SI Winchester and District held its charity afternoon tea on Saturday 25th July. The tea, which raises funds for Solar Aid has been held annually by the club for several years. Generously hosted by member Tref Mitchell, the tea takes place, under shade (an essential this year), in her beautiful garden. Tref is supported in her hard work by the club’s Solar Aid team of Ann Topp, Ellie Hill, Helen Porter and Gina Bird. This year, 27 guests sat down to the delicious tea, which never fails to delight newcomers as well as regular guests. We were particularly pleased to welcome Richard Turner Fundraising Director of Solar Aid who had travelled a good distance to be with us. Richard acknowledged the years of consistent support the club has given the charity. In turn we expressed our appreciation of updates from the charity. We have seen

Our clubs’ ongoing international Initiative supports Solar Aid, raising funds to provide clean, affordable solar lighting for hard‑to‑reach, off‑grid communities in Sub‑Saharan Africa. As a prelude to our July Garden Tea fundraising event, we were delighted to welcome Amy Moss, Project Ambassador for Solar Aid, to our supper meeting at St Swithun’s School. A colleague of Project director Richard Turner, who has visited us previously, Amy shared the latest exciting developments: Over recent years, Solar Aid’s work has progressed from small personal solar lights to systems capable of illuminating whole rooms and clinics, and new emerging solar Energy as‑a‑service model. Amy’s presentation was both deeply moving and wonderfully informative. Follow this link for more information: Amy Moss From Solar Aid – (2)

SI Winchester once again held a summer picnic for the families staying at the refuge. We had perfect weather and the event was enjoyed by all. The ladies chatted over coffee and goodies to eat while the children had fun using play equipment and interacting with the St Swithun’s girls. The Soroptimists present are pictured beside our banner and the picnic spread, they are Jennifer, Gina, Julie, Helen and Denise. It was lovely that our newest member Denise, who joined us only this week was able to attend. All of us always enjoy the picnic as much as the families and this time we were particularly delighted to watch the independence and growing confidence of the children. Huge thanks go to St Swithuns School for allowing us to host the event, especially the Chaplain Paul, also in the main picture. Paul will be retiring this

We were delighted to hear member Helen presenting on a possible new project for our Club PAC at our recent business meeting. The club has been sponsoring a young girl through 3 years of education in Cambodia which completed this year in her graduation. The new project will empower girls to remain in education, receive mentorship and develop life-skills to build self confidence and make positive career choices. Secondary school girls will participate, increasing their self-esteem, encouraging long term planning and decision making. This will result in capable, ambitious and ethical future female leaders Once established, the project will then be shared with other schools. The need: in Cambodia, many girls leave school early without achieving any formal qualifications. They leave for: poorly paid unskilled work, early marriage, unplanned pregnancy, domestic duties, childcare for siblings and sex work. There are very few good role models

After our recent AGM Soroptimist International Winchester club is pleased to say it has successfully funded donations to local charities in the area. Since our Christmas fundraising events we have taken a stand at the Tesco Winnall check out area and received passing support from shoppers over the International Women’s Day weekend of 8 March. We are grateful to Tesco for their support. The club continues to support the Winchester women/girls rugby and are pleased to announce we will be supplying some new coats for the teams this season. Members also attended their Ladies lunch on 21 March and were able to interest several ladies in our projects. We were also fortunate to meet Danny Chambers MP and hope to work with him and Winchester City Council in domestic abuse campaigns on a continuing basis. We were lucky enough to get a slot at the

Member Jackie Orchard and her husband hold (and fund) an annual afternoon tea for the Second Chance Animal rescue centre in Southampton. Guests are not charged but encouraged to donate. Events  this year have totalled £380. Almost all the visitors were local to Southampton and were friends, neighbours and people they know through the various groups they attend via U3A. This year they also had some staff and volunteers from the charity which helped in sharing information about what they do. There were 34 visitors and luckily a neighbour brought some extra chairs over. They were at capacity compared to last year for this informal event. Another winning fundraiser from one of our Soroptimists and always well provisioned as you can see.

