Salisbury Soroptimists had a very successful (if chilly) day at Salisbury Christmas Market where they sold Purple Community Fund items made by women in vulnerable communities in the Philippines and the UK. They also sold jams, marmalades and chutneys made by one of their supporters.
At our November meeting we were delighted to welcome Eleanor Evans into our fledgling Salisbury Soroptimist Group. Eleanor, who originally hails from Watford, has lived in the Salisbury area for more than twenty years. Eleanor, on the right of this picture, was welcomed by existing members (left to right) Lisa, Frances and Liz. Eleanor is a digital product Manager for Aviva. She has already been involved in a number of our service projects, including our STEM project. She has attended her first Regional meeting too! At our meeting we were joined by Liz Dominey from SI Bournemouth and two potential new members.
Salisbury Soroptimists are getting into the festive spirit this year in the city! We have dressed and displayed a Christmas tree in St Thomas’s Church Christmas Tree Festival from 5-10 December. Entitled ‘Women 4 Women’, our tree decorations will give some clues as to the projects we are working on locally and will show some of the work we do on a global scale. Come and visit our tree, alongside the many others taking part in the festival, which is open 10am to 5.30pm weekdays and Saturday and 12 noon to 6pm on Sunday 10 December. On Monday 11 December visit Salisbury Christmas Market to meet Salisbury Soroptimists in the charity chalet. We will be selling lovely gift items including bags, purses, wallets and jewellery made from recycled materials and handmade by women living in vulnerable communities both in the
We were pleased with the response we received from the public passing though Salisbury’s Cheese Market to the UK wide survey carried out in early October to establish people’s knowledge of human trafficking and modern day slavery. 24% of those who took part in the survey said they didn’t know how widespread trafficking and modern day slavery was in the Salisbury area. Some 32% of those questioned said that they thought it was widespread or fairly widespread locally. Several people who took part in the survey recalled Salisbury Journal reports of police raids on the Firsdown car wash and the Chilmark bunker, where trafficking and slavery were suspected. Most people said that they did not know how to recognise whether someone had been trafficked or was being kept against their will, with 74% of respondents saying they would not recognise these signs, which include
Salisbury members spent an enjoyable day networking with the Eve Appeal and other local cancer charities including Wessex Cancer Trust at the Fisherton Street Surgery. Specialist cancer nurses and public health specialists were on hand to chat to women about cancer concerns. The Salisbury Soroptimists provided free cakes and delivered what was left at the end of the day to Salisbury Women’s Refuge. We did some great networking, met some lovely potential members for the new club and had a great fun day!
At the August meeting of the Salisbury Satellite Group three members were welcomed in to the club. All three of them have already been working on projects to support women and girls in the local community. We are now close to our target 12 members to form the new club, exciting times ahead!
Several potential new members joined us for coffee, cake and a bit of a chat on Sunday 4 June to learn more about the new Soroptimist Club we are starting in Salisbury. Irene kindly hosted the gathering and provided a wonderful selection of her homemade cakes! Everyone enjoyed what we all agreed was a very civilised way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and we chatted together about projects the Salisbury Soroptimists have already undertaken and discussed ideas for the future. We hope to see many of those who attended at out next meeting.
At an enjoyable dinner meeting in the Chapter House Hotel, three new members were inducted into the group on Monday 8 May 2017. Members of sponsoring Club SI Winchester came to join the celebrations as well as Regional President Ruth Healey, pictured at the top of the table centre right of this photo: Guest speaker was Mary Paisey, bottom left of the photo above. Mary was a member of the original SI Salisbury, a past Regional President and is Chairman of the Trust of Salisbury Women’s Refuge, a charity which Salisbury Satellite group is already supporting. Several potential new members also joined the dinner and we look forward to catching up with everyone again in the near future!
Salisbury Soroptimists gave Santa and his elves a helping hand in Christmas week when they put together a box of goodies for Salisbury Women’s Refuge. The women, who are working to set up a new Soroptimist Club in Salisbury, have been supporting the refuge since they started their work together. They decided to collect and donate gifts the ladies in the refuge might like to receive and put together a gift box which included wrapping paper, gift labels, tape and child-friendly scissors so the youngsters in the refuge can each give their Mum a gift this Christmas. It was all delivered in time for Christmas with a few yummy goodies to go with it for residents and staff. ‘The Women’s Refuge in Salisbury is very dear to our hearts,’ said Salisbury Soroptimist member Holly, ‘and we are pleased to support the residents and staff whenever
We were pleased that our first project and first press release got a half page feature in this week’s Salisbury Journal. We hope other women in Salisbury will read it and join us to get involved! Refuge Manager Sue tells us there’s lots more decorating work to do……
