Our club has dedicated its activities to a variety of work in our community such as:
Railing against abuse has become an annual event to bring the Public’s attention to Domestic Violence. This year we shall be taking to the trains on Nov 25th 2018.
SOROPTIMISTS RAILING AGAINST ABUSE PRES RELEASE 2018
Local women raise awareness of domestic abuse
There are many United Nations special days each year, but the one that matters to Soroptimist International of Weston-super-Mare (SI Weston) is 25th November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, when the theme is ORANGE.
On this day, for the past three years, supported by Tara Newley Arkle and Soroptimists of the South West Region, the women of SI Weston have drawn attention to domestic abuse. We dress in orange and hand out ‘Loves me, Loves me not’ bookmarks. These bookmarks include a checklist to help young people understand that they do not have to tolerate persistent abuse or controlling behaviour in a relationship. They are already in use by many North Somerset schools.
Last year we were joined at the Lord Mayor’s chapel in Bristol by Dame Joan Collins, who spoke movingly about her own experiences.
This year, 2018, we are planning an event in Weston-super-Mare itself, in order to support Gemini services, an organisation responsible for the women’s refuge and other assistance for domestic abuse survivors in and around the town. Once again we shall be getting support from other Soroptimist clubs in the region, whose members will be arriving at Weston railway station. We will all walk through Weston, along the High Street, distributing bookmarks. When we reach Grove Park we will attach orange bows to the railings around the fountain. Each bow represents one of the women killed by their partners over the previous year.
We will then move to the flower bed in the park that commemorates women who have been killed by their partners, where a stunning new sculpture will be unveiled.
Skirting Science – an annual event. A day of interactive workshops put on by scientists from local businesses and academia to encourage girls to take up science. We hope to counteract the tendency for girls to think that subjects like maths, physics and engineering are just for boys. For full details go to the website www.skirtingscience.co.uk
Hospital Shop – every 4 weeks 2 of us do a stint in the local hospital shop run by the League of Friends.
RNLI shop – similarly some club members help in the RNLI shop on the seafront to fundraise for the Weston lifeboat team.
Cancer Research UK – one of our members sits on the local committee organising fundraising events in aid of this worthwhile charity.
Windwhistle school – several club members attend this school in a deprived area on a weekly basis to help children on a one to one basis by listening to them read and engaging them in conversation.
Friends of the Weston Museum – two club members have a particular interest in supporting this museum which was under threat of closure for some time but now has been saved.
Women’s refuge – we support a local refuge, helping with supplies, when needed.
Food Bank– we support the local food bank and have several members who are very active and have become part of the team in this scheme.
Mary’s Meals– we have supported this project providing both ruck sacks filled with items for school children in deprived areas in the world such as in Africa, and also raising money to donate.
Garden of Fragrance– a number of dedicated members have worked hard to help keep this public amenity especially since 2005.
Recycling of items and For lists of what we are collecting for various projects see here.