We were privileged to have Sue Dorrington as a recent speaker. Sue is a sporting dynamo and with her three colleagues back in 1990, staged the 1991 Women’s rugby World Cup in Wales. Sue’s dream and passion was to play rugby and she left her native USA to pursue this ambition. After settling in the UK and studying she discovered the women’s rugby team at Imperial College London. Her story reads of tenacity, perseverance against all the odds to play the game she loves. Back then rugby was a man’s game and the thought of women playing the sport was not supported. Sue joined the women’s team at Richmond RFC. Through sheer will power and determination, the four women rugby players from Richmond RFC –  Sue Dorrington / Mary Forsyth / Debs Griffin / Alice D Cooper, with Debs at the helm – staged the

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

An unusual but memorable take on the Orange campaign. One of our members Gina Bird hosted an excellent Orange tea party which gives us the opportunity to share the message in an unusual way. Her tea party is ‘Inspired by Shelley’ and is one of them any ways we can raise awareness of the campaign. The UN’s “orange the world” campaign is a global initiative to end violence against women. It is marked by 16 days of activism from 25th Nov to 10th December alongside, dedicated days on the 25th of each month. Awareness raising activities include lighting up public buildings, marches, stalls, social media promotion, orange themed events and orange café days. Women’s organisations most notably Soroptimist International have espoused the campaign for some years, seeking imaginative ways to spread the word. As a Soroptimist and enthusiastic Shelley collector, Gina naturally found inspiration in

Over the past few weeks we have been promoting our latest fundraiser which was held on 23 October at St Swithuns School. We were delighted to have Mayor Sudhakar Achwal supporting us along with former alumni from St Swithuns, Soroptimists, Rotarians and parents. The evening raised £1000, half will go to the charity Lost Chances for Children of Subpostmasters (www.lostchances.co.uk), which seeks to redress the chances taken from the families of subpostmasters caught up in the scandal. The other half will support Winchester Soroptimists charitable projects in the local area, including the local refuge, homeless shelter, sponsorship of Winchester girls rugby, and more. The ITV drama “Mr Bates vs the Post Office” catapulted the Post Office Horizon Scandal into the spotlight last year, highlighting the many years of injustice and trauma experienced by sub-postmasters across the country. Despite this and the subsequent enquiry, many sub-postmasters

Winchester Soroptimists invite you to a talk on the Post Office Scandal – Thursday October 23rd 2025 The ITV drama “Mr Bates vs the Post Office” catapulted the Post Office Horizon Scandal into the spotlight last year, highlighting the many years of injustice and trauma experienced by sub-postmasters across the country. Despite this and the subsequent enquiry, many sub-postmasters are still waiting for compensation, and the fight for justice continues. On Thursday October 23rd, come and listen to Barbara Jeremiah JP MSc and Dr Kay Linnell OBE, who have both been working with sub-postmasters and campaigning for justice. As accountants and members of the Justice for Postmasters alliance respectively, Barbara has been involved for over 20 years, and Kay over 14, in seeking redress for those affected. Come and hear all about their work in advocating for restitution and continuing in the battle for compensation

Members from SI Winchester have been involved in the Beyond the Bonnets exhibition marking 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen, along with Joshua Raffell whose installations accompanied it in the ARC Winchester. Some members went to the opening launch of the exhibition in the ARC at the end of July and met one of the descendants of Jane Austen who gave a very interesting and lively talk on her ancestor.     Then a couple of weeks later 13 members headed off to Chawton House where we were intrigued to discover the history of the house, its family lineage and links to Jane Austen. All of this of course followed by lunch in the old kitchens, now a lovely tearoom.     Did you know that by 1775 there were more books published by women than men? This lady did, Sandy Lerner, the American

