St Albans and Hertsmere Women’s Refuge Annual local Club Charity since 2009 www.stalbansandhertsmerewomensrefuge.org.uk The Refuge provides emergency accommodation, advice and help for women experiencing emotional, physical or sexual domestic abuse. There is also an Outreach Service which involves the Support team being able to go out and meet women to offer help and advice. Registered charity number 1069612. If you search this website for “Refuge” you will see just some of the support the Club provides to the Refuge.
Home-Start Herts www.home-startherts.org.uk Annual local Club Charity for 2018/19 alongside the Women’s Refuges. Home-Start helps families with young children deal with whatever life throws at them. The charities support parents, through the volunteers, as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children – helping families deal with problems before they become a crisis. The benefits include improved health and well being and better family relationships. Funding cuts mean they need as much support as possible, The Club has supported Home-Start’s vital work for many years. If anyone is interested in becoming a Home-Start volunteer they would love to hear from you.
Herts Domestic Abuse Helpline www.hertsdomesticabusehelpline.org Herts Domestic Abuse Helpline is a confidential, free, support and signposting service for anyone affected by domestic abuse. Call 08 088 088 088 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 9am-4pm weekends. Confidential email Kim@mailpurple.org
Herts Rape Crisis – www.hertsrapecrisis.org.uk offers free and confidential counselling for females who are over 18 and survivors of rape, sexual assault and/or childhood sexual abuse, to residents of Hertfordshire. Helpline Tel: 01707 276512, Registered Charity number 800325
Toilet Twinning www.toilettwinning.org the Club supported Toilet Twinning 2016-2022. By donating £60 to twin a toilet, we helped fund a project in a poor community that will enable families to build a basic toilet, have access to clean water and learn about hygiene – a vital combination that saves lives. In 2022 the Club reached the target of twinning 30 toilets in St Albans and St Albans is now a Toilet Twinned City.
Supporting Volunteer Students – St Albans Soroptimists welcome young women who are volunteering with VSO, ICS, Project Trust, Girl Guides etc – search for Volunteer on our website sigbi.org/st-albans/category/club-news we make a donation from the Club and give them the opportunity to speak to us and sell us cakes. We are always delighted when the volunteers come back and tell us about it their life-changing adventures. A quote from Elizabeth Sarney several years later “I often think about how much the St Albans Soroptimists helped me when I went to Kenya, and what a difference that trip made to who I am and what I’m doing today.”
Lendwithcare – www.lendwithcare.org our Club has been lending money through Lendwithcare, which is part of Care International. Care International fights poverty and injustice to help the world’s poorest people and assist them to find routes out of poverty. They provide immediate aid to people hit by disasters and emergencies and give long-term support to poor communities to rebuild lives and overcome poverty. Lendwithcare is a revolutionary way to help some of the world’s poorest people work their way out of poverty with dignity. Lendwithcare allows us to lend small sums of money to fund a small business or co operatives of small businesses. Once the money is repaid we then choose to recycle our loan to support another poor entrepreneur.
International Peace Initiatives International Club Charity 2012-2021 www.ipeacei.org is a charity supporting women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Meru, Kenya.
Rennie Grove Hospice Care St Albans Annual Club Charity for 2008-9, 2003-4 and 2004-5 www.renniegrove.org Grove House Dav Hospice in St Albans supports and cares for patients, families and friends affected by cancer or a life-threatening illness in St Albans, Harpenden, Hemel Hempstead and the surrounding areas.
HAWA Hertfordshire Asian Woman’s Association www.hawaherts.co.uk/ Soroptimist International St Albans & District is a Member
Mix FM 92.6 – (was Radio Verulam) Community Radio https://mix926.com/