Four club members attended the SIGBI conference in Edinburgh where Fresh Thoughts was shortlisted for the Best Practice Award – ENABLE We were delighted to win the Delegates’ nomination for Best Project and to learn that many clubs want to take Fresh Thoughts on as a local project.
At our last club meeting in September we welcomed another remarkable woman working in a male dominated role in the Merchant Navy. Fran Collins, CEO of @redfunnelferry is a master mariner, a highly respected position due to the exceptional training in the UK. She told members that 95% of UK’s goods and services are transported by the Merchant Navy. When Fran started her training there were 3 women and 40 men. Interestingly of these the 3 women and only 9 men qualified. Fran spoke about the challenges of long stretches at sea, often being the only woman on board and discrimination. Fran has introduced more flexible working to attract more women but feels there is still more to be done.
FRESH THOUGHTS Our most recent project has been to produce an information booklet for front-line workers in Dorset who support women who are experiencing Domestic Abuse. The writing of the booklet followed on from research within our local safe house and our reflections following our observation of the Domestic Abuse Courts. We are excited that the booklet is already proving very useful in different locations in Dorset and are looking forward to its wider use, thanks to the support of the Police and Crimes Commissioner for Dorset. Here’s a link to our video of the launch and instructions as to how to make the booklet local for your area. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ng3JQG9jQJzBlqnGKhoFV_aO4EMgVHFB/view
We had a fascinating talk at our Club meeting from local celebrated photographer Jayne Bond. Jayne treated us to an array of beautiful wildlife photos and spoke to us about how she achieves mindfulness in nature.
A great turnout to see and hear the Santa Train around Creekmoor, with many thanks to Poole Rotary – and Santa!
Along with other local organisations raising awareness of gender abuse , we spent some time at Poole Central Library and chatted with interested members of the public. STARS and Citizens Advice were most interested in our current projects and future thoughts. Very worthwhile!
To give greater visibility to the 16 days of activism against gender abuse, our Soroptimist Tree in Poole Park was given the Orange treatment . All up – despite the weather!
We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and met friends old and new at the Hub Cafe, Christ Church, Creekmoor on a freezing cold Saturday morning , marking the start of the 16 days of Activism against gender- related abuse. . .
Do join us if you can – we are looking forward to taking an active part in this important event.
We’ve changed our name to reflect our members’ locations! We are keen to recruit women from Wimborne and Purbeck and out towards Dorchester.
