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#IWD2024 Inspiring Inclusion

#IWD2024 Inspiring Inclusion

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Sigbi asked us to provide photos for IWD2024 in advance, to be incorporated into their video released on the day. We assembled on the steps of the Guildhall with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for a photo shoot. We had a quick coffee in the High Street and went on to the Cathedral Cloisters where the annual pancake races were being held in the dry - the endless rain making it too wet to hold them outside. It was great to see children of all sizes running with frying pans and pancakes! We also took the chance to take a few more photos! On 8 March a group of us met up for a meal at Tinga, before walking to the Arts Centre for a performance by Louise Jordan called 'Her Stories'. In song and speech she told the stories of a variety of women,
Celebrating Women

Celebrating Women

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Digital fun Our February meeting began with some digital fun. We all tried out slido.com which allows everyone in a meeting to collaborate in answering questions posed to the group or as a quiz format. We tried both! The question pops up on your phone and you input your answer - it appears on the group screen for everyone to see! For the quiz, ours was about contemporary women, the questions and options appeared on our phones. Everyone could select their answer and send. The main screen showed how many people had selected each answer, then showed the correct answer. At the end everyone's scores were collated. It proved a successful experiment! STEM/Arts project Leonie talked about her project Zingera. This encourages the use of apps in education to promote STEM but also incorporate the arts. The aim is to encourage learning through diverse means
Oranging Salisbury

Oranging Salisbury

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November has been a busy month for Salisbury Soroptimists! Our Quiz Night was a great success thanks to a hard-working team. Our second meeting at our new venue was a lively occasion. We had three groups doing different activities. One group worked creatively on decorations for our 'Orange the World Christmas tree' entered in the St Thomas' Christmas tree festival. Lots of orange cardboard, wool, net and ribbons were cut, stapled and glued in place. We look forward to seeing the tree! Another group discussed a new project. We have thought for a while about a project having something to do with women's health - a huge topic, so some discussion needed to narrow this down to a manageable project. One possible area to explore is women with autism. The third group did some preparations for upcoming Orange the World activities and then did some
Quiz success!

Quiz success!

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Thanks to a hard-working team we pulled off another successful quiz night and raised over £1000 for our charities. Nine teams of between 4 and 6 competed over 8 rounds of testing questions, set by our quiz team. Team scores were remarkably close but the winners were The Jolly Jarcks with 78 points. They won a box of chocolate Christmas tree decorations each. We hope they enjoy! We also held a raffle which contributed nearly £300 to the takings. Many thanks to all those members and businesses who donated prizes. We changed the catering this year which involved more preparation - a big thank you to all those who helped in the kitchen and in preparations prior to the event! The feedback about the supper on the night was positive, so well done everyone! The profits will be split between Salisbury Women's Refuge and EdUKaid.
Archival talk

Archival talk

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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
Bluebell Award 2023 – the winner!

Bluebell Award 2023 – the winner!

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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
Where are we going?

Where are we going?

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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
Scientist recognised!

Scientist recognised!

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On Wednesday 7th September the Salisbury Civic Society and Salisbury Soroptimists unveiled a blue plaque to Dr Marina Seabright at the Old Salisbury Infirmary on Fisherton Street. Guests included former colleagues of Dr Seabright who came from far and wide to honour her memory. President of Salisbury Soroptimists, Jenny Hair, recalled working with Dr Seabright when she was a young HR executive. Marina had not wanted to follow rules and procedure, but urged Jenny to find a way to get what she wanted to happen. We later heard from John Harvey that his rapid promotion may have been one of those issues! Mayor of Salisbury, Atiqul Hoque, and Dame Rosemary Spencer, Patron of the Civic Society, did the honours and unveiled the plaque. The invited guests were welcomed into the community lounge of Pembroke House for refreshments and a presentation about Dr Seabright. Dr Christine
Striving for equality in CoE

Striving for equality in CoE

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Our guest speaker, the Right Reverend June Osborne, spoke about the challenges that women have faced, and still face, in the hierarchy of the Anglican Church. Until recently, June was Bishop of Llandaff in the Church of Wales. In 1994 she was one of the first women to be ordained in England. She moved to Salisbury and served as Canon Treasurer until her appointment as Dean in 2004. She remained in Salisbury until her consecration as Bishop of Llandaff in 2017.  June was subjected to an investigation following an allegation of bullying, but the allegation was later dropped. June also discussed the challenges faced by other women in different spheres of life. The Right Reverend June Osborne speaking to our July 2023 meeting President Jenny welcomed Leonie Maclay as a new member of Soroptimists International. Jenny repeated her plea to members to come forward to
Uplifting Support!

Uplifting Support!

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On Monday evening 20 Soroptimists and friends met to count bras. Yes, the annual Bras and Bubbly! The evening began with the great unloading of bundles, bags and bags of bras collected from all over Salisbury and surrounds (and some donations from farther afield!). Let the counting begin! A system quickly emerged: count piles of 10, pass to 'bagger' who counted 10 piles of 10 into a bin bag and tied the top. Penny wrote out the labels so that Afreebra know there are 100 bras from Salisbury Soroptimists in each. Any neighbours who heard us talking about putting bodies in bags..... we were talking about lingerie!! Kind donations which were not quite usual bras. We hadn't anticipated four-legged help, but Helen's dog had other ideas. Once the hard counting was over there was time for socialising over a glass or two and some nibbles.