Members of SI St Albans and District, plus one daughter, ran the Club’s Charity Bookstall at the Sustainability Market Harpenden, organised by Sustainable St Albans on Sun May 18. https://sustainablestalbans.org/sustainability-market/. We had loads of second-hand novels and children’s books to sell.
This was a Soroptimist “orange day” – to raise awareness and take action to end violence against women and girls. As a bright and optimistic colour, orange represents a future free from the scourge that is violence against women and girls. We were also promoting our Orange the World campaign – 16 days of activism from 25 Nov to 10 Dec – click here to read more https://sigbi.org/st-albans-and-district/2024/orange24/
Money raised was for the SAHWR Refuge supporting victims of domestic abuse https://sahwr.org.uk/. We also gained some exposure for our Club and raised awareness of our Orange the World Campaign. Soroptimists sent a big thanks to the Harpenden Lions https://www.harpenden-lions.co.uk/, who loaned us the gazebo for the day. The Lions also took our leftover books to the Lions Charity Bookshop in Hemel Hempstead and got us extra money from selling some of the books online. Any books that the Lions Charity Bookshop in Hemel Hempstead can’t sell are pulped, so this is a perfect recycling project.
Earlier in the week Soroptimists Jane Slatter and Linda Middleton had volunteered at St Albans Girls School (STAGS) for Year 12 Mock Interviews. Each student has a 20 minute interview based on CV’s they have prepared in school and receive verbal and written feedback.
The students find the feedback very helpful – for some it is the first time they have produced a CV and had an interview. Providing an encounter like this is hugely beneficial and has been shown to help improve student outcomes and increase their aspirations for the future. Soroptimists have been involved for the last 10 years and have always found meeting the girls a real breath of fresh air.