As supporters of the Winchester Women’s Refuge we were delighted to welcome Dwinder Singh and her lovely eldest daughter Lux to tell us of her personal story of Honour based marriage and subsequent domestic violence. Dwinder is a Sikh and as such had to conform to her family’s wishes when it came to marriage. At 17 she was married and pregnant shortly afterwards. Without going into specific details her story from then on became one of suffering domestic abuse/violence from her husband and her family and his family and concern for protecting her young daughter. She was never alone to be able to make contact with any other people and the opportunity arose when she her husband was out of the house and she, with daughter, managed to escape to see the doctor. The doctor was concerned that the child was being mistreated and wanted

As Mother club to the new SI Salisbury club, members were delighted to attend the Salisbury Charter event on the evening of 3 August. The club has been the mission of Liz Batten (then a member of SI Winchester) over the last three years. The Salisbury club closed in 2006 so it still had a presence in the town and Liz was keen to enlist new members to carry on the good work the previous club had started. Imagine how delighted she was after patience and support from SI Winchester that she has recruited 20 ladies committed to the SI Vision and Mission and was able to charter the club. The event was held in Salisbury Cathedral cloisters, a fitting venue for such an occasion, with the Mayor in attendance. Federation President Sue Williams was there to charter and also many of Southern Region’s clubs

The club decided on a summer fundraising event to be held at the home of Barbara Jeremiah and Kay Linnell. The event was to be a Teddy Bears Picnic, with bears coming free with their owners. We were delighted to welcome members from SI Southampton as well as SIW club members and friends. There was a good turn out and the weather on 13 July was just right. The picnic is always well catered for at Brick Kiln Cottage with the whole garden being used. We made a nominal charge and total for our charity fund reached about £300. Myra Clare’s Teddy Bear won a prize for being the oldest bear and a passport for future travel as time progresses. Pooh Bear received a jar of honey and Barbara’s bear was the best dressed. In addition to the bears at the picnic, the resident peacock

We were delighted to have the Lady Mayor of Winchester, Cllr Eleanor Bell, at our supper meeting this week at the Holiday Inn Winchester. The speaker was Hollie Ryan from the National Trust property The Vyne and we had an excellent turnout with members from SI Southampton and friends and guests. We were keen to know the Mayor’s charities for her year and how we might be able to help. We were also able to show her the projects in which SI Winchester club is involved. Her charities include the Firefighters Charity, Winchester First Responders, Winchester Hospice and the Children’s Society. We look forward to her making a return visit. Hollie was an enthusiastic speaker and told us about the history of the property and how it had been a favourite of the young King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. He enjoyed the hunting and

This is our 5th annual picnic which we host for the mothers/families of the Domestic Violence Refuge held at St Swithuns School We also had several lovely volunteers (see below) to help us with the children. As the school has a small nursery there are lots of child friendly toys and an outdoor playground which we can make use of. Once they had enough to eat, the girls were kept very busy as we had some busy boys. Just to be sure of the weather, we held this inside but with easy access to outside when the sun broke through. The ladies enjoyed talking to us and the girls and were delighted with the opportunity to be in a safe anf friendly environment.

BRITAIN’S best-known gardener has dug in to show his support for the campaign to create a hospice for Winchester. Alan Titchmarsh, who is best known for hosting the BBC garden makeover series Ground Force, visited Burrell House at Royal Hampshire County Hospital to put the first spade in the ground in what will become the garden at Winchester Hospice. The garden will allow patients and their loved ones to spend special time together. Alan, who is also a best-selling author and the Chancellor of the University of Winchester, was pleased to hear that such a space is being planned for the hospice. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to have this space within the grounds of Winchester Hospice to create a place where patients and their loved ones can spend time together enjoying the outdoors,” he said. “Gardens are an extension of any space, and having a

SIW congratulate Liz Batten on her hard work for assembling the forthcoming SI Salisbury club.  However from April 2019 this will leave SI Winchester with reduced numbers. We have therefore embarked on a recruitment drive which we hope will make us more Winchester-centric. On Friday 8March, International Women’s Day, we were able to set up a display stand in an area of the Hampshire County Council offices (in Winchester) known as The Street. This is an area close to the cafeteria where we were positioned from 12-2pm over lunchtime and were able to talk to quite a few ladies over this period. It was interesting to learn how many commuters to Winchester work from these offices so we were able to spread the word about Solent East and Southampton clubs. Gina Bird and Julie Blackwell manned the stand to talk about the Winchester projects and