Commemorating 80 years since the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan which ended WWII, Winchester is a member of the International Mayors for Peace. A reception was held at Abbey House, the Mayor’s official residence in Winchester on 6 August.  SI Winchester was invited to attend and gave a short presentation, along with Rotary, Winchester University and Peace Jam. The speech given by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui was translated and read out at the start of the presentations. Mayor Sudhakar Achwal of Winchester had travelled to Hiroshima last year where he met Mayor Kazumi. The tone of the day was very much awareness of nuclear power today, in the hands of the two most powerful nations USA and Russia, and the hope that they will never be deployed. The atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima are the only two which have been deployed in

SI Winchester has supported Solar Aid since 2021. At that time we also supported the Little Sun Foundation which offers the same solar lighting process. We were privileged to have a zoom meeting with Richard Turner, who has also visited us in the past, and updated us on the latest project which is to ‘Light a Village’. This gives the community a wider buy-in to the system as it can provide lights for clinic, hospitals, retail outlets and village centres, rather than only individual homes. In areas where there is no hope of electricity reaching people this is a major life enhancement and offers economic opportunities for people as well as benefitting the environment. The lamps also have USB ports for charging small appliances and one day TVs. A committee was formed to manage this project. The team started with fundraising with plans to develop

Soroptimist International of Winchester held the annual coffee morning at Rick Stein, Winchester on 20 May. It was an information morning and members of the club attended along with guests and visitors. We were also joined by Sharon Worth of the Menopause Café in Winchester and members of Trinity Services. Thanks go to Hendrik of Rick Stein for arranging this and Mayor Achwal of Winchester for attending and endorsing the Civic presence. We were privileged to have Sue Dorrington attending, former Women’s World Cup rugby player, who also endorses our projects with our strapline ‘Standing up for Women and Girls’. The club now sponsors the U18s girls rugby in Winchester. Members were able to talk about our work and support of local charities, Trinity Women’s Services and the Women’s Refuge. We are hols our annual picnic in June for the women and their families in

Jo Jefferies, member of SI Winchester, describes running in the London Marathon 2025. The picture illustrates how I (now) feel about my London Marathon experience, pure joy! It has unquestionably been the hardest mental and physical challenge that I have faced, and it was a privilege to have been a part of it. When I got my ballot place last summer, it felt like an opportunity to do something that I had wanted to do for a really long time, but once I had been in contact with the team at Pancreatic Cancer UK, it became so much more. I was joining a fight against the deadliest common cancer in the UK, the one that had taken my Dad away from us, and which takes almost 800 people, every month, sometimes within days of diagnosis. Together, this year’s PCUK London Marathon Team has raised over

It was fascinating to see the transformation of Berlin since the fall of the wall in 1989 and also to witness the German people’s 80th anniversary commemorations of VE Day and the surrender of Berlin on 2nd May 1945. Member Helen Porter travelled to Berlin for this historic date. There was a temporary outdoor exhibition ‘ Peace at Last’ in Pariser Square in front of the Brandenburg  Gate. This exhibition celebrated ‘Kriegsende’ – the end of the war. It seems that the German civilians were (on the whole) relieved and pleased that WWII had ended. They had suffered a great deal of deprivations and the loss of loved ones during the war. On visiting the site of The FuhrerBunker (the air raid shelter built to protect Hitler and other senior members of the Nazi Party) we learnt that Hitler ordered soldiers to kill German civilians

Although VE Day is generally known as 8 May, in the Channel Islands liberation did not happen until 9 May for Jersey and Guernsey and days later for the other islands. A recent trip to Guernsey to celebrate the 45th charter anniversary of Soroptimist International Guernsey, was an opportunity to see and hear first hand about what the islands had gone through during 5 years of German occupation. Member Julie Blackwell and a friend stayed in Les Cotils, itself an interesting part of the occupation history and where the club meets. Up until the German occupation of the Channel Islands in July 1940, Les Cotils was being run by an order of nuns, primarily as a school. In addition to this, the nuns ran a farm to supply their needs. As the occupation by German forces began in 1940 and the children were evacuated, the

