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”.  

SI Winchester & District member Beatriz Chadour-Sampson, who is also an internationally renowned art and jewellery historian and author, is launching two new books in London and New York in early November: Barbara Cartlidge and Electrum Gallery: a Passion for Jewellery ‘A remarkable woman’ says Beatriz of Barbara Cartlidge, a celebrated goldsmith and later gallerist at the Electrum Gallery. For the first time, the current publication honours the life’s work of Barbara Cartlidge, who as head of the Electrum Gallery, as an author of standard works on art jewellery and as a lecturer definitively informed the auteur jewellery scene, prompting London to become a centre of contemporary art jewellery.       Rings Around the World Here is a link to the order form:les-enluminures-order-form-rings-around-thw-world-eu    

Winchester & District members are supporting SI Poole’s project to knit baby hats for Nepal and have found an ingenious way to save postage through Soroptimist networks.  Dr Rosa Matheson, who lives in Swindon and is involved in charity work projects in Nepal, offered to take 1 kg of babywear in her luggage on her next trip at the end of October.  These are being delivered to her, relay-fashion, Winchester to Salisbury to Swindon, involving all three clubs.  Valerie from Swindon and Wendy from Winchester are shown at the handover, at the workplace of Liz from Salisbury, holding the two vacuum-packed bags of 12 newborn baby hats and several jumper and hat sets for older babies.  

New member Holly Hemsley was inducted to the SI Winchester & District club at their September business meeting and President Pat presented her badge.  Long term SI member Liz Batten, founder of the new Salisbury branch introduced Holly to members: “Holly was born in Bournemouth but moved to Kent and I discovered we both went to the same Grammar School (a few years apart…!) She worked in Canterbury for a rape crisis charity and a disabled children’s charity so is already familiar with the issues we engage with. She moved to Salisbury recently and is working as a ward administrator at Salisbury Hospital. She is studying in her spare time for her AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) exams. She says she does a lot of mad things for charity and is training to run the Salisbury Half Marathon next month. New in her household is

SI Winchester members spent a beautiful summer evening in the pastoral setting of the Broughton Water Buffalo Farm near Stockbridge.  A visit to the pastures to interact wth a friendly bull, cows and calves, with an introductory talk by the farmer about their natural farming system, was followed by a barbecue of gourmet burgers. Click on any image in the gallery below to enlarge:    

On Sunday 30th July members joined Gina at her home for afternoon tea. At the previous supper meeting Gina had given a talk on her collection of Shelley fine bone china and invited members to afternoon tea so that they could see the collection at first hand and take tea from Shelley cups and saucers. Everyone said the tea tasted better. The company, a Staffordshire pottery was in existence from the 1880s to 1966. Gina and her husband specialise in collecting “tea for twos” but as the tour of the house revealed they have succumbed to other items of Shelley along the way. After a tour of the displayed china everyone gathered in the garden for cake tea and a lively discourse. One of the rarest and most sought after pieces of Shelley is a coffee pot of Lady Constance Lytton, a suffragette, whose outlook

SI Winchester & District members were invited to A Textiles Showcase at The Mountbatten School, Romsey, last week that included a ‘Girls 4 Girls’ catwalk show of pillow case dresses made by pupils.  Josh, a contestant on this year’s ‘Great British Sewing Bee’ on BBC was the guest speaker and presented prizes.  President Pat attended with other members of the club.

 Peter Symonds College, Winchester, invited local organisations to contribute pre-loved bras to be pegged to washing lines across the college field on Tuesday 5th July, to raise awareness of the 60,000 people each year who are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK.   SI Winchester & District Club members played their part contributing 50 pre-loved bras on the day. Event organiser, Chrissie Rycroft commented :”A very BIG thank you to everyone that contributed in any way to Operation Bravo, whether it was donating bras, pegging them up or just taking the time to view the washing lines that held 600 bras. It was an incredible response to raise awareness of breast cancer & Oxfam will now distribute the bras on a world -wide basis, where ever they are needed. The Winchester Breast Cancer Unit think what you did was amazing & they are very