Soroptimist International of Winchester were delighted to receive notification of a donation from local motoring club Alresford Allsorts. The sum of £350 was presented by Gordon Cooper to Julie Blackwell of SIW at Bramdean village hall, which gave the opportunity for some of the Allsorts members and vehicles to be present. SI Winchester supports local charities including Trinity House in Winchester and the Women’s Refuge as well as international and overseas charities which the SI organisation supports. Julie Blackwell said, ‘The Allsorts have requested the donation to be sent to the Women’s Refuge in Winchester and as our club already supports this along with Trinity House, the day centre for domestic abuse victims, this is a generous gift from their members and will doubtless be much appreciated. The Allsorts were looking to support the Refuge so this is a perfect match. The motoring club has

We were delighted to welcome Jane Walker MBE to our supper meeting on Monday 18 March. Jane was the founder of the PCF charity starting in the Philippines and has many interesting stories of innovative ideas and ways of tackling the problems impoverished women and families to improve their lives. She was able to give us an update of her charity and how over 20 years she is now embarking on an Upskills programme which allows more people to turn trash into saleable items. The charity now employs the parents of the children it initially started to help and giving people a new self esteem and sustainable future. The most familiar items created for sale to bring money into their lives is the recycling of ring pulls from drinks cans to make stunning jewellery and bags, some of which we have sold successfully in the

It’s amazing when you think of past Soroptimist involvement. Just walking behind Abbey House on the High Street in Winchester you can find the Sensory Garden for the blind which the Winchester club organised in 1995. It’s time to revisit and update the plaque to remind visitors of our involvement. It’s a valuable asset and we need to remind ourselves of what we can do.

If you’d like to make a difference, inspire action and transform the lives of women and girls, then join us to see how we achieve this both locally and internationally. Soroptimists of the Winchester club invite you to join us on 9 March at the Quaker Meeting House, 16 Colebrook Street, Winchester SO23 9LH for coffee, cake and a chat from 2-4pm. You’ll find out about our projects, from supporting the Women’s Refuge in Winchester to twinning toilets in Africa. Soroptimist International is a global women’s organisation with consultative status at the United Nations. As a member you can be involved in changing perceptions, lobbying government and highlighting women’s issues. We look forward to seeing you on 9 March. For more information please visit www.sigbi.org where you can also search the SI Winchester website.

Our speaker on Monday 18 February 2019 will be Margaret Braddock, a member of the Information Group of the Mary Rose Trust.   Margaret has been actively involved with the project since before the recovery in 1982 and she was present at key landmarks over the past 30 years. Her talk covers the momentous events in the life of the ship, namely the sinking, the rediscovery, recovery and display. Her talk, The Mary Rose, Past Present and Future covers the momentous events in the life of the ship, namely the sinking, the rediscovery, recovery and display. She will show illustrations of the exciting museum which unites the ship with the artefacts, which she will be bringing, giving us insights into the lives of the men who lived and died on The Mary Rose. The meeting will take place at the Holiday Inn, Telegraph Way, Morn Hill, Winchester at

‘Female health – where do we start? From conception to older age’   Jackie Porter is the County Councillor representing the Itchen Valley Division since 2005, representing residents, voluntary organisations and businesses in the area, and is the County’s Lib Dem spokesperson for children right across Hampshire. She is also Winchester City Councillor for the Worthys. Jackie is a school governor and a trustee of several different charities in the Winchester area. As well as sitting on the Council, Jackie is the non voting deputy on the Cabinet (Leisure Centre) Committee. She also serves on the Housing Appeals Committee and is a deputy on the Kings Barton Forum. Jackie spoke to the Club on Monday 21 January about women’s health. She took us through the ‘Seven Ages of (Wo)Man’, spelling out the health issues associated with each stage of life and the care and support associated

In line with other clubs in the Region, members of SI Winchester have found that collecting five pence pieces to fundraise for the Mamelodi Project in support of AIDS orphans in South Africa is quite a painless process. We have added the challenge to our members of having a £1 guess as to the total collected. The total collected over about a year was £46.20 and with the additional funds collected from the ‘guess the amount’ competition, a total of £66.20 will be sent to the Region for the Mamelodi Project. The winner of the competition was Kay Linnell, who wins a book token as a prize. Congratulations to her!

