Kids for Kids – July 2024
Following the completion of our 5 year project to raise funds for Toilet Twinning (8 latrines and a toilet block!), we will now be supporting Kids for Kids, a charity based in Dorking and supporting rural villages in North Darfur, Sudan. We’re currently deciding how exactly we can best support women and girls living in this remote desert region but we will be using funds raised by members purchasing through Easy Fundraising.
Godalming Town Show June 2024
SI Surrey Hills hosted their stall at the Godalming Town Show & Carnival. We were able to spread the word about the work of the Club and Soroptimism and many visitors to our stall supported our projects by:
It was a good day and we had a steady stream of visitors so thank you to all who came and spoke to us, gave us toiletries or otherwise helped us!
Saturday 4 November 2023 – Member Ruth elected as SIGBI President
SI Surrey Hills is delighted that our member Ruth, has been recently elected as President of Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland. She will now head the Federation with its 8,000 members, spread across 350 clubs in 29 countries for the next 2 years.
Ruth, has been a Soroptimist since 2003 and has played an active role in local club projects such as Smalls for All and supporting the local women’s refuge, as well as serving as Regional President of Southern England from 2015-17. She used her skills to organise and run the annual conference of the organisation in Brighton in 2011, and has since delivered the role of Finance Director for the Federation’s Conference in Cardiff in 2017. In 2018, she was elected as Finance Director and in 2022 became President Elect.
Ruth says, “I’m delighted to be able to use my business skills and experience to help this organisation, which works so hard to transform the lives of women and girls worldwide. I am particularly excited to be able to help the Federation address the challenges associated with the recent granting of charitable status.”
Ruth’s grandmother, mother and aunts were all members of Soroptimist International in South Wales and her cousin is a member of Soroptimist International of Swansea.
SI Surrey Hills reaches 65!
SI Surrey Hills was delighted to celebrate our 65th birthday in 2024. To commemorate the occasion we held a lunch party in April at Myrtle’s Courtyard, deep in the heart of the Surrey countryside. The lunch was attended by Soroptimists, both local and visiting, family members and friends. A display of photographs, newspaper cuttings and minutes from meetings held decades ago disclosed a wealth of forgotten insights into the club’s previous activities and provided food for discussion and reminiscences.
We were honoured to have as our guest speaker Fiamma Pather, CEO of Your Sanctuary the Surrey refuge. The owner of Hampton Estate and former Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey, Bridget Biddell also joined us. And our very own SIGBI President Ruth gave an overview of our 65 years of Soroptimist action. We all enjoyed the delicious buffet and fizz, with the celebrations continuing long after the final guests had left!
