SI Slough Windsor & Maidenhead took a stand at the always busy Charities Fair in Maidenhead on Saturday 3rd November at the Desborough Hall.  Many local churches and charities participate each year in order to raise funds for a wide range of local activities.  Its a great place to stock up on Christmas presents and marmalade!  The Fair presented us with our first chance to use the new banners which the club purchased recently and this certainly helped to signpost the stand.  There were baubles and silk items on sale in addition to handbags and jewelry created in the Philippines from recycled materials such as ring pulls and magazines.  Twelve members helped during the day and the event raised awareness of the club as well as fund raising for the Purple Community Fund which aims to help poverty stricken families and communities transform their own lives

Soroptimists from Slough Windsor and Maidenhead Club have just returned from a 2-week trip to Nepal. Whilst overseas they visited their sister Soroptimist club in Kathmandu allowing them to personally present a donation of money to the Nepalese club. This money will help the Nepalese ladies to continue with their projects educating and enabling women to help themselves. They spent the afternoon enjoying the generous Nepalese hospitality whilst sharing information on their latest club projects and heard how the destructive earthquake of 2015 had impacted Kathmandu. It was explained that one of the results had been the dramatic increase in trafficked children from the country and how the club was working with various non-government organisations to help combat this serious problem. Whilst in Nepal the members travelled into the “hills” to visit several Pahar Trust schools and a medical centre. The Pahar Trust was the

Holly Clarke gave a moving talk about the issues facing mothers with children diagnosed as autistic.  Holly not only faced this situation when her son was diagnosed but has set out to make huge differences to the opportunities available to autistic children and their families.  Her talk was quite inspirational and humbling as she described the various activities that she has set up.   Football, drama and Family Days are just some of the activities she has set up.  There is full information on her website https://www.standoutforautism.com/ A cheque was presented to Holly to help her continue to raise awareness and provide better opportunities to autistic children and their families.  

At our August meeting Veronica and Adrian Stabbins gave a talk with a video presentation about the work of Rotary International and their Eradicate polio campaign  Rotarians have helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries.  Veronica and Adrian have volunteered in India several times and their video explained the process.  India has a specific day when volunteers and Indian health workers set out to vaccinate all the children under five throughout the country – a daunting task.  Each child receives two drops of vaccine under their tongue and this task is repeated for several years to build up immunity.  In the poorest areas where there is little effective hygiene this process has proved incredibly successful.  Parents are all too aware of the dreadful consequences of contracting polio and the majority are delighted that their children can be vaccinated – the children

Members were delighted to welcome Susan Brett to the February meeting.  Susan realised that there was a real problem in Maidenhead for a number of residents who simply could not afford to feed themselves properly.  Starting from simply making soup and serving it from the boot of her car she has moved on to a fullscale Foodbank which operates in conjunction with social services.  Initially she used her garage but now has premises and a large number of volunteers.  Those in need receive a voucher from social services which entitles them to use the foodbank.  However just providing food was only part of the problem as some recipients could not cook so Susan moved on to providing simple cookery and nutrition lessons. She has also worked with the homeless to provide accommodation and stepping stones back to being employed and ultimately having their own accommodation. 

Members were delighted to welcome Dave Bullock of Thames Valley Police on Wednesday night.  Dave came to talk about two initiatives within Windsor:  the Windsor Homelessness Project and the Windsor Street Angels. Dave set up Windsor Street Angels ten years ago with twelve volunteers and that now number has expanded to over forty.  These members of the public are on duty every Friday and Saturday night from 9pm until the small hours of the morning.  They work in pairs and patrol Windsor streets looking out for anyone in need of assistance.  They carry water and pink flip-flops – the latter are in great demand by girls who have taken off their high heels and then found they cannot get them on again!!  The flip flops help prevent cuts from broken glass and make getting home just that bit easier!  The Street Angels can also help