Skip links

SI Weybridge: Friendship Visit to Norway

SI Weybridge: Friendship Visit to Norway

in Tags

SI Weybridge has, for over 20 years, been a member of a five way friendship link with clubs Kristiansand (Norway), Almelo (Netherlands), Silkeborg (Denmark) and Munsterland Sud (Germany). In late August 7 members of the club attended a Friendship meeting in Southern Norway organised by the Kristiansand club. This had a changed format as everyone stayed in a beautiful resort on a fjord. Previously we had stayed in member’s homes. This new format allowed us to mingle with all the other attendees and get to know them better and to make interesting trips into the surrounding area. We visited a museum to hear stories of poor young farm children who walked for days to spend the summer herding for bigger farms, saw a wonderful salmon ladder tunnelled into the mountain, enjoyed the view from the top a lighthouse where there was an art installation on

SI Salisbury: status

SI Salisbury: status

in Tags

The original Salisbury Soroptimist Club was founded in 1978 but sadly closed some eight years ago and now a group of women  who live and work in the Salisbury area have got together to set up a new club for the city of Salisbury. For more information, see the SI Salisbury flyer:  SI_Salisbury_flyer_Aug2015.

SI Weybridge supports Sri Lanka tsunami victims

SI Weybridge supports Sri Lanka tsunami victims

in Tags

Dorothy Clark, a member of SI Weybridge, recently visited Sri Lanka to attend a graduation ceremony. One of the graduates, Dilini, was one of two sisters who were orphaned in the terrible tsunami in 2004. They had been travelling on a train washed away by the tidal wave. Dorothy had been in Sri Lanka during the Tsunami and raised funds in the UK, which she took out to Sri Lanka in 2005. One of the members of our Friendship link club SI Colombo introduced Dorothy to the orphans, and SI Weybridge agreed to raise funds to be used for their education. Each year for the next ten years we raised money, which was put into an account and administered locally by SI Colombo, being used for the sisters’ educational needs. With the money and encouragement of SI Weybridge, the elder girl, Dilini, has now completed

SI Poole counts the cash!

SI Poole counts the cash!

in Tags

    Fundraising is an important part of our activities.  SI Poole President, Lynn Butterworth, counts the funds raised after an evening on Poole Quay – a task made easier by using a coin sorter. We raised about £80, and the money will go towards funding our ‘Loves Me, Loves Me Not’ bookmarks and an RNLI project to help women and children in developing countries. Drowning claims an estimated 372,000 lives around the world each year, over one-third of which are children. This is a conservative estimate – the actual number is likely to be much higher. More than 90% of these drownings happen in low- and middle-income countries.

Birthday Honours for Dorothy Clark MBE (SI Weybridge)

Birthday Honours for Dorothy Clark MBE (SI Weybridge)

in Tags

We are delighted to announce that Dorothy Clark, of SI Weybridge, was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. The honour was awarded in recognition of her services to education and the community. She is Chair of the governors at Burhill Primary School, Walton. Mrs Clark has been President of SI Weybridge several times and plays an active role in the Club and SISE Region. As well as her UK-based achievements, Mrs Clark has travelled the world promoting education, including adopting children in Sri Lanka orphaned by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.  Mrs Clark was in Sri Lanka at the time of the disaster, witnessing, with her husband Dennis, events unfolding. They helped young girls orphaned by the disaster, and one of them, Dilini Chathurika, has recently graduated from the University of Colombo. Five years ago Mrs Clark was diagnosed with breast cancer and is now

Soroptimists at Waterloo Bicentenary

Soroptimists at Waterloo Bicentenary

in Tags

   SIGBI Soroptimists at the renovated Hougoumont Chapel. Left to right: Jackie de Trafford, SI Poole; Joan Lunt, SI Morecambe & Heysham; Elspeth Robinson, SI Darlington; Cath Turner, SI Leeds. The Battle of Waterloo, on 18 June 1815, ended over 20 years of conflict in Europe and heralded over 50 years of peace. The bicentenary of the Battle, celebrated in various ways across Europe, was the occasion to remember those who died as well as the significance of the Battle. The bicentenary also provided an opportunity for Soroptimists from across Europe to meet in Belgium, thanks to the wonderful initiative of SI Val Brabant-Waterloo. In 2007, SI Val Brabant-Waterloo, under the auspices of the SI Europe project to foster Peace by protecting the local heritage, launched an initiative to restore the Hougoumont Chapel on the Waterloo battlefield. SI Belgium supported the Club and provided funding.

SI Weybridge Cheese and Wine Tasting for the VIP Project

SI Weybridge Cheese and Wine Tasting for the VIP Project

in Tags

A cheese and wine tasting was held by SI Weybridge to raise money for the Regional VIP Project. Given the South African connection three of the seven wines tasted were from that part of the world. A white Chenin Blanc, an unusual Grenache Rose and a Pinotage Red. The first two were from ‘Fistful of Schist’ – just as well people didn’t have to say this after they’d tried all the wines. The other wines were a selection of red and white from around France showing a range of grape varieties. After tasting the wine a large selection of cheeses were available to try along with a glass or two of the wine that attendees had particularly enjoyed. It was an enjoyable and friendly way of spending a summers evening and £250 was raised for the project.

New President job-share for Winchester SI

New President job-share for Winchester SI

in

At Winchester SI AGM on April 13th President Julie handed over the chain of office to Pat and Jenny who will share the post for the coming year.  Julie was presented with a farewell gift and expressed her wish to continue to participate in all activities. Pat Abbott described the very positive joint planning experience so far and Jenny Stratford outlined the programme which will have the theme of food and will allow for exciting collaborations with students at Winchester University.