This year the club are supporting Helping Hands Portsmouth, a voluntary organisation which supports the homeless in Portsmouth by providing hot food, hot drinks, warm clothes, sleeping bags and blankets as well as providing outreach work which has included supporting a young woman attending hospital, liaising with solicitors for court hearings, helping improve the literacy of a young man and so much more. The club were able to provide ten sleeping bags, five ‘dignity bags’ for women, blankets and rucksacks to Michelle Brown, Helping Hands Co-ordinator, on a very cold December day. “These will be very much appreciated by the homeless people we will give them to, especially as winter is here.” Some of the volunteers spent a night on the streets themselves. “We would ask that you don’t point the finger of judgement at homeless people but hold out a hand to help them

The club has supported the Basics Bank in Fareham for a number of years so were delighted to welcome Mr Phil Rutt of the bank, an independent charity operating in Gosport and Fareham, to talk about the organisation and the people who need their help to feed themselves and their families. Help is given on the production of a voucher available from a wide variety of sources. The need is sadly growing as a result of austerity. The charity is entirely run by volunteers and grew out of the Night Shelter for the homeless set up by Fareham Churches together in 2003. Donations still come mainly from local churches. After giving a vote of thanks Christine Wilkes presented Mr Rutt with a cheque by way of a donation.

The club enjoyed a talk by Olein Webster, a fellow Soroptimist (from SI Surrey Hills), who is also a travel agent. She took us on a journey of contrasts when she travelled from Delhi to Simla in India on the famous railway which is a World Heritage site. Her photographs highlighted the enormous wealth of some Indians with luxurious hotels and palaces with wonderful scenery to the extreme poverty when some people have to live in makeshift tents next to piles of discarded plastic water bottles and rubbish. Opulent and poor live cheek by jowl in a class ridden society.

Guest speaker at the September meeting was Sarah Ward, from Fareham Borough Council, speaking about the plans for Welborne Garden Village. The idea is to make sure the development has character and is a community that people want to live within, rather than just a housing estate. The start of the building work has been delayed a few years already, but is progressing through the planning process and will begin with the improvements to Junction 10 of the M27. The 6,000 new homes will then be built in phases over the next twenty years, along with amenities and green spaces. There were plenty of questions from the club members, as you’d expect.  On the way out of the presentation one member said: “She did a good job; I quite fancy living there myself now!”

Nine members were treated to a hidden gem when they set out to walk through Warsash Common on a mild but cloudy July evening. Led by Tracy Gardiner they learned about twelve native English trees, their botanical details, myths and legends and uses during a walk lasting about 45 minutes. The evening ended with a delicious meal at the Nook and Cranny restaurant.

It has been said that women hold up half the sky – in Kenya they seem to hold up 99.9%, being the main providers for themselves and their families (including their men). This was the backdrop to Tracy Gardiner’s introduction of the current International charity Meru Women’s Garden Project in a talk to club members. Meru County in Kenya is the focus of Soroptimist International’s mission to transform the lives of women and girls by raising funds to educate them to enable them to improve their agricultural skills, so raising their family’s living standards and empowering them to challenge the traditional practices that have held them back for so long. In Kenya and so in Meru County, tradition governs everything.  Boys, after circumcision go into the bush for a few months and come back men, relieved of all domestic duties spending the time talking or

Half a dozen members enjoyed a six-course cocktail themed meal at Avenue 141, the silver service training restaurant at Fareham college that is staffed by students. Pictured left is chocolate marquise with a kir royal drizzle, one of the six imaginative dishes on the dinner menu that included such items as crispy duck tempura with a vodka and orange dipping sauce and smoked salmon salad with a gin and tonic dressing. The meal was a real feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.  

Julie Shanley and Sam Henderson of The Medaille Trust spoke to the club about the work of the Trust in supporting victims of human trafficking and modern slavery. The Trust provides safe, supported housing for victims and is also involved in raising awareness and preventative work. In total the Trust has ten safe houses across the country three of which are in Southampton. First some definitions. Human trafficking is the act of recruitment or transportation of persons by means of deception or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. Modern slavery is when a person owns or controls another person and deprives that person of their freedom with the intention of exploiting them. These activities are going on all around us and we may even have used the services of trafficked people without even realising it. For example, victims have been found in car washes and

Michael Underwood was a conservation architect who worked on Gunwharf Quays, and has written a book about the history of the site.  He is shown with club member Celia Veal, who arranged the talk, and president for the month Tracy Gardiner (holding his book). Historically a gun wharf was a place with a deep water harbour, space to remove and store guns, areas for storehouses, workshops and accommodation, and strong security. The first such specific area was built in Portsmouth by the Board of Ordnance for the navy in the late 17th century. It was on a prominence into the boggy “Ooze”, reclaimed and built as the largest of its kind at the time. Years passed, and by the time of Napoleon, with an expanding naval force, a further adjacent area was required. This included moving the Storekeeper, responsible for the whole operation of the