For our June meeting we planned to take advantage of the warm summer weather and long evenings to revisit Her Salisbury Footprint, the walking trail developed through Her Salisbury Story. The weather was sunny and the evening light. A group of us met in front of the Guildhall where we heard about Lady Edith Hulse the first female mayor of Salisbury. Along the south side of the Market Square, we marvelled that Jane Botly had raised seven children above the Ox Row Inn, as well as running the cutlery business. Passing the Poultry Cross we paused at the Haunch of Venison to hear about Louisa Potto who took on the license after the death of her husband. The family were not just innkeepers, but also wholesale wine and beer merchants with cellars under what is now Culver Street carpark. On the corner of High Street

Following the late cancellation of the speaker from the Nelson Trust, Julia gave a presentation about the problems of cooking in Africa. Julia lived in three different Sub-Saharan African countries for ten years and encountered the numerous problems associated with 'dirty cooking'; four out of five Africans cook with polluting fuels like charcoal, wood or kerosene. These fuels cause many problems: carbon emissions smoke - inhaled by those nearby (mostly women and children) causing respiratory problems using up natural resources (deforestation) time consuming to gather firewood (and danger of rape) cooking pot needs constant tending danger of clothes catching fire danger of children falling in fires There are many fuel efficient stoves available worldwide, but often cost too much for the average family. Schemes such as micro finance can help make them accessible. Families save in the longer term from reduced fuel bills and the

Outgoing President Jenny looked back on her two years in office. She was pleased that her aim of promoting friendship during her presidency had been successful in many ways. Although the move to the new venue was prompted by financial considerations, it had the knock-on effect of making our meetings more sociable, enabling members to mingle before and after meetings. Jenny also emphasised that the club has been successful in raising funds, raising awareness and working in partnerships with the community and other organisations to improve the lives of women and girls both locally and in Tanzania. She reminded everyone that the club needed members to step up to fill roles on the Executive as well as to lead/coordinate projects. Salisbury Women's Refuge Caroline Probert, Chair of Trustees at Salisbury Women's Refuge, spoke to the club prior to being presented with £520 from the proceeds

Our first meeting at our new venue we welcomed some new faces - we hope you enjoyed your evening and will come again! What is an archive? An archive is a collection of primary sources which people can refer to, be it documents, photographs or digital legacy. They are unique documents, unlike books, usually only one copy exists, hence the importance of preserving them! Archives are managed by archivists and we were lucky enough to hear from Emily Naish, archivist at Salisbury Cathedral. Learn about Emily on Her Salisbury Story!  Salisbury Cathedral archive is very old, going back to the early days of the cathedral, with many medieval documents. The original archive room was the Muniment room, the name of which derives from the latin muniere = fortify. The room was built to be secure with shuttered windows and complex locks on the hefty doors

The inaugural Bluebell Award, instigated by Regional President Kay Linnell,  was presented on 22 October at the SIGBI Southern Area's AGM lunch at Folkington Manor, Folkington, East Sussex. All Southern Region SI clubs were invited to submit a project for the Regional PAC award. There was stiff competition as 8 clubs entered a variety of projects. Projects had to be service not fundraising and involve lots of club members. It was also hoped that the project might attract new members to the club. Each project gave a 5 minute presentation to the judging panel. It was a great opportunity for clubs to see what is happening in the region and share ideas. Watch our presentation here. We are delighted that our project 'Making our City Safer' was selected as the winner! The prize of £1000 will go towards continuing aspects of the project. Liz Batten

Following the SIGBI consultation on the restructuring of the organisation we asked our members to discuss three topics: What do you think are the benefits of being part of a regional/national/international organisation? What led you to join SI Salisbury? What elements of Soroptimism enthuse you most? How would you like to see our club develop in the coming year(s)? Table discussions sent feed back to Peggy to collate. If you weren't at the meeting, feel free to send in your ideas! Members are also asked to complete the questionnaire sent out with the papers for the meeting asking which projects you are currently, or would like to be involved in. Also please suggest any new projects you would like to see us tackle.   Making our City Safer A major project that we have been working on, Making our City Safer, has been selected as