We had a very enjoyable club evening at the Hampshire Cultural Trust in Winchester. We have become involved with them as they are staging an exhibition to commemorate the 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen. The author lived in Hampshire and indeed in Winchester among other places locally. The exhibition is entitled Beyond the Bonnets, and explores the lives of working women in Hampshire at that time. Some members have been helping with this. Sam Butcher from the HCT has a team of researchers finding out the history of these women who have found many stories to exhibit. He hosted the evening last night where we had our club photo taken with a beautiful embroidered white muslin dress which formed part of their collection. We were then shown around the clothing store where many garments had been donated from that period and right

Soroptimist International Winchester is delighted to celebrate the news that one of our members, forensic accountant Dr Kay Linnell has been honoured in the New Year’s Honours List. Dr Kay Linnell has been awarded an OBE in 2025. Kay has been a Soroptimist for over 40 years in several clubs before joining SI Winchester. She has held a number of roles in that time including Regional President of Southern England Region. Today we are delighted that she has been recognised for services to justice for her work in the Subpostmasters Alliance in the recent PO Horizon scandal. She was represented in the TV documentary Mr Bates vs the Post Office. Recently Kay and her business partner Barbara Jeremiah presented their experiences in the case at the recent Cardio Rehab lecture at The Maltings in Alton, where they told how over many years they had investigated

Soroptimist International Winchester is delighted to be supporting the U18s Womens rugby at Winchester Rugby Club. We decided that we should widen our support of ‘Standing up for women and girls’ and hope to have more involvement with the girls, many of whom attend local schools and play rugby there. Recently we were able to donate some warm clothing to those girls on the touchlines waiting to play, especially necessary during the autumn and winter months of play. Dom Hardy the coach says, ‘Thank you very much for sponsoring these – the girls were very impressed’. A few members watched a recent game which the girls won, Winchester seems to be a very strong side.

A very topical and moving personal account from the widow of Bill Edwardes, Jean, who is a member of SI Winchester. Bill served in the 43rd Wessex Division in the war and also formed the 43rd Division Association. Jean gave us a very moving presentation of her involvement in Bill’s post war commemorations and in 2004 also featured in a presentation with the Earl of Wessex/Duke of Edinburgh regarding the unit’s most hard won battle at Hill 112, see previous post The 43rd Wessex Division formed from the Territorial Army battalions of the southwest, including the 4th and 5th Battalions of the Wiltshire Regiment. The DCLI, Devon and Dorset’s Gloucester’s and Worcester’s became known as the fighting Wessex Wyverns. Jean told us that it wasn’t until the 50th anniversary of DDay that Bill started to talk about  his time in the war . He joined

Soroptimist International Winchester supports two solar charities, Solar Aid and Little Sun. Both of whom use solar light products to light up those countries in Africa as the sun disappears in the early evening. It gives the opportunity for students to continue study at home by naturally powered light rather than kerosene lamps which can be dangerous and costly. As lamps improve this can be taken to a wider community such as lighting up a village, clinics etc. Funds are important to keep the facility going and the club organised a Solar Tea in a member’s garden to commit to our annual donations. 30 guests sat down to a sumptuous tea with help from the solar project group, diverse sandwiches, many home-baked cakes, a selection of teas and with the sun shining, it was an enjoyable afternoon. Further funds were raised through a raffle and

Soroptimist International of Winchester took part in the Hat Fair on 6/7 July. This year was  very weather dependent but at least one day was sunny and brought out the crowds. We were pleased to be in the Cathedral Grounds with the Cathedral in front of us with amazing performers. Although the numbers were reduced on Sunday due to the rain we had plenty of visitors. As part of a recruitment and membership strategy, it’s good to create awareness of what the club does, and to be more a part of the Winchester community. Members staffed the stand and we were gratified to hear that our name is getting around and that we were recognised. Others we spoke to were interested in knowing more so it was a productive two days. Julie Blackwell, member of SIW said, ‘We were able to talk to several interested

