All clubs of the region took part in the Orange the World 16 Days of Activism from 25 Nov to 10 Dec 2023.  SI Bournemouth held an Art Exhibition, with more than 300 members of the public visiting and voting for their top three choices.  All entries were worthy of hearty congratulations for their creativity, thoughtfulness, and insight, but the final top 3 were announced.  SI Weybridge met up for a ‘Walk & Talk’ Café Crawl along the Thames towpath between Walton & Weybridge, with sisters from SI Woking and SI Surrey Hills. Since Christmas their have been festive greetings from SI Winchester to their Friendship Links, and SI Solent East celebrated with a, now traditional, Epiphany Dinner. Speakers visiting clubs have included Helen Stevens, who is the CEO of STARS Dorset (Sexual Trauma and Recovery Services) to SI Poole & Purbeck, and two lovely

Come along to the Business School of the University of Winchester, and Hear from Ellie Hill, of SI Winchester, who is attending the Commission on the Status of Women event at the UN in New York (CSW68) in March this year, and is “pleased to be coming to the Regional Meeting to tell you about my experience and what I have learned!” Get an update on the Volunteering in Pretoria (VIP) Regional Project. Network with other members of the region and share ideas. Participate in workshop sessions on: The future of the VIP Project; The future of Programme Action in our Region; Storyboarding our Regional poster for Federation Conference 2024. Cost for the day is £15 which includes lunch and tea/coffee.  Closing date for bookings, via Liz as detailed in the flyer sent to clubs, is Friday 8 March.

SI Salisbury 18 November Quiz night £15 includes meal, teams of six contact Quiznov23@gmail.com for information           SI Surrey Hills 18 November 2pm curling and afternoon tea event in conjunction with the local Townswomen’s Guild. Venue St Marks Community Centre, Franklyn Road Godalming GU7 2LD  £10 per person. Funds raised will be donated to The Guildford Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre. Contact Alison at sisurreyhills@gmail.com  

At the annual get together of past Regional Presidents of Soroptimist International of Southern England (known as the ‘Has Beens’) at the weekend, members wished one of their number – Ruth Healey of SI Surrey Hills – every success for her forthcoming year as Federation President of Great Britain and Ireland. The Has Beens have been meeting together for some ten years now (lockdown years excepted) and this year they decided to mark the event with a celebratory dinner. Taken together, all their years of membership of the organisation amount to some 350 years of service – all aimed at making the world a better place for women and girls. They are: left to right Sue Pritt (2000-1) Liz Batten (2001-2) Alexis Neville (2004-5) Julie Blackwell (2020-2)  Danny Sparkes (2017-18) Jackie Collins (2014-15) Ruth Healey (2015-17) Carole Atkinson (2007-8) Joyce Boorman (2006-7)  Anne Ansell (2010-11)

Winchester Soroptimists held their Harvest Supper and quiz for Solar Aid on 30 September at Littleton memorial Hall. The event was one of many which we hold to support our different charities. 35 people took part and the quiz was superbly run by members Ellie and Helen. A cash bar and raffle were also held which proved popular. As we support the Winnall Community Pantry, guests were invited to bring donations for distribution after the event. This was very well supported and will be delivered to the pantry this week. The food on offer mid-quiz was a ‘Posh Ploughmans’ and members supplied cold meats and cheeses, salads, bread and magnificent desserts. Richard Turner from Solar Aid had come to speak to the club recently and gave an update on their lighting progress. Starting off with individual solar lamps, which are supplied to low income families

Momentum is gathering for the SI Winchester Harvest Quiz. A fun way to create funds for one of our charities, the event is on Saturday 30 September 7pm and all are welcome. You don’t have to be in a team as we can allocate places on the day. There will be a ploughman’s supper with dessert and a cash bar along with the usual raffle prizes. The ticket price is £16 per person. The location is Littleton Memorial Hall which has plenty of parking and easy access. Please use the Eventbrite link where possible  but it is also possible to buy a ticket directly by contacting the club on winchestersoroptimists@gmail.com We have supported Solar Aid for many years and by growing their work they are now planning to light a whole village with their solar lights. In addition to this you are invited to bring

Conference seeks social justice to tackle violence against women and girls. Urgent improvements are needed to Special Domestic Abuse Courts if they are to provide the intended protection and support to victims of domestic abuse. That is the finding of a new report by the Soroptimists UK and Jess Rose, a PhD student at BU, based on observations from over 1000 cases in over 30 magistrates courts around the country. The report was one of the subjects discussed at the Violence Against Women and Girls: Social Justice in Action conference, hosted by the Soroptimists and Bournemouth University on 29th June. “This latest study supports previous reports which have found that women are not being supported and the special protection that these courts are supposed to provide is not always there,” said Dr Liz Dominey from the Soroptimists Bournemouth Club. During their observations, the researchers noted that many courts do

Starting in 2017, the aim of this project is to provide an independent review across England of how Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts should be improved for victims of abuse, the majority of whom are women. The project has been carried out by Soroptimists across England and involved c4,000 hours of volunteer time in observations and in excess of 1,000 questionnaires were submitted in relation to observations made at over 30 courts. The final report (of four) is now available and the collective reports together come very close to being a comprehensive report on the way in which the Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts are working on a national basis. Soroptimists stand up as advocates for all women, especially for those who have no voice. We have worked as independent observers to give the public confidence in our courts, but we also want to drive improvement and our recommendations seek

Helen Porter, member of SI Winchester, has just spent time at the United Nations in New York at the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW67) and in particular attended the side event for Widows’ Rights. It was a topic which had a great impact and has led her to suggest Microfinancing as a way of support. This is a project already being run by other clubs in the region. This was a fascinating side event of CSW67. I learnt about the intersectionality of widowhood and how the toxic triad of discrimination, disinheritance and harmful practices (such as forced remarriage to an in-law) disadvantages so many widows globally and deprives them of their rights. Many widows suffer from poverty, food insecurity, a lack of decent work and violence. They are unable to access the sustainable development goals (SDGs), advocacy, justice and representation. There are structural