We are sad to report that longstanding member Arlene Fisher passed away peacefully at 8.30 a.m on her 79th birthday – 12 December 2018. Arlene had been a committed Soroptimist since 1971. She served as Winchester Club President twice, in 1983 and 1995, and later as Programme Action Officer and then as Club Secretary. In 1999-2000 Arlene was Regional President of Southern England. Arlene will be sorely missed for her active participation and commitment to our organisation, strong views on programme action issues, her friendship, and her sense of humour. She had been a very regular attender and active participant at all Club meetings and events, until her failing health prevented her from doing so, which was a real frustration to her. Our thoughts are with Ray, her devoted husband of 55 years, who has always been a great supporter of Arlene and all the

Just as the winter starts to take hold it seemed timely to organise a delivery of store cupboard food for the Trinity Centre. Winchester member Jo managed to find individual coffee/milk/ sugar sachets in Poundland and bought 12 packs of 6 and delivered those  along with toiletries donated by friends and empty containers, for take away food, from club members. A Tesco ‘shop’ was also organised and delivered to make sure that there is plenty of nutritious food for homeless people in Winchester using Trinity’s valuable services as the days get colder and the nights longer.

At the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, local Soroptimists added their voice to the international campaign to end violence against women and girls around the world. Soroptimist International of Winchester was one of the groups who supported the event in Winchester on Monday 26 November for Community First against Domestic Violence. The University of Winchester has formed a choir with some of the ladies from Trinity House, the agency which houses women escaping from domestic violence. The choir has written a song which tells of their experiences and the support from Trinity. This has been recorded with help from the University. The choir sang several times between the hours of 11am and 1pm and attracted attention where we were in a position to talk to bystanders. The police are in support of this initiative and were also in attendance. The

For a number of years the club has been selling Purple Community Fund hand made items in support of the charity and the women who make them. On Monday 18 March we will welcome back Jane Walker MBE, CEO for the charity. She spoke at our day conference in Winchester in March 2017, so we are pleased to welcome her back for an update on the work of the charity. In 2002, Jane Walker developed highly successful, poverty reduction programmes for disenfranchised communities in some of the worst slums in the Philippines.  Following her fantastic work, she was awarded an MBE in 2009 and won the Woman of the Year UK award in 2010.  Making the Philippine charity self- sustainable after 15 years, in 2016 Jane turned her attention back to the UK and is currently CEO for the Purple Community Fund, a charity that

  Former SI Winchester member Margaret Bluck who emigrated to Canada two years ago came for a visit and met up with Jennifer Laute and Gina Bird. Margaret is a member of Zonta, in Canada, an organisation with similar aims and objectives. Margaret’s club does a lot of work supporting the world scholarship students at Pearson College.

Despite heavy rain the Winchester Half Marathon was a great success. Once again Winchester Soroptimists Myra and Gina took up their station at 8 am to check, receive baggage and wish the runners well.   Because of the weather the entire race village was brought into the Guildhall. This gave the Soroptimists a great chance to network. We were very very busy once the runners returned . Everyone was very appreciative of our efforts.

Our very own Dr Rosie Baker, retired Consultant Psychiatrist is our guest speaker at our meeting on Monday 17 September. As death and sex are no longer such taboo subjects this will be an exploration of one of the final taboos …….excretion ie weeing and pooing. These processes are linked to an assortment of intense emotions, mental disorders, personality traits and social attitudes. From psychoanalysis and mental illness to most of the  other medical specialities where there might be nervous or psychosomatic factors, and from bathroom graffiti to shameful fetishes, the psychology of the toilet offers surprising insights into mind-body  connections, culture and gender. Come and find out about the toilet habits of some of the great and famous ! The meeting takes place at the Holiday Inn, Telegraph Way, Morn Hill, Winchester at 7.30pm.  The cost is £16 which includes a two course meal. So come and find

We are delighted to announce our speaker for our supper meeting on Monday 15 October: Pauline Vahey. Pauline is the Director of Aviatrice Ltd, a Board Director of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, a former Chairman of the British Women Pilots’ Association, Chairman of GAIN (General Aviation Infrastructure Network) and a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Ambassador. Pauline has a passion for aviation and a wish to encourage more people – particularly women and girls  – into the industry. Her love of flying was born out of admiration for her late father, who flew Wellington Bombers during WWII. “He had some wonderful stories – such as flying a Wellington Bomber under bridges – and that inspired me,” she says. “I decided there were three things I wanted to do in life; explore the Amazon jungle, speak French and learn to fly. I have

We are sad to report the loss of Dr Jan Harding, who was a member of SI Winchester for many years. She joined our Club in 1993, not long after she and her husband Arthur moved to Alresford. She was a great asset to the Club, with her extensive knowledge and expertise in the women’s movement, her deep concern for gender equality issues and especially, her professional expertise in STEM and related issues. She was President of SI Winchester twice; in 1997-8 and again in 2001-2 and she also served as our representative on the Winchester Domestic Violence Forum, which was originally established by our Club.   A very perceptive and committed member, she nearly always had that incisive observation or comment to make in a Club debate. Often ‘off the wall’, usually provocative, but always worth listening to, she offered wise advice and thoughtful