Since our presentation at the Winchester BID Network Forum in February, Soroptimist International Winchester club has been very busy into the start of summer. Members attended the Domestic Violence meetings at Trinity Centre in Winchester and learned of the Council’s VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls) initiative which we hope to be a part of during the year. In May we held an information coffee morning at Rick Stein, taking advantage of their generosity to charities in the local area, by serving coffee and cake to attendees. We were delighted to have Mayor Russell Gordon-Smith and his wife Diana attend, giving us an opportunity to tell them about our work with women and girls and local charities. Treasurer Julie Blackwell said, ‘It’s a great opportunity for the club members to talk to visitors about our projects and create awareness of what we do, the more

We’re at the start of the new club year and it’s already starting off with a busy month in May, following the AGM. Winchester club has distributed funds to the major charities in the local area such as Trinity, Winchester Beacon and the women’s Refuge. We have a fundraiser tea on 19 May, for our textiles project, the Rick Stein coffee morning for membership month in Winchester and then the Orange cafe in a new venue just for Saturday, the Turtle Bay restaurant in Winchester. We’re hoping this will give us a good start to the year. The picnic for the women’s refuge follows in June.      

We had two lovely ladies from the Winchester Hospice speak to us just before Christmas and join us for supper. Donna Coombs, Clinical Matron and Alison Warren gave us a splendid presentation on the Hospice now in its third year. Members from SI Winchester were keen to get involved when the Hospice first began and have since enhanced the garden with Soroptimist roses in ports and a garden bench to enjoy outdoors. Donna said how over the three years they have hardly been empty, with all beds being taken and numbers have reached over 600 in this period. At Winchester Hospice they provide specialist palliative and end of life care to adults with life-limiting illness, who live in Winchester and surrounding villages. This dedicated team within the hospice work to ensure that every patient is able to liver their life as full as possible in

Members of SI Winchester enjoyed a Christmas meal together and sent and received seasonal wishes from Friendship Links :   SI Grange over Sands – Many thanks for your good wishes from SI Winchester.  I remember with great pleasure your 60th Charter celebrations last year, it was so good to see everyone again. On behalf of SI Grange-over-Sands, we wish all your members a Happy and Peaceful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. SI Kisumu – Thank you so much for your email and lovely Christmas wishes. I have conveyed the message to my Sisters in SI Club of Kisumu. We wish you a wonderful 2024. I  will be in touch with you in the course of this week about the Smiling School. Happy 2024! We even had a lovely photo of them, and the school we support through their club. A very healthy

It’s always good to hear that members have additional strings to their bow, whether through work or volunteering and using their skills to enhance what they do and also promote Soroptimism at the same time. A team from a Winchester charity was among a delegation of care providers attending a reception at No 10 Downing Street. The reception was to recognise and thank representatives from across the care sector for the work that they do. Brendoncare chief executive officer Marianne Wanstall invited Petya Koeva, housekeeper at Brendoncare Park Road and John Debil, nurse at Brendoncare Otterbourne Hill, and Annie Burisky, general manager of Brendoncare Stildon to join her at the reception, hosted by Helen Whateley MP, Minister for Social Care. SI Winchester member Marianne added: “We had the opportunity to meet Helen Whateley and discuss topical issues, in particular the challenges regarding local authority funding levels

Winchester Soroptimists held their Harvest Supper and quiz for Solar Aid on 30 September at Littleton memorial Hall. The event was one of many which we hold to support our different charities. 35 people took  part and the quiz was superbly run by members Ellie and Helen. A cash bar and raffle were also held which proved popular. As we support the Winnall Community Pantry, guests were invited to bring donations for distribution after the event. This was very well supported and will be delivered to the pantry this week. The food on offer mid-quiz was a ‘Posh Ploughmans’ and members supplied cold meats and cheeses, salads, bread and magnificent desserts. Richard Turner from Solar Aid had come to speak to the club recently and gave an update on their lighting progress. Starting off with individual solar lamps, which are supplied to low income families

