our stand, I was able to make a presentation about our work, and we made a number of interesting contacts.
There were brie
f but moving presentations from some of We R Here’s service users, and a performance by the Woodborough Women’s Choir. The Wall of Hope, see picture, was put together by the users of the service.
I am sure you agree that Helen Voce’s, (Manager of Nottingham Women’s Centre) presentation at the last Club meeting gave us food for thought. She suggested a 
number of ways in which we might be able to work together, I am planning to visit the Women’s Centre within the next few weeks to discuss options. Here she is receiving a cheque for Woman Centre funds from Ros.
Region Report Meeting 23 March
Nottingham is the host club for the Region Meeting on Saturday 22nd June 2019 at the Link Hotel. It is a Celebration There will be a Speaker from the Medaille Trust concerning refuge and freedom from modern slavery and Roxanne Ellis will talk about The Women’s Quilt.
Members News
We have had 5 new members in the last year.
It is great news; we hope that all the new members will find their membership friendly and fulfilling.
Next meeting: 20 May. We will be updated on the activities of the SI Nottingham Trust. The full programme of events can be found in the programme tab below the Newsletter tab
Club Newsletter February 2019
WE WELCOME 2019 WITH ANOTHER NEW MEMBER!
Sue receiving their membership badge from our Programme Action Officer Barbara A warm welcome to you Sue.
Programme Action Update February 2019
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How the months fly past! The moving-on packs have been despatched to the two Refuges who had asked for them and we now come again to the welcome packs.
We will make up the packs for Zola and Umuada at the meeting on 1st April. If you are able to donate some of them, please will you let me know. -
As we briefly discussed at the last meeting, perhaps we can now move forward with two projects – support for Sharewear, and collections of knickers, tights and wipes for the red boxes in schools. Currently, only one school has asked for these items but it is likely that if one school is in need, then so will others be.
Please will you let me know if you have any ideas, eg asking local supermarkets or other contacts to help. Also, perhaps you have contacts in schools. Your ideas would be appreciated. -
Saturday next is the International Women’s Day event being organised by We R Here. Six of us will attend and we will have a stand to publicise our work. 150 invitations have been sent out to a wide variety of groups and individuals so it should be an interesting, and hopefully fruitful, afternoon.
Club Programme May 2019 onwards
From Monday 20th May, we will be at our new venue: Emmanuel School, Gresham Park Road (off Wilford Lane), West Bridgford, NG2 7YF. We will be meeting in the chapel which is in fact a modern, purpose designed meeting room. Meeting times remain unchanged.
The full programme will be available at our AGM in April but here are the meeting dates for your diaries. 2019 20th May, 3rd and 17th June, 1st and 15th July, 2nd and 16th September, 7th and 21st October, 4th and 18th November, 2nd December, 16th December (Christmas meal, venue TBA), 2020 6th January Silent auction(venue TBA), 20th January, 3rd and 17th February, 2nd March, 16th March Charter Dinner (venue TBA), 6th April and 20th April
Members News
• Feedback from the evening of reflection 4th Feb 2019. Friendship and variety were the most frequent words used, along with the level of commitment and involvement within members from different backgrounds to our own. This has always been part of Soroptimism, along with the service aspect where members can give back to women and girls locally and internationally. It was felt that our projects make a difference and are stimulating.
• Social Ideas
Would anyone like to organise a trip to see tennis? We are assuming this is the Nottingham version.
• We Are Bess
How about an exhibition at Hardwick Hall? An exhibition using well known modern-day women to tell another side of Bess’s story, considering the similarities between the issues she faced and their own lives. It is open from 16th February to 2nd June. Contact Sue W for further information.
WE WELCOME 2019 WITH 2 NEW MEMBERS!
Ros 
and Lisa receiving their membership badges from Membership Officer Sue. .
Programme Action Update January 2019
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Immediate projects include Moving-On Packs for 2 of the Refuges, to be packed on 18th February. Thank you to all who agreed to donate items – there are a few things still required and I will bring the list again to the next Club meeting.
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Further funds have been sent to We R Here (from the concert and the quiz evening) and to Street Child (from the concert).
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The Silen
t Auction (thank you Audrey and Richard for hosting this) raised approximately £170 which will be used for the Journalist Award. A wide variety of items were brought and sold as you can see.
In the next few years it is the aim of Soroptimists world wide to impact on the lives of one million women and girls. In the last three years we have impacted on over half a million and it is known that our data was not completely accurate in earlier years. What a great goal to aim at!
In 2021, it will be 100 years since SI was founded in Oakland California. There will be a celebratory event at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco 1st-3rd October 2021.
The next SI convention (after the one in Kuala Lumpur this July) will be the week beginning 24th July 2023 in Dublin.
SI Nottingham Club Programme May 2019 onwards
From Monday 20th May, we will be at our new venue: Emmanuel School, Gresham Park Road (off Wilford Lane), West Bridgford, NG2 7YF. We will be meeting in the chapel which is in fact a modern, purpose designed meeting room. Meeting times remain unchanged. The full programme will be available at our AGM in April but here are the meeting dates for your diaries.
2019
20th May, 3rd and 17th June, 1st and 15th July, 2nd and 16th September, 7th and 21st October, 4th and 18th November,
2nd December, 16th December (Christmas meal, venue TBA),
2020 6th January Silent auction(venue TBA), 20th January, 3rd and 17th February, 2nd March, 16th March Charter Dinner (venue TBA), 6th April and 20th April
Region
The next Region Meeting will be on Saturday 23rd March at the Link Hotel, New Ashby Road Loughborough LE11 4EX at 9.30 for 10.00 am. The cost is £20 payable in advance.
Booking form and monies must be given to Perdita no later than at our club meeting on 4th March. Cheques made payable to SIMER.
Dates for your diary
18th March charter dinner at Beeston Fields25 March Aloe Vera party at Ann’s house1st April Helen Voce, Women’s Centre Manager15th April. AGM |
And Finally
A message from our speaker Tilly Branson “I just wanted to email and say thank you very much for the warm welcome and response I received yesterday evening. As I mentioned I’m very happy for my email address to be shared if anyone would like to get in touch with me with any further thoughts or questions”.
My favourite photo from Tilly’s presentation? This one.
Audrey, Editor