Soroptimist International Winchester club is pleased to say it has successfully funded its Christmas donations to local charities in the area.
One of our biggest events was a talk on the Horizon Post Office scandal which raised £500 for the charity Lost Chances www.lostchances.co.uk which supports the families of the scandal and the injustices received.
We attended several Christmas Fairs locally and this year were able to participate in the Winchester Christmas Market at the Cathedral. Thanks go to Bambridge Garden Centre who donate spring bulbs for us to sell at the fairs.
We made donations of £200 each to Trinity Services and the Womens Refuge managed by STOP Domestic Abuse, £100 to our own Soroptimist Foundation to support education for women and girls, along with the third annual payment to educate a young girl in Cambodia, who graduated this year.
Another of our international charities is the Purple Community Fund in the Philippines, www.p-c-f.org which has suffered greatly this year with floods and fire. This charity makes items from rubbish found on the dumps where families live, we sell items made from ring pull items which range from Christmas decorations to bags, purses, jewellery etc. We shave sold items and donated £300 this last year.
We would also like to thank Rick Stein Winchester who is supporting us with donations from the sale of their Winchester pudding over the winter season. This will go towards our spring donations.
Recently one of our members took mugs with chocolates to the St James Hostel in Southampton as 
their Christmas gifts. Tref Mitchell regularly talks with her local supermarkets and finds them very willing to help with donations. She is a regular visitor and 
always makes sure there is something special for the women and their families. We also supply washing up bowls with suitable cleaning items for when the women leave the hostel.
Julie Blackwell, Treasurer, said, ‘We are delighted to make donations at Christmas, both of gifts and money, and again in spring at the end of the financial year. At our events it also gives us the opportunity to talk about our organisation and create awareness. We are grateful to our supporters.
We will be at Tesco Winnall on 7 March for International Women’s Day and at the car boot sale at the Cattle Market car park on 29 March.’