Momentum is gathering for the Harvest Quiz. A fun way to create funds for one of our charities, the event is on Saturday 30 September 7pm and all are welcome. You don’t have to be in a team as we can allocate spaces on the day. There will be a ploughman’s supper with dessert and a cash bar along with the usual raffle prizes. The ticket price is £16 per person. The location is Littleton Memorial Hall which has plenty of parking and easy access. Please use the Eventbrite link where possible  but it is also possible to buy a ticket directly by contacting the club on winchestersoroptimists@gmail.com We have supported Solar Aid for many years and by growing their work they are now planning to light a whole village with their solar lights. In addition to this you are invited to bring a tin

It’s always an honour to mention members who have been rewarded for their actions. Winchester member Marianne Wanstall was awarded the Order of Mercy on 28 July 2023 for  35 years of volunteering with the charity Across. The Order is awarded by the League of Mercy, a charity that seeks to encourage and recognise voluntary work within areas of care including the sick, disabled, young people at risk, the homeless, elderly and dying. Each year the Trustees of the League choose around 25 volunteers from a range of nominations made by charities and other recognised organisations; volunteers receive the Badge of the Order of Mercy (as shown in the attached photo). www.leagueofmercy.co.uk Marianne said,  ‘I was very honoured to receive this award; I have been volunteering for Across since the age of 18 and it has always been a joy and a privilege; I am

The Friendship Link visit from nine Soroptimist members (and one husband) from SI Kisumu finally happened on 31 July. This had been almost a year in the planning when their club decided that after attending the Soroptimist International Convention in Dublin in July 2023, they would travel on to visit us in Winchester. The Friendship Link started when SI Winchester helped fund a nursery in Kisumu over 10 years ago. Over the years the nursery has grown to include a Primary and Secondary school. SI Winchester has helped with projects over time and more recently funded a new kitchen with more environmentally and safer ovens. This means the children can have nutritional meals at school whereas they may not have the same at home. In this way it helps the less ell of families in the community. The school was named the SI Winchester Smiling

The widow of Bill Edwardes, Jean, is a member of SI Winchester. Bill served in the 43rd Wessex Division in the war and also formed the 43rd Division Association. On a sunny day in May 2023 the rededication of the Division Arboretum and the memorial plaque was made at Longleat House. We are delighted that Jean was able to play a part in this rededication. The last two known survivors of the Division were joined by Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, (who as Earl of Wessex was Patron of the 43rd Wessex Division), Lord Lieutenant Mrs Sarah Troughton, the High Sheriff Mr Pradeep Bhardwaj and Lord and Lady Bath. The exhortation was read by 98 year old Ken Hay of the Dorsetshire Regment and the Kohima Epitaph was read by 99 year old Cecil Newton of the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards. The Duke of Edinburgh went

Soroptimists of Winchester have had a great start to the summer, with three events over the last few weeks. Starting off in June with the picnic for the families and children of the local Refuge, members donated tasty picnic food, laid out in the shade next to the play area in St Swithuns School. As always students help us and play games with the children. Thanks go to the school chaplain Paul Wallington, the students and the school for their support. At the end of June fundraising started with a car boot sale in the Cattle Market car park in Winchester. It’s a great opportunity to meet people, talk about what the charity does, which is support Women and Girls, and raise funds in the process. Myra, Helen, Julie and Eleanor  helped at the tables. The funds raised go towards the local charities we support

Filiz Celik is a former Turkish refugee and came to the UK over 20 years ago. She spoke to us at our meeting on 17 July and told us her story. Back in 1999 she was a graduate student from a Turkish University. She was unable to take up a post in Turkey because of views expressed at an international conference. She admits she was fortunate that her family were able to help her, provide a passport and ensure she reached the UK. She took a position as an au pair in Hampshire, which is how Winchester member Gina came to know her. She was looking after two young boys for the vicar and living in the Rectory. She then sought asylum. She succeeded through various refugee support agencies in getting support to do a PhD in the UK and now holds two posts. One

On 19 June we took our supper meeting at the Winnall Community Pantry, known locally as the foodbank for the area. Like other foodbanks in this social climate they have seen an increase in their clients and families coming for help. It started in covid helping single parent families. As part of our attendance at the pantry club members brought donations for the stores. Winchester Community Food Pantry enables members to “get more for less”. The pantry aims to help and encourage families that need a little bit of support to manage and budget through these tough times. Anyone is welcome to shop at the pantry once a week – there are no criteria for becoming a member. The Pantry is part of a community space which also houses a space for arts, dance and support. Each client becomes a member and they pay £5

