Book an afternoon of fun with friends now £20pp including a fabulous afternoon tea and fashion show of clothes from local Surrey boutiques Tickets available from Alexis and Elaine see flyer below
#OatlandsVillageFair – How great to be back! We were there! Soroptimists in Weybridge and Elmbridge have supported this excellent community fair for many years and we were delighted to be “back” at a wonderful in person event held on such a sunny day. Danny and Jeannie set up early to get a spot near the arena, they were supported by many club members and wore the new SI sashes which drew a lot of questions as we walked about the fair. Sue provided a good variety of beautiful handmade cushion covers and bags from the South African club Maripula women’s project and these were quickly ‘reserved’ bringing in welcome income to the project. Five women asked for more information, we engaged with many more. We had the opportunity to host #DrBenSpencer local MP and #CharuSood, Charu serves on the Runnymede & Weybridge South Area Planning
SI Weybridge & District (SIWAD) held their 44th AGM at The Wheatsheaf Esher recently. The Treasurer and Officers reports, Annual Accounts and Officer openings were covered and proposers and seconders ensured we fulfilled the statutory obligations. The Elmbridge based club meeting was followed by a speaker from the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Peter joined us on Zoom to provide information on the history of the amazing NMA and to take us on a tour of the amazing gardens, monuments and background to their erection and associated planting. We had sight of the SIGBI Soroptimist Centennial monument erected in 2021 to honour Soroptimists around the world and celebrate 100 years of Soroptimism. The club plans a trip to visit the NMA in October 2022. The monthly business meeting followed with 2 prospective members from Cobham and Kingswood joining the meeting at that stage. Both
SI Weybridge & District drive membership in March & April Sincere thanks to Dorothy for writing up our Pink Tuk Tuk 2021 success story. #Soroptimists got a very good mention in April’s Elmbridge Magazine. We’ve had 3 new member enquiries in the last month following the IWD2022 posters and this article. Thank you for the interest and support to #sheengatepublishing. We hope to soon welcome Mary of the #Rosiemayfoundation to a face to face meeting to hear about our Tuk Tuk ‘Dorothy’ and to meet our three potential members. Interested? The next meeting is May 19th but come along to our stand at Oatlands Village Fayre in Weybridge on Saturday 10th May to chat informally. More at https://oatlandsfayre.org.uk/ Do ‘Share’ to widen the news spread please!! We do such good work gals!
Despite the rain this morning we met with a warm welcome at #walton&hershamfoodbank depot in Faulkner Road. Soroptimists in Elmbridge bought 70 eggs for the donation. We hope they bring some smiles to families locally at this busy holiday time. Many thanks to SI Weybridge & District club members for their generosity, help in choosing the eggs and in delivering them. Jeannie and Ann then treated themselves to a trip around Squires garden centre and coffee, a chance for developing a true soroptimist friendship.
March 30th – SI Soroptimist Southern England Region (SISE) Ukraine Donation Today Weybridge & District Soroptimists generously donated £1010 to Soroptimist Southern Region (SISE) Ukraine Fund. All southern regional clubs donated before March 30th. The overall regional sums collected will now be distributed to SI local Clubs in Lviv in Ukraine and Chisinau in Moldova where soroptimists are actively helping local displaced Ukrainan families in Ukraine and nearby locations with food and medicines. A SISE club member has recently visited these clubs to see the valuable work soroptimists have been and continue to do on the ground since the war started. Generous individual club members have been helping with incredible neighbourly support, food donation and assistance with job search to a local family in Weybridge who are housing a significant number of Ukraine family members. Others are helping with organised community shipments from Walton on
Soroptimists in Elmbridge met on 17th March. Following the success of last years’ Easter egg, sun cream and Aldi voucher donations to mark the centenary year of Soroptimism globally, club members brought along Easter eggs to donate again in early April. Today soroptimists Jeannie and Ann added from cash doantions and packaged up 70 eggs for the foodbank in readiness for distribution across the local sites. With food poverty increasing and huge demand for help Weybridge & District Soroptimists continue to support local foodbanks as a priority in 2022 as part of our community program action. Soroptimists meet in many cities each month to plan and orchestrate global, country, regional and local projects alongside making new friends and accessing social events. SI Weybridge & District meet in Esher, get in contact for more information.
On March 17th Susan Booth of Target Ovarian Cancer, the UK’s leading ovarian cancer charity presented facts, information and stories to Weybridge & District Soroptimists at the monthly meeting. The charity provided leaflets, symptom booklets and information ahead in March and local Soroptimists delivered and popped up the posters in libraries, GP and ante natal clinics and on council boards during the month. Susan told us the cancer is often missed as the symptoms mimic those of other GI complaints. Recognising the symptoms, recording frequency and consistency to present at GP consultations and their national GP training have improved outcomes despite early prejudice that much could be done. The charity has a helpline for those seeking advice. The 2 tests used most often (in addition to a complete pelvic exam) to screen for ovarian cancer are transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) and the CA-125 blood test. TVUS
Each year 7,400 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the UK. Click the links to find out what ovarian cancer is, including the different types, stages and grades. The section also covers the symptoms, the risk of developing ovarian cancer, guidance for talking to your GP and what tests to expect if you’re experiencing symptoms. You can also find out more about different treatment options depending on your situation. There’s also information on what clinical trials are and how they work. You can discover what clinical trials are taking place across the UK, and search for trials by location, treatment stage and the stage of the trial. Thanks to our source: https://targetovariancancer.org.uk/about-ovarian-cancer
February 8th – PRESS RELEASE Weybridge & District Soroptimist group is pleased to announce our newest member: ‘Dorothy’ the pink Tuk Tuk. Since 2018, we’ve been working hard to raise £4,000 to buy Dorothy, who will operate as a female-only taxi service – creating a sustainable source of income for single parent mums and creating safe travel for women and girls in Sri Lanka. The Tuk Tuk is on order and local mums will soon be identified by the Rosie May foundation and trained as drivers, as well as in the necessary business skills to transport women and girls to school, work and social events in safety. A big thank you to all of the local members who have supported this big effort, especially club member Dorothy Clarke MBE, for bringing this unique project to the group. Covid didn’t stop us – and as we
