Poole Soroptimists welcomed representatives from Gullys Place at their September meeting. Gullys Place is a local charity that provides palliative care for children and provides family support within Poole Hospital. As such, the charity is unique within the UK. Gullys Place is one of the charities SI Poole is supporting this year and is at at time when the charity is extending into other service areas and further into Dorset. The work of Gullys Place is remarkable and their volunteer team incredibly dedicated.

Soroptimist International Poole members and friends were enthralled by the art of Japanese cuisine demonstrated at their recent fund-raising evening in Wimborne. The master class was followed by a superb Japanese feast. And the funds raised? £223. All in all, wonderful!

In recognition of her work as web administrator, President Lynn presented Liz Rodgers with a gift at the club’s July meeting.

At their July meeting, Poole Soroptimists congratulated Pauline Monk on winning the Dorset Venus Influential Woman of the Year Award. President Lynn presented Pauline with a gift from the club. We are all so proud of you Pauline.

Poole Soroptimists welcomed Lynda Sparks from Make It Happen as speaker at their July meeting. Lynda explained the growth of the green economy in Poole is driven principally by legislation, customer pressure and monetary benefits and confirmed the importance to organisations of having a ‘green champion’ at the top to make green policies happen. She gave examples of key green actions amongst which are the installation of solar panels, the use of ground and air source heating, a robust recycling policy and changeover to led lighting. Lynda went on to tell us about the funding streams and bespoke finance that are available and gave examples of local green success stories – the RNLI, Cobhams, Bournemouth Airport and Castle Point shopping centre to name but a few. Lynda encouraged members’ organisations to get a free green audit via the Borough of Poole’s PEA scheme. There was no

President Lynn and the members of SI Poole are delighted to welcome Kathryn D’Arcy and Amber Haines. Kathryn and Amber join a busy club with a great schedule of meetings, events and projects with a particular focus on human trafficking. Welcome both and enjoy your local membership of our global organisation.

Poole Soroptimist Juanita Byrne-Quinn has pledged to water ski 12 miles over the summer for the BCHA fund-raising initiative, Miles for Hope. Although Juanita has skied most of her life, at the age of 80 something, her pledge is no mean feat. The Miles for Hope challenge is open to all. BCHA’s target is a total of 4831 pledged miles. Why 4831? This is the furthest distance that any of the human trafficking victims in their care has been trafficked, from China. And the great thing about Miles for Hope is that you can travel your pledged miles however you want. Juanita’s chosen to water ski her miles but you could run, bike or drive or even pledge air miles or ride a horse – it’s up to you! To register and to receive your fund-raising pack, just click here. And if that’s all too

Influential Woman Venus award-winner Pauline Monk is pictured here with the VW Beetle from Breeze that she has the pleasure of using over the coming few days. Having fun driving round in the sun is part of Pauline’s award for being the 2014 Dorset Venus Influential Woman award winner in recognition of her lifetime influencing women and girls to aim high and achieve. So enjoy, Pauline!  You deserve it!

The beautiful garden of a Poole Soroptimist member was the delightful setting for the June Poole Contact the Elderly group’s afternoon tea. Twelve older Poole residents enjoyed each other’s company, chatted for England and were treated to a copious afternoon tea prepared by SI Poole members. Soroptimists, Rotarians and Lions volunteer drivers joined the older folk around the tables and Soroptimists ensured their guests went home with a generous ‘doggy bag’ of sandwiches, cold meats, scones and cakes. Contact the Elderly is a charity that brings together elderly people who live on their own for regular afternoon tea gatherings and companionship.

On Thursday, 26th June, Poole Soroptimists, Lions, Rotarians and Inner Wheel, Wimborne Rotarians and other wonderful guests came together for an evening of fellowship at Alcatraz Italian restaurant in Old Poole. Brain-child of President Lynn Butterworth, the evening gave some of Poole’s leading voluntary services the opportunity to learn more about each other’s work, exchange ideas and thoughts on how to work better together and support each other’s activities more effectively.