Starting in 2017, the aim of this project is to provide an independent review across England of how Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts should be improved for victims of abuse, the majority of whom are women. The project has been carried out by Soroptimists across England and involved c4,000 hours of volunteer time in observations and in excess of 1,000 questionnaires were submitted in relation to observations made at over 30 courts. Members from SI Winchester together with SI Solent East covered Basingtoke and Portsmouth courts. The final report (of four) is now available and the collective reports together come very close to being a comprehensive report on the way in which the Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts are working on a national basis. Soroptimists stand up as advocates for all women, especially for those who have no voice. We have worked as independent observers to give the public confidence

Once again Winchester Soroptimists provided a picnic for the families of the local Refuge. As always members donated tasty picnic food, which we laid out in the shade next to the play area in St Swithuns School. The day had threatened rain but we were blessed with a beautiful warm sunny day and the children from the Refuge enjoyed time with their mothers and playing with the toys in the grounds. Two of the students Juliet Lowe and Jasmine Scott helped with the meet and greet of the families and joined in with the ball games on the sports pitch. It is hoped this continues to be an annual event and our thanks go to the school chaplain the Reverend Paul Wallington, the students and St Swithuns for their organisation and support, and allowing the use of the school for this event. The children and

Soroptimist International of Winchester held a coffee morning at Rick Stein Restaurant in Winchester on 16 May. The event was to introduce the Winchester club’s activities and to chat about membership and what it means to be a Soroptimist. May is membership month. We were joined by the Mayor of Winchester, Cllr Angela Clear, who has been a longstanding supporter of our club and we were delighted to welcome her back in her third (by default) sitting as Mayor. She said, ‘the Soroptimists do great work in the community and I support them whole heartedly’. She is joined by Susanna Edwards from the School of Creative Wellness and Sharon Foulston who is interested in Domestic Abuse projects. It is hoped the club hears more from them in the future. As it was a lovely morning we were also joined by passers by who were happy

Soroptimist International of Winchester was delighted to dedicate the garden bench to the Winchester Hospice last week. The hospice has been in the process of developing an outdoor garden space with a room for families and relatives to reflect and enjoy time with their loved ones. Following on from the Chelsea Flower Show in 2021, the Bible Society rebuilt their garden in the grounds of the Hospice. The area has a lovely outdoor room and patio both in sunshine and shade for residents. Jo and Julie from Winchester club visited to dedicate the bench with a plaque and were delighted to meet the team who were so enthusiastic and confirmed the bench was put to good use. They were delighted to see the water feature in full flow and the Soroptimist roses doing well which had been donated by the club last summer. Donna Coombs,

Helen Porter, one of our members, attended CSW67 in New York in March. Here she gives her blog on Widows’ Rights which was published during CSW and which had a great impact as a side event. It has given thoughts to starting a Microfinancing campaign as a support to Widow’s Rights. This was a fascinating side event of CSW67. I learnt about the intersectionality of widowhood and how the toxic triad of discrimination, disinheritance and harmful practices (such as forced remarriage to an in-law) disadvantages so many widows globally and deprives them of their rights. Many widows suffer from poverty, food insecurity, a lack of decent work and violence. They are unable to access the sustainable development goals (SDGs), advocacy, justice and representation. There are structural barriers to accessing capital including no collateral and no male to co-sign a loan or act as a guarantor.

What a lively evening this was. Alan Matlock from the Spitfire Makers charity really took us to new heights with his enthusiasm for the mighty Spitfire. He began with the early days of the Supermarine and the Itchen and Woolston works on the river. The Supermarine company specialised in flying boats but are of course best known for the dazzling Spitfire designed by RJ Mitchell and his team. In 1940 it was apparent that the German Luftwaffe had these works on their radar and bombed the factories. The company then set about splitting up the various components of the aircraft and sub contracting smaller companies in the area to complete them. The main sites for this enterprise covered 30 locations in Southampton and further sites in the surrounding Hampshire countryside. The completed parts were then shipped to Eastleigh airport where the aircraft would be built.

