The club doesn’t often have the chance to celebrate a member getting hitched as our average age is a little on the high side! So when former president Tracy Gardiner announced that she was planning a civil ceremony with partner Claire Banks members contributed to a collection. Pictured left, acting president Audrey Welsh (right) presents gifts and a card to Tracy.

Former club member Maureen Lowry, currently a member of SI Chichester, recently held a coffee morning and sale of workat her home which raised more than £300. She has very kindly donated £270 to one of Soroptimist International of Gosport, Fareham & district’s current charities, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, in appreciation of the support she received from members during her time with the club. Maureen lives between the two clubs and is still a welcome visitor to meetings and club events.

THERE was an air of intense concentration amid much debate at Whiteley community centre when Gosport and Fareham Soroptimists held their annual quiz night. The successful event was organised by club member Rosemary Coward and the questions were compiled by Lesley Hobbs who also did a sterling job as quizmaster for the evening. As well as a picture challenge to test participants in between rounds, there were seven groups of questions. These covered a range of topics including geography, entertainment, sport and a very interesting Dead or Alive round. Questions such as Is Kirk Douglas dead or alive? (alive) which country has the largest number of volcanoes? (Alaska) and who composed 12 variations of the tune Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? (Mozart) kept the grey cells exercised. There was good-natured competition between eleven teams battling to be winners. This accolade eventually went to a team calling

MANY people are surprised to learn that the air ambulance service receives no public funding and has to rely on donations, club members were told. “We couldn’t run without public support and each aircraft costs £4,500 a day, about £1.5m a year, that’s a tiny fraction of the NHS budget,” said Toby Hazan, himself a volunteer for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance. The charity is currently being supported by Gosport and Fareham Soroptimists and will benefit from the club’s fundraising this year. They operate an average of two to three flights a day and transfer patients to the nearest suitable hospital that can cater for their needs so they might be taken outside Hampshire to Salisbury or Oxford. “A lot of people think we automatically take patients to Southampton General but that’s always not the case,” said Toby. The service currently runs

Domestic abuse is a subject close to the heart of Gosport and Fareham Soroptimists and because the club has supported the two local refuges for many years members know a great deal about the important service they provide to the community. But it was enlightening to hear quite how comprehensive a service is offered in a talk by Claire Osborne, project manager for Fareham and Gosport Family Aid (FGFA), an organisation that has been running for 25 years. Her commitment to providing help and support for women and children affected by domestic abuse shone through her talk. “We’re incredibly passionate about caring for those in need,” she said. As well as Gosport and Fareham, the group covers Winchester and Whiteley. “If we see a need we do our utmost to help.” She explained that abuse was not just physical. It could mean being kept without

At the regional meeting held at Sparsholt College on Saturday 15 November, there was a session about the “Loves me…, Loves me not…” bookmarks. 5 clubs from across the region gave a short talk about their work on distributing the bookmarks. Christine Wilkes gave the presentation for Gosport and Fareham club. She talked about the challenge of contacting local schools and the take-up achieved in secondary schools. The other clubs mentioned various other areas for distribution of the bookmarks, including via such as the local diocese and the Citizens Advice Bureau. It was hoped that more clubs will get involved with this worthwhile project.