SI Poole’s wonderful Pauline Monk has achieved FINALIST in all three categories for which she was nominated in the Venus Business Awards – Lifetime Achievement, Inspirational Woman and Influential Woman. And pictured with Pauline is Alexandra Wiggins, former Poole Soroptimist, also through to the Influential Woman finals. Many congratulations to both Pauline and Alexandra.

President Lynn, Helen Kanolik, Pauline Monk, Liz Rodgers and Sheila Wilson represented SI Poole at the 2014 Awards Evening following the very successful Swimarathon event held earlier in the year. The Mayor of Poole, Councillor Philip Eades, presented the awards to the teams who achieved most laps and raised most sponsorship as well as awards to individuals and companies for their outstanding contribution to the event. He went on to praise the many hundreds of volunteers who underpin the very fabric of Poole and expressed his appreciation of the work done by service organisations such as Lions, Rotary and Soroptimist International. Soroptimist Pauline Monk gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the Purple Teardrop Campaign, one of the charities nominated to receive a donation as a result of the 2014 Swimarathon. Pauline explained the huge difference that the Purple Teardrop Campaign’s support makes to

Poole Soroptimist members and friends swam in aid of local charities as part of the 2014 Poole Lions Swimarathon. The event took place over the weekend of 8th and 9th March and hundreds of enthusiastic swimmers young and old took part. The Purple Teardrop Campaign, as one of the beneficiary charities, also entered a team. Poole Soroptimists helped organise and run the event which is aiming to raise over £30,000.

On Monday 10 March, Soroptimist International Poole hosted a very successful Employability Skills round table debate. As well as the SI Poole team, 20 guests participated, including local business owners, educators, council strategists, social services representatives and Rotarians. The evening kicked off with two excellent speakers on apprenticeships, Tony Moss from Bournemouth & Poole College and Liz Long from the National Trust, and the evening’s outcomes included 2 potential joint projects with local groups and a number of new member enquiries.

Soroptimists of Poole and the Purple Teardrop Campaign have chosen International Women’s Day on 8th March to launch their latest initiative to raise awareness of human trafficking in Poole. With the full support of aBorough of Poole and maintenance contractors Churchill Contract Services, anti-trafficking posters are being placed in all the borough’s public toilets – providing information on the signs of trafficking, and a telephone number to ring to report suspicions.  Churchill’s representative says “Churchill is proud to partner with our client, Borough of Poole, in an initiative to support the Purple Teardrop Campaign” with for further comment on http://www.churchillservices.com/news.aspx?id=125 A spokesperson for the Purple Teardrop Campaign and one of the instigators of the Posters into Toilets campaign says “It was Soroptimist Clubs in the North of England who first came up with the idea of displaying information in public toilets to both raise awareness of

Poole Soroptimists are supporting SI Stafford which is conducting a petition to highlight five areas of concern in relation to women and girls, including Modern Day Slavery and the Sex Trade. The petition reads: ‘I call on Government to ensure that the perpetrators of Violence Against Women are brought to Justice’ The aim is: To keep ‘Violence Against Women’ high on the Government’s agenda; to ensure that the guidelines, statutory regulations, and policies accompanying legislation to protect women and girls are developed and robustly applied, and to regularly assess the effectiveness of the guidance by monitoring and reporting on referrals and outcomes. Here are the relevant documents: – The petition – A suggested lobbying letter to MPs – A summary statement Please feel free to download. Please return signed forms to SI Stafford by 1st March 2014. SI Stafford will be presenting the petition to 10 Downing Street on 6th

Pauline Monk, SI Poole has been nominated for the Dorset Venus Awards, category: Lifetime Achievement Award. Pauline’s nomination is for her tireless work helping the causes of women and girls and most recently for all the excellent work she has implemented in the fight against Human Trafficking. If you too feel she deserves this award, and she does, please feel free to offer your support by also nominating her for this award and category. via http://vala.venusawards.co.uk thank you.

Our swimmers are getting ready for their relay on Sunday 9th March to raise funds for local causes. Poole Lions Swimarathon raises money for charities in and around Poole and this year the Lions are asking local residents to dig deep and help raise £30,000 for six causes including Forest Holme, Christmas Parcels and the Purple Teardrop Campaign. To sponsor our enthusiastic swimmers, just email enquiries@sipoole.org.uk with your full name, address, phone number and your sponsorship amount. Please also let us know if you can gift aid.

For Poole Soroptimists, Christmas was a particularly busy time. Members helped street collect nearly £900 for Poole Christmas Parcels and on 16 December braved the wet n windy weather to accompany the Poole Rotary Christmas train, collecting nearly £350. Our Christmas party secret Santa auction raised £120 whilst the party itself was great fun. On the social front, members enjoyed the BSO performance of The Messiah and Poole Rotary’s Christmas Concert at St James Church, again raising money for the Christmas Parcels fund in Poole.