Our International Women’s Day event will take place on  Sunday 8th March 2020, 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.   in the Desborough Suite,Maidenhead Town Hall,  St Ives Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1RF   Theme: “Helping Us Achieve Our Potential” Speakers include: Dame Vera Baird, Victims Commissioner for England and Wales Katie Wright, Bethany Admans, Hannah Wright, Catie Holden – schoolgirls from the Girls Policy Forum Fiona Mactaggart, Chair of the Fawcett Society Maria Evans, Volunteer on the Royal  Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s Climate Emergency Committee Adults £5, Students £2, (includes light refreshments) To book your place, email: iwd2020md@gmail.com or call 01753 868785

Over 70 participants keenly contested the Quiz on 1st November held for the first time at the Spencer Denny Centre in Windsor. The Vauxhall Vivas amassed a great score of 122 and were duly crowned the winners. The participants all enjoyed a fish and chips supper to aid concentration. Over £400 was raised for Age Concern (Spencer Denny Centre) and £140 for local charities supported by SI Slough Windsor & Maidenhead. Club member Sally Radford set the questions and Michele Bennett compered the evening with great aplomb.

Lynne Townley is a Barrister and is currently a Lecturer on the Bar professional Training Course at City Law School, University of London. She specialises in Criminal Law and has been National Lead Adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions in a number of areas, including homicide, honour-based violence, forced marriage and FGM. Last year Lynne was elected as Chair of the Association of Women Barristers, which represents and monitors the interests of women at the English Bar.

Members were delighted to welcome Fiona MacTaggart to the supper meeting on 18th September as she was previously the MP for Slough.

Members enjoyed a very informative talk about the problems of Period Poverty for girls and women in many parts of India.  The combination of ignorance of their own biology combined with poor sanitation and poverty means that girls suffer many problems when their periods start.  Many miss considerable days of education and suffer from many unnecessary medical problems.  Kathryn  told us about the charity which she helped to set up which has found suitable sanitary products for use in countries without clean water.  There are two products available (Saafkins and Safepads) which both incorporate bio technology which enables the products to be washed in dirty water yet remain hygienic.  The charity not only distributes these products but ensures that girls understand how to use them and how to look after themselves more effectively.  The charity claims that £5 will provide this anti-bacterial protection for a

Alison Sutherland visited our club on 18th July to tell us about the various elections she has worked on around the world in her capacity as an Observer.  There are two types of observer:  short term which involves being in the country for three to four weeks and long term which requires four months and total immersion in the area of the country designated.  Alison has recently been a short term observer in Turkey and a long term observer in Sierra Leone so she concentrated on these events although she has also covered elections in other parts of the world.  Each observer works with a partner from a different country and also employs a driver and an interpreter.  Once allocated to an area – in Alison’s last case this was a remote part of Northern Sierra Leone – the observers cannot leave without agreement until

Our club had a stand at the recent Maidenhead Duck Derby run by the Lions Club.  Goods from the Purple Campaign made in the Philippines from items discarded in the UK such as ring pulls were on sale.  We were delighted when Mrs Theresa May toured the event and stopped to buy a purse and chat.

After many years of having our Annual Lunch in Dorney this year we moved to the beautiful setting of the Berystede Hotel in South Ascot.  Despite the rather unseasonal weather members were able to admire the attractive gardens and enjoy a delightful three course meal with their guests including London Chilterns Regional President and the Mayor and Mayoress of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. Following traditional toasts to Soroptimist International and Our Guests, Fiona Devine gave a talk about the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice.  Fiona’s son Alexander died a few years ago having needed treatment for cancer and she then discovered that there was no Children’s hospice in the area of Berkshire.  Having ascertained that there was a significant need for a Hospice devoted to the needs of children (up to the age of 19) she took on the remarkably daunting task of

This was the message from Jeff Pick of Thames Valley Police when he came to talk to the club about a wide range of issues around Fraud but also the work the local police are doing to engage with local groups.  Jeff is certainly not short of words or enthusiasm and overran the usual speaker’s slot of 40 minutes by a considerable margin.  However we all learned a lot:  which numbers to ring in an emergency; what is an emergency; how to avoid being burgled – in particular not leaving the house looking unoccupied; not buying anything at the door EVER and also not chatting to those engaging young men who call who are down on their luck.  The list was fairly long – dubious phone call scams; emails from banks and solicitors; emails from an unidentified source; completing surveys and in particular entering competitions. 

Soroptimist International of Slough, Windsor & Maidenhead, Thames Valley and High Wycombe & District Clubs International Women’s Day  Sunday 11th March 2018, 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. in the Desborough Suite, Maidenhead Town Hall,  St Ives Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1RF Theme: “What Have We Achieved?” Speakers include: Irene Cockcroft, Writer/lecturer and expert on women’s suffrage Sarbjit Athwal, Founder of  the charity True Honour, dealing with honour-based violence Dr Rowan Hillson MBE, former National Clinical Director for Diabetes – on women’s achievements in Medicine Liz Beckmann, an Electrical and Electronic Engineer  – Research and Development in Physics  Adults £5, Students £2 (includes light refreshments)   To book your place, email: maidenheadiwd2018@gmail.com See you there!