We have had interest recently from a lady in Winchester who may decide to join us in the future. She has attended a few meetings and would like to donate to the club funds. She has regularly donated her hair for wigs, growing to a suitable length and then cutting it to send on for this purpose. In doing so friends, family and supporters have donated money for this good cause.  The club is delighted to say that so far in two weeks the donations total £95. Well done and thank you Lynda, we hope to see you again soon.

We zoomed with our Friendship Links SI Grange over Sands and SI Kisumu on 4 March as part of our International Women’s Day where we can share our projects. Sabine from SI Essen was on her way to CSW67 and hopes to meet up with our member Helen. Members of SI Grange over Sands are busy knitting a required 3,000 squares for baby blankets. Our club decided this would be a worthwhile project for our prolific knitters. They also support the Barrow Women’s Refuge by donating clothes. Their project with making chocolate in Ghana won a Best Practice Award at the last conference in Belfast. The project involves supporting workshops in Ghana for the daughters of Ghanaian cocoa farmers, hopefully to sell in UK eventually. Locally they help to maintain the Sensory Garden in Park Road Gardens. They have also sent a Shelter Box to

At a recent club meeting, member Helen Porter told us about her experiences of volunteering in Cambodia in Oct/Nov 2022. As a former teacher/lecturer she was part of an education team which went out to train the teachers in Cambodia. They were based at a place called Happy Village and they volunteered at 2 of the 3 schools run by Serve Cambodia. Their mission was to encourage the teachers to educate imaginatively and they brought many fun ways to help this along. Glove puppets and other toys. The children loved singing so this was a great way to educate the children. As can be seen from her presentation below, there are different levels of H&S and also a lack of risk assessments, but at least the children were happy and enjoying their education. Housing also has its downfalls, with slum housing by our standards, and

SI Winchester put forward a team of four members plus one ‘Soroptimister ‘support for the Mayor’s charity quiz held at the Winchester Rugby Club recently. This formed the Winoptimists team. As a club we support two of three charities, namely the Trinity Centre and Winchester Hospice. The third charity was the British Heart Foundation. The evening was hosted by ‘Egghead’ Kevin Ashman and former Mayor Cllr Dominic Hiscock presented the evening. A delicious curry was served shortly after starting and the quiz consisted of 5 rounds. The final round being ‘challenge the Egghead’ who was asked questions by the top 5 quiz teams. He managed to answer four of the five questions put to him correctly. It was an excellent turnout with 17 teams competing for the champagne prize. There was also a raffle which contributed £455 to the evening. The Winoptimists came a credible

SI Winchester has offered support to the Winchester Women’s Refuge over many years and consequently has forged close links with them. From time to time other groups or individuals would like to offer the Refuge support and find the most direct way is to do this via our dedicated contact. As a result of this we are delighted to accept a donation of £250 to pass on to the Refuge, as part of this year’s charity donation by The Worthy Players, a local amateur dramatics society who are this celebrating their 50th anniversary. One of our Winchester members (Gina Bird, seen here on the far left) on stage) is involved with the Players and is able to give them an insight to our work.                                          

SI Winchester and SI Solent East were delighted with the response and awareness created by our joint Orange campaign over the 16 days of Activisim. Joining with partners was key and we had a lot of support from the Stop Domestic Abuse agency, whose walks we joined in Gosport, Portsmouth and Winchester. We were also invited to their AGM on 9 December which had some interesting projects. They are fundraising to build their own refuge in South East Hampshire. The meeting also had some case studies and videos from women they have helped. The statistics still make shocking reading: in 2021/22 a total of 9660 referrals and worked with a total of 3744 adults and 1477 children and young adults. Demand for community, refuge and perpetrator services is growing. SI Winchester was able to take the charity chalet at the Winchester Cathedral Christmas Fair on