Julie Blackwell from SI Winchester attended the Royal Garden Party on 5 June 2018. This is her report of the day: I was delighted that I was successful to be representing SIGBI on one of the tickets offered to members. I invited my sister to come with me and we made the most of the day.   We had cocktails in the Ritz to start with, and then walked through Green Park to join the queue for entry at Hyde Park. Talking to others, there were a variety of attendees, from those volunteering in hospices, to members of the Forces, education, sport, and individual charities and organisations. A friend of mine from Cumbria attended from her local council in Appleby as she had facilitated a trip for Prince Charles earlier in the year.   We walked through the gardens to the back of Buckingham Palace

At our sell-out Murder Mystery Supper fundraiser in Twyford a great evening was had by all. We were held in the grip of the suspense of the unfolding dramatised murder story as we enjoyed our three course meal.  The players tested our investigation skills as they visited the tables during the meal so we could interrogate them to ‘assist our inquiries’! In the end only one table guessed the identity of the murderer correctly – the Salisbury Satellite Group (plus Rosie!) table under the pseudonym ‘Novichok Survivors’. A number of great raffle prizes encouraged us to buy tickets for the prize draw. In all a total of £1200 was raised which will be split between our chosen charities: RHCH mobile breast scanner appeal Solar lights for study in the developing world Winchester Women’s Refuge Thanks to the key organisers in the Club: Gina, Myra, Debbie,

Members, partners and friends enjoyed a festive meal together at the Golden Lion in Winchester. Excellent food, good company and a brain teasing quiz all added to a fun evening. Members brought donations of gifts for youngsters at the Winchester Women’s Refuge to wrap and give their Mums, as well as food cupboard supplies for the Refuge. A collection was taken in lieu of exchanging Christmas cards, for the International President’s Appeal, for which a total of £145 was raised.  

When a message came through from SI Ellesmere Port to ask if we could help with the transport of 75 teddies they had knitted to Lullaby Africa, a charity based in Winchester, we were pleased to help. Fellow Soroptimists from SI Bournemouth pictured above, Bobbie White (r) and Liz Dominey (c) kindly helped by transporting the cuddly passengers from the handover at the annual conference in Cardiff. Safely delivered to Maggie, Treasurer of the Winchester based charity which runs mother-baby-bonding campaigns in Uganda and Kenya, the teddies were looking forward to the final leg of their journey – to Africa with love!            

On Sunday 23 September club members Gina and Myra (pictured here) worked in partnership with Winchester Half Marathon to help with stewarding duties. Both of them enjoyed the day of volunteering and were pleased to learn that their day’s contribution entitles them to free entry to take part in next year’s marathon!  

Members of SI Winchester, friends and family members enjoyed a visit to Bombay Sapphire’s distillery in Hampshire. The sun shone as we toured the plant. We were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the botanical glasshouses, where displays of the plants used to flavour the gins are grown.             We were interested to hear the story of one of the female pioneers of the company, Mary Dakin, who in the 1800s introduced a new process for enabling the botanicals to be infused through steam, enabling a cleaner distilling process and obviating the need to use small children to clean the inside of the still. A major improvement in working processes and a fundamental social change of its day! And to complete our tour we thought we should just check the output of the distillery was up to scratch. We enjoyed

Members of SI Winchester welcomed guests and neighbours to an informal coffee morning at the home of member Myra Clare. Donations for coffee, a raffle and a bring and buy stall together realised some £200 for the Winchester Women’s Refuge. Thanks to Myra for hosting and to all who attended to support our charity.  

The last day of National Picnic Week saw members of SI Winchester working in partnership with students at St Swithun’s School Winchester to  entertain mums and children from our local women’s refuge at a midsummer picnic.           St Swithun’s girls hosted us in their lovely school grounds           The Soroptimist team laid the food out Soroptimists and St Swithun’s girls baked up a storm, and laid on a great spread of eats for our guests, savoury and sweet, including tasty fruit and veg and some yummy treats too.           Working together and hoping for good weather           All is prepared for our young guests The picnic went off without a hitch, the weather was good to us, all the mothers and their children enjoyed the day – the games and entertainment

Members of SI Winchester travelled down to join members of the Salisbury Satellite Group for a meal on Monday 8 May and were pleased to welcome three new members to the Club. Teresa Wells, Karyl Amon-Roberts and Jane Attwell Thomas have all been regular attenders at Salisbury meetings and have got involved with the Satellite Group’s Programme Action projects. Pictured here left to right are: Jane Attwell-Thomas, Teresa Wells, Liz Batten, Irene Kohler, Holly Hemsley and Karyl Amon-Roberts. If recruitment continues favourably, the group hope to be able to charter as a new club later this year. Members were joined at the dinner by Regional President Ruth Healey and former SI Salisbury member, past Regional President and Chair of the Trustees of Salisbury Women’s refuge, Mary Paisey. In the picture above Mary Paisey is bottom left and Ruth Healey is centre right.

