Christine Wilkes, on the right in the picture, with acting president Stella Astbury with the thank you letter from Mary’s Meals, the charity that provides daily meals for the world’s poorest children. Our £250 donation was doubled to £500 thanks to the government’s Aid Match scheme running from the end of September to the end of December. Christine has been the driving force behind the club’s support for Mary’s Meals for a number of years. Last year she organised a second collection of essentials such as pencils, notebooks, soap, clothes and flip-flops for girls and a few boys and she also arranged a group of members to pack the items into 26 backpacks.

Many people are surprised to learn that the most common age group for sufferers of head injuries is of young men aged between 16 and 24, members were told. They ride their motorbikes too fast, they cycle without wearing helmets, they drink and fall over, they play rugby and they fight, said Deborah Robinson, service manager for the local branch of Headway, the charity that supports brain-injured people and their families. The organisation celebrates its thirtieth anniversary next year and for all those years they have worked to help patients restore lost functions. Injuries can be caused by accident, assault, cardiac arrest, stroke, aneurysm, brain tumour and such. Headway offers a wide range of services including rehabilitation programmes, carer support, social re-integration, community outreach and respite care. “How well people recover is determined by the extent of their injury and by their attitude,” said Deborah.

HOW do you encourage more young girls to take up a career in one of the sciences? Magic up a factory that could clone copies of 25-year old chemist Jayne Ede and send them out to schools around the country! It’s fair to say that Jayne, a STEM ambassador who does outreach work in schools, wowed club members at the September speaker meeting with a hugely enjoyable talk on a serious issue peppered with humorous anecdotes. The acronym STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics and she was recruited to speak to the club by another scientist, former club president Tracy Gardiner. A project to try to encourage girls in local secondary schools to study subjects that will enable them to consider careers in the sciences is being considered by the club. Jayne works as a chemist at DSTL, the government’s Defence, Science and

The club was delighted to welcome two visitors from ‘down under’ to the September supper meeting. Glen Slee, a member of SI Karratha in Australia, pictured second left, presented the club with £20 that will go into the charity fund. Gosport and Fareham Soroptimists have had a friendship link with SI Karratha for a number of years. Pictured, from left, Pam Grosvenor, host to the visitors, Glen, acting president Tracy Gardiner and Soroptimister Gary Slee.

SEVERAL club members and a handful of friends spent an agreeable, sunny afternoon visiting Hambledon House gardens, the family home of actress and comedienne Miranda Hart. Her mother Diana Hart-Dyke showed us around the fruits of a lifetime’s work as she mentioned that she had started gardening at the age of ten. The grounds are about two and a half to three acres and they are home to an array of trees, shrubs and quite magnificent borders. There is also a small vegetable plot and a swimming pool that was being enjoyed by some of her grandchildren. “Borders are my passion,” said Mrs Hart-Dyke. Her devotion and dedication became evident when she told us “the garden takes two to eight hours work a day depending on the time of year. Deadheading alone takes two hours.” As we toured the gardens her passion shone through as

Eighteen women, club members and friends and several Southampton members, enjoyed an evening of curry followed by a novel singles skittles contest at Southwick Park Golf Club. The worthy winner was Pam Grosvenor while the wooden spoon went to Rosalinda Hardiman. The event, something of an annual occasion, was ably organised by social secretary Stella Astbury. Tracy Gardiner performed her usual sterling role as MC and Maureen Hine kept the scores while Pat Caulton and Rosemary Bell worked hard putting up all the skittles – again and again. A raffle organised by Kathleen Durning raised £44 which will go to the club’s charity fund.

Club members, joined by relatives, friends and Chichester members, enjoyed an hour-long stroll around the conservation area of Portchester, led by Mr Bryan Jerrard, in the centre of the picture wearing a pink shirt. A scion of Portchester Civic Society, he pointed out architectural features of interest on the period houses along Castle Street, the oldest part of the town, within a short distance of the historic castle, pictured above . The walk was followed by supper at nearby Port Solent.

Club members were treated to an insight into the history and future plans for Wymering Manor which is located east of Cosham. The Manor is a Grade 11* listed building, the oldest in the city of Portsmouth, and is considered to be in the top ten most important buildings in the UK. It can trace its history back to the Domesday Book. There is also evidence of a Roman settlement on the site. Like so many historic buildings, each generation has put its own particular stamp on it and its ownership is well documented back to the 13th century. In 1959 the Manor was scheduled for demolition to make way for a housing development but, following a local campaign, the property was purchased by Portsmouth City Council and then leased to the Youth Hostel Association who used it as a Youth Hostel. It was during

Here’s a photo of the new officers at SI Chennai, one of our friendship link clubs. They’ve just held their agm and have elected a secretary, treasurer, president and project officer.