Painting a Brighter Future for Local Refuge Residents:   Local women setting up a new Soroptimist Cub in Salisbury got stuck in to their first project this week. Following in the footsteps of the previous Club in Salisbury, they have decided to provide support and assistance for the Salisbury Women’s Refuge. Answering a call for help from staff for some aid with painting and redecorating, they gave up their time and effort to make a difference. ‘Our aim is to give something back to the local community’, said Holly Hemsley, who initiated the volunteering ‘so this service project is in keeping with the organisation’s aim of transforming the lives of women and girls. It is great to be able to help in a really practical way to brighten the lives of women going through difficult and challenging times.’ The original Salisbury Soroptimist Club which closed

A group from  SI Winchester and District spent the weekend on a tour of The Hague in the Netherlands, organised by member Anna Elder.  It is a fascinating city of international peace and justice, home to many cultures.  Soroptimists from The Hague welcomed the group to a dinner on the Saturday evening.

Continuing the theme of ‘Food’ for this year’s programme of speakers and activities, members visited the Good Life Centre at Headbourne Worthy this weekend for breakfast.  After a talk about the sourcing of local foods, the Centre offered a delicious choice of breakfast, including ‘doorstep’ bacon sandwiches.  Members then had an opportunity to browse in the shop and garden centre or go for a walk in the area, visiting a Saxon church and trout farm.  Thanks to Myra for the excellent arrangements!

Two new members were inducted to the SI Winchester & District club at their supper meeting on Monday 25th Apil.  Joint President Pat welcomed Frances Dearn who previously belonged to a Soroptimist Club in London but now has time to be involved since she retired to the Winchester area. Karen Reddin joins the ‘daughter’ branch of Salisbury and is active in helping to recruit new members to the new branch.  She has a career in public health with a particular interest in the continuing needs of the population in Nepal.

Members of SI Southern England, including 4 representatives from SI Winchester & District, turned out in force to support the Southampton Half Marathon and related events on 24th April. Preparations had already begun the previous day, but nevertheless we got up at an impossibly early hour (for a Sunday!) in order to meet at 8am at Costa in Bargate.  It was a VERY cold morning! Thank goodness for coffee! Regional President Ruth’s planning was impeccable. Then we were off to decorate the mile we had been assigned.  We were lucky to be stationed along the High Street, close to coffee and loos! We had lots of balloons, including some in the shape of our dynamic S.       Here come the runners! Our banner is clearly in view but will the runners see it?  Will they ask ‘Why are you a Soroptimist?’   All

It was a real pleasure to help a young friend who has a long-term illness but who wants her children to benefit from the delights of gardening. Her digging SOS was answered and with the help of some home- made ginger cake, three of us cleared the final bed of it’s weeds. It’s ready now for the vegetables to be planted . Who needs a gym??

Members of the SI Winchester club enjoyed a fascinating tour of the conservation centre at the Briitish Library, led by Dr Cordelia Robertson. Researcher Vania demonstrated the painstaking assembly of manuscript fragments found on the ancient Silk Route and, in another section we saw how high tech imaging revealed hidden life drawings in a Leonardo da Vinci sketch book.  

Barbara Jeremiah attended the memorial service of a very interesting Soroptimist, Mrs Betty Sugden MRCVS, at Hook, Hampshire on 22nd February of this year and brought back this story to our club, SI Winchester, where we held a minute’s silence for Betty. Barbara says, ‘We first met  Betty, a former local and national President of SI Zimbabwe when she had just returned from over 40 years as a veterinary surgeon in Africa, arriving back with just a suitcase.  Her son Richard, went to get his mother after she had suffered and been held at knife point during an uprising in Zimbabwe. When she came to lunch at our cottage she still had the bruises around her neck from the assault and terrifying situation she had experienced.’ As a member of the Soroptimists in Zimbabwe over 40 years she was elected Local President in 1963 and

“… it’s more food bags,” says Carol Forse who is leading our contribution to the daily food bags that the Trinity Centre hands out to homeless people they support. The “Cold Bag” is for people with no facilities for cooking and the “Kettle Bag” for those who have access to a kettle.