Winchester Soroptimists invite you to a talk on the Post Office Scandal – Thursday October 23rd 2025. The ITV drama “Mr Bates vs the Post Office” catapulted the Post Office Horizon Scandal into the spotlight last year, highlighting the many years of injustice and trauma experienced by sub-postmasters across the country. Despite this and the subsequent enquiry, many sub-postmasters are still waiting for compensation, and the fight for justice continues. On Thursday October 23rd, come and listen to Barbara Jeremiah JP MSc and Dr Kay Linnell OBE, who have both been working with sub-postmasters and campaigning for justice. As accountants and members of the Justice for Postmasters alliance respectively, Barbara has been involved for over 20 years, and Kay over 14, in seeking redress for those affected. Come and hear all about their work in advocating for restitution and continuing in the battle for compensation

The next regional meeting will be the AGM on Sunday 14 September, hosted by SI Woking at Pine Ridge Golf Club, Frimley; Old Bisley Road, Frimley, Camberley, Surrey, GU16 9NX. The booking form and agenda will be available soon, on the Members’ Area of the website, and sent out by email from SI Woking. There will be plenty of time set aside for you to showcase your club’s project work, along with a quiz on climate action and a speaker from Hamlin Fistula UK. It is set to be an exciting day!  We look forward to seeing you all there.

The regional meeting was held on Sat 21 June 2025 at Sarum College, in the Cathedral Close, hosted by SI Salisbury. Their President Michele welcomed everyone and explained that the theme for the day was: “Inspiring women, inspiring each other”; she hoped that members would find inspiration from the day’s activities. It started with a short council meeting, ably chaired by Past Regional President Kay Linnell.  This included a quick digest of PAC activity, received by email from Programme Director Lindsay Green, in lieu of a report from a region PAO.   The keynote speaker was Tracy Daszkiewicz who talked about the women throughout her life who had supported her, encouraged her and led her forward to achieve all she had in her professional and personal life. Her life had been full of challenges, both personal and professional, and she explained how each of ‘her

Did you watch this excellent drama about the poisonings in Salisbury? Join us to hear Tracy Daskiewicz, who led the public health response, tell us about the women who have inspired her throughout her personal and professional life. Stroll through the Cathedral Close to hear the stories of other inspirational women of our city. All this plus a substantial buffet lunch! Saturday 21st June        10am – 3.15pm      Sarum College, The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EE To book a place (£15) please see the details attached and click on this link to book : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdU_E3_4KHHEtogLmldBazjI3kbTpBQWESd-OsgnbXGcs7Nvw/viewform Join us to be inspired! In friendship Michele President, SI Salisbury

SI Salisbury will be hosting the June regional meeting at Sarum College, The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EE, on Saturday 21 June, 10am – 3.15pm. Cost £15 – includes lunch, tea and coffee.  Booking form and agenda are loaded up in the Members’ Area. There is free parking but please car-share where possible. The theme of the day is Inspiring women, inspiring each other. Focus for the day will be on giving voices to inspirational women’s stories and celebrating the best of Soroptimism to inspire each other. Guest speaker: Tracy Daszkiewicz. Tracy will share her inspirational lifestory and how she lead the public health response to the novichok poisonings. In the afternoon there will be the choice between a short walk around The Close to hear stories of some inspirational women (as an introduction to Her Salisbury Story), or to review the morning discussion and prepare

The regional meeting was held on Sat 15 March 2025 at Milford Village Hall, hosted by SI Surrey Hills.  The theme of the day was Awareness. It started with a short council meeting, during which Lizzie Rodgers from SI Poole, Purbeck & District was voted onto the Regional Management Team (RMT) as regional Secretary.  There was also a session on how we want to run the region, with agreement that 3 in-person meetings a year and possibly 1 extra online was right for us.  After coffee we heard from each of the 9 clubs, about their Programme Action activities and their plans for the coming year. We were served Ukrainian borscht for lunch, along with the usual sandwiches, fruit and desserts. In the afternoon we heard from Natalia Maievska, of the local group of Ukrainian women, about the situation in her country and the harrowing

The report from the Regional Management Team, for the meeting on 15 March, has been added to the Members’ Area of this website.  Please access the Members’ Area to download it before the meeting.

SI Surrey Hills will be hosting the March regional meeting at Milford Village Hall, GU8 5DG https://www.milfordvillagehall.org.uk/ Milford Village Hall is less than a mile from the Elstead/Milford junction of the A3, just south of Guildford.  Coming from the south it is the first major junction after the tunnel, from the north if you have gone through the tunnel you missed it!  The entrance is on the right coming from the A3, opposite Secretts Farm Shop.  At the back of the building there is a large car park able to accommodate over 50 cars.  Access to the hall is by steps and a ramp and the hall is equipped with a hearing loop. Outline agenda for the day: 0930-1000 Arrival and tea/coffee made by members of SI Surrey Hills 1000-1100 Regional Council meeting (‘Ask the RMT’) and session on ‘What do you want from region?’

We have had a question about the Best Practice Awards booklet that was mentioned in Lindsay Green’s latest blog – these are being held at region and will be distributed at the regional meeting on Saturday 15 March.  These were produced after conference in Edinburgh last November and there is one per club.  

The Regional Management Team (RMT) met recently for an update on planning for the regional meetings this year.  A reminder that these are: Sat 15 March 2025, hosted by SI Surrey Hills, Theme: Awareness Sat 21 June 2025, SI Salisbury, Theme: Advocacy Sat/Sun 13/14 Sept 2025, SI Woking, Theme: Action, and the AGM We are a small team trying to keep the region going, but still with some significant vacancies – please consider volunteering for any of these posts. The Chinese Year of the Snake is supposed to be transformational, and we hope that the region can embrace change and build a better future.  We will be running a session on this at the March meeting.  There will also be a Programme Action slot, for each club to report on what they did for International Women’s Day on 8 March and their other projects (5