Grime doesn’t pay…… ….was the intriguing title of the talk given by Robert Heathcock, the, intriguingly entitled, Assistant Director (High Quality Environment) at Winchester City Council. Robert explained that life in Environmental Health is nothing like the strereotype of a health inspector depicted in an episode of ‘Fawlty Towers’ (and we were treated to a short clip as a reminder). It’s not just inspecting kitchens and killing rats! Environmental Health is far removed from the Public Health Inspector of old and is now a highly technical profession covering a wide range of areas vital to the health, safety and welfare of the community. Food safety is still an important area of work and includes inspecting restaurants and other food providers. The council issues food hygiene rating certificates indicating the level of hygiene in the kitchens to help customers decide if it is a place they

Sue Dyer from SI Woking, pictured above right with Rosemary Bell, one of our executive members,  came to talk to the club about SOS Mamelodi House. The SOS Children’s Charity helps children whose lives are at stake as a result of being part of HIV affected families and are sick themselves.  The charity sets up educational and social opportunities and the Mamelodi Houses provide homes in a children’s village.  Mamelodi House No 1 is supported by SI South Africa with assistance from SI Southern England.  A former president of SI Southern England, Sue was keen during her year of office to strengthen the link that existed with SI South Africa and was instrumental in providing help from Southern England. Mamelodi, a mainly black township, is situated in the high plains 30k north of Pretoria.  It is estimated that there are more than 1.2 million HIV

CLUB members were given an insight into the enormous amount of planning and work that had gone into the Dickens 2012 exhibition being held at Portsmouth museum this year to mark the 200th anniversary of the writer’s birth in the city. Rosalinda Hardiman, collections manager at the museum and a club member, said that the idea for the “A Tale of One City” exhibition was first mooted six years ago. The fascinating number of items on show offers an insight into the lives of ordinary people who lived in the city in Dickens’ day related through themes such as crime, work, money, health, education and love. Exhibits range from projects created by community groups in Portsmouth to something particularly special – part of the original manuscript of Nicholas Nickleby, the only Dickens book to mention Portsmouth. This was borrowed from the British Library in London

The 9th lean lunch was held in Whiteley, Fareham this Saturday. It was originally set up by 6 local Soroptimist clubs to promote the International quadrennial project – first Project Independence then SIerra. This time members from Southampton, Winchester and Chichester, as well as regional President Rita from Reigate, joined Gosport and Fareham club for the event. Any money surplus will be sent to Mamelodi House, for AIDS orphans in South Africa. There were 3 speeches after the ‘lean’ lunch of bread and cheese with fruit and coffee. Christine Wilkes spoke first about the club’s project to put bookmarks into secondary schools, showing on one side the characteristics of a loving relationship and on the other the indicators of abuse. The sides are labelled: Loves me…, Loves me not. Tracy Gardiner then talked about the Bee Plus project that had been developed by the SI

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.