After two busy and demanding years, joint Club Presidents Pat Abbott and Jenny Stratford were thanked for their leadership and hard work by all members of SI Winchester at the Club’s AGM on 10 April. Pictured here Pat (left) and Jenny (right) were delighted with their thank you gifts from the Club of lavender bath products and Soroptimist themed coloured bouquets. This year we are running the Club on a new model, without a President at the helm, but with all members of the Club actively participating in the organisation, projects and events that we undertake. The Club membership has been divided into three groups and each group has taken responsibility for delivering the programme and activities during a quarter of the year. Group A will deliver the first and fourth quarter.

At the start of the AGM on 10 April, members of SI Winchester were delighted to welcome back to membership corporate lawyer Debbie Adams who has been working abroad for a few years. Debbie is pictured here being inducted back into membership of the club by outgoing Joint President Pat Abbott.

Participants in the recent ‘Transforming Lives Together’ conference at Winchester University were inspired by the mission and videos of Team Rubicon, an organisation that unites the skills and experiences of military veterans to rapidly deploy emergency response teams in the UK and around the world.  We have now obtained the links to the two videos so that you can see them again – or, if you didn’t attend, an opportunity to learn for the first time.  Click on the links below: 1st video – Find Purpose (slide 4) https://teamrubiconuk.box.com/s/86jrx9or474sl937wuvdigcb9kuvtczf 2nd video: David Wiseman (slide 24) https://teamrubiconuk.box.com/s/abizlwu73v38yuegiiqqzjmkhxm8ygxj

Member Carol Forse is challenging SI Winchester members to guess how much is in the ‘5p bottle’ at the next business meeting.  The bottle is used to collect 5p fines from members who have forgotten to wear their badge to a meeting, as a light-hearted way of fundraising and getting rid of those little coins in your purse.  Carol says the bottle has become ‘far too heavy to carry to the meetings now’ so it’s time to cash it in for the club and to include a little competition for members.    

Long-time member of SI Winchester & District, Janet Ford, celebrated her 90th birthday at a lunch with over 20 members and friends at the Golden Lion in Winchester.   Janet, a retired Inspector of Social Services, was delighted and surprised by a firework birthday cake  – a speciality of the Golden Lion – and received many presents and flowers from those attending.  

At the Conference at the University of Winchester on Saturday 4 March, as part of the lead in to International Women’s Day, women from across Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and Surrey gathered at the University of Winchester to learn from a line-up of speakers about how the lives of women and girls are being transformed locally, nationally and internationally.   The event threw a spotlight in the run up to International Women’s Day on some of the difficult issues faced by women and girls throughout society and how their lives are transformed and supported at all levels, by authorities, charities and groups like ours. There is always more to do and support of all kinds is needed; donations of items, volunteering activities and lobbying on issues. Following the conference a message was sent to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years

SI clubs Poole and Winchester have already collaborated on knitting hats and baby clothes for Nepal and now are working between regions with SI Thames Valley to send to a maternity hospital in Sierra Leone.  The latest consignment of knitwear from SI Winchester was delivered to Poole last week and money to cover postage is being raised at a coffee morning at a member’s house.

Si Winchester & District have joined with SI Poole to collect pre-loved bras. The bras are sent to 4 countries in Africa as part of a project to train women in business skills. Each woman gets 100 bras and business training to open a shop. The profit from the sale of those bras is used to buy new stock. When SI Thames Valley heard about the scheme they committed to adding to the consignment.  They currently send pre-loved bras to Kori in Sierra Leone.  They say it is important, not just for the women’s comfort and self esteem,  but because a woman with a bra is less likely to get raped, as someone cares for her, knows about her, to bother to give her a bra.

Carol and Gina completed the packing of the latest batch of food bags for Trinity House in one afternoon in Carol’s kitchen!  Fundraising from the Quiz purchased plenty of food to bag up, 453 items in total . These were divided into 36 “Cold ” and “Kettle” bags. After a quick cup of tea they delivered the bags to staff at Trinity who were delighted to receive them into their store room.     As Carol commented: “Food bags are already in great demand during this cold weather so this was good timing”.