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Gillian celebrates her 90th birthday

Gillian celebrates her 90th birthday

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Gillian Harris, a Soroptimist since 1967, has celebrated her 90th birthday. She transferred to SI Gosport and Fareham from South Shields 25 years ago. Friends from the club helped Gillian mark her special day and the sun shone to add to the special occasion.  She’s pictured above surrounded by some of them at a party held at her good neighbour June Powell’s home. Earlier at a club supper meeting she was presented with two birthday cakes made by Rosemary Hampton and iced and decorated by Alison Jenkins. Gillian is pictured below with club president Margaret Smith and Alison Jenkins.

Support for women prisoners

Support for women prisoners

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President Margaret Smith, centre, with Rachel Halford, right, and Laurel Townshead from the charity Women in Prison                 EIGHTY per cent of the women jailed in Britain have mental health issues and sixty per cent of them have been the victims of either sexual or physical abuse, members were told. In a talk littered with such alarming statistics, two directors of the charity Women in Prison Rachel Halford and Laurel Townshead spoke about the damage and disruption prison causes to the lives of vulnerable women. When mothers are imprisoned children are taken into care and recent figures showed that sixty per cent of them then went on to become offenders themselves. Many of the women had had a difficult life, said Rachel Halford, having explained that the charity was set up in 1983 by a woman who’d been

Alzheimer’s group given £800

Alzheimer’s group given £800

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Pam Grosvenor, in red waistcoat, hands a cheque for £800 to Carol Elliott, support services manager of the Portsmouth and district Alzheimer’s Society. Looking on are some of those who attend the weekly Singing for the Brain sessions at Buckland community centre.         THE CLUB has given £800 to the Portsmouth branch of the Alzheimer’s Society. Every Friday morning the charity holds a Singing for the Brain session, a fun and stimulating social activity for sufferers of dementia. The money handed over by a former club president Pam Grosvenor was raised by raffling a hand-made patchwork quilt at the SIGBI conference. As well as the quilt, other prizes in the raffle were a cushion cover, a table runner and a carrier bag, all in patchwork. Around a dozen club members had met once or twice a month for about two years to

Liz picks our raffle winner

Liz picks our raffle winner

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THE WINNER of the beautifully crafted hand-made patchwork quilt raffled by SI Gosport and Fareham at Conference was Iola Evans from Dolgellau. Liz Morgan-Lewis, then still SIGBI president, is pictured drawing the winning tickets alongside club president Margaret Smith. Other prizes in the raffle – a cushion cover, a table runner and a carrier bag, all in patchwork – were won by Margaret Phelan from Bath, Shirley Willae from Torquay and H. Shulver from Southport.. Led by former president Alison Jenkins, pictured left in a red jacket, who did most of the work, around a dozen members had met once or twice a month over two years to create their blue and yellow masterpiece. The £800 raised will go to the Alzheimer’s Society.    

Christmas trees with a story to tell

Christmas trees with a story to tell

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WHAT a fabulous sight was to be seen at St. Mary’s Church, Alverstoke, during their Christmas tree festival – 69 cleverly decorated and illuminated trees. The three-day event is the third to be held at the church and our club tree was one of those that lit up the lovely building. It was decorated by Pam Simcock, a former president and Chelsea Flower Show judge, and featured stars depicting projects that we have worked on, such as our international effort Project Sierra. The tree was topped by a magnificent globe (pictured right)  illustrating our international role, suitably inscribed: A Global Voice for Women. One of the aims of the festival is to unite the community and it was obvious from the names of the tree sponsors – among them local schools, businesses and organisations such as ours – that this was achieved. Money raised will

Inside story on rehabilitating offenders

Inside story on rehabilitating offenders

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  FIVE club members joined SI Reigate and Banstead and other clubs in the region to have lunch at The Clink Restaurant at HMP High Down in Sutton, Surrey. The restaurant is run by the Clink Charity and gives prisoners the opportunity to learn skills to enable them to work in the hospitality industry on their release. As HMP High Down is a closed prison there are strict security checks and strict instructions about what can’t be taken into the prison, ranging from the obvious such as mobile phones and knives to the more obscure such as paracetamol and hand wash. Having been escorted from reception to the restaurant, guests were offered non-alcoholic bucks fizz followed by a splendid three-course meal of deep fried camembert, pork cooked three ways and a delicious sponge flan and homemade vanilla custard. Prisoners prepare and cook the food in an open

How much is a life worth?

How much is a life worth?

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President Margaret Smith is pictured with our speaker Duncan Colin-Jones and club member Christine White who had suggested he be invited to address the club.  During his clinical career Duncan had worked locally at QA hospital. He challenged the club to answer the question “How much is a life worth?” which had been his focus in his work with NICE, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.  One part of their role was to evaluate new drug treatments for efficacy and cost-effectiveness.  He reminded us that any money for new drug treatments had to be taken away from something else within the NHS capped budget.  The money spent on drugs amounted to £11bn a year, about a tenth of the total NHS spend. Duncan included a quick biology lesson, to explain the structure of human cells, and the bits of DNA (genes) that cause cancer.  Modern

Providing cheer for hospital patients

Providing cheer for hospital patients

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HELPING to make life more pleasant and providing comfort for hospital patients is the aim of Radio Haslar,  manned  entirely by volunteers. Peter Turnbull, publicity manager for the station, pictured above with president Margaret Smith, gave an interesting talk on daily life at the broadcaster launched in March 1993. The service was originally set up to serve Haslar Hospital then in 1996 it was expanded to cover Gosport War Memorial Hospital. Although Haslar Hospital was closed in 2009 the station continues to thrive and in March this year their new studio opened in Bury House at Thorngate Halls in Gosport. “It’s still at the proposal stage but the long-term aim is to provide a service for the new Coldeast Community Hospital at Fareham,” said Mr Turnbull. He explained that as well as broadcasting a variety of programmes for hospital patients and staff they supported other

Country park is ideal setting for a day out

Country park is ideal setting for a day out

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CLUB members treated a party of youngsters to a day out at Staunton Country Park. One of our ongoing projects is supporting the women’s refuges in Gosport and Fareham and each summer children living in the homes, and their mothers, are taken on a trip during the school holidays. Five women and ten children enjoyed the visit and the weather proved ideal for the occasion -sunny with a mild breeze. Staunton Park gives children an opportunity to run free and make a noise. They are able to touch and feed the animals, play in the play area and wander round the lovely walled garden. There are large greenhouses with exotic plants and a pool with huge water lily pads. A picnic was set up on tables in a quiet secluded area and mums and children sat on picnic rugs to eat: sandwiches, pork pies, sausages,

Awareness day is drowned out

Awareness day is drowned out

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ALL smiles at Bishop’s Waltham community day where the club held a stall to raise awareness of Soroptimist International and the work we do alongside selling books and hand-made Christmas decorations. Pictured are Sue Baddeley, membership secretary, right, and Ann Johnson who were fortunate to be doing the morning shift when the weather stayed largely dry. It was a less lucky situation for Rosemary Coward and Kathleen Durning who took over manning the stall in time to be hit by a torrential downpour that turned them both into “drowned rats”, in Rosemary’s own words. The bedraggled duo did their best to save the goods on display. “Unfortunately, about half the books got really wet and others were quite damp,” said Rosemary. “The damp ones are in my conservatory waiting for the sun to dry them out, the really wet ones I think will have to