{"id":5,"date":"2008-06-11T14:39:46","date_gmt":"2008-06-11T13:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soroptimist-gbi.co.uk\/winchester-and-district\/presidents-message\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T18:25:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T17:25:06","slug":"presidents-message","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome!"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Welcome to SI Winchester and District<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Welcome to the website of Soroptimist International (SI) Winchester and District.\u00a0 Our club consists of a group of 20 friendly, lively and energetic women from all walks of life and of all ages who work together using our various skills and talents to make a difference to the lives of others.\u00a0 We do this through awareness-raising, lobbying, practical help and fund-raising.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Formed in 1962, we meet twice each month, once for a club meeting (latterly on zoom) and on the second occasion socially, either for a supper with a speaker, a fundraising event, or just a convivial get-together to which friends and partners are also invited.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond our own club, members value the global network of Soroptimist clubs giving opportunities to travel, meet like-minded women and share ideas across the world.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

We work hard to improve the lot of women and girls worldwide and we always manage to fuel our efforts with fun, food, and friendship.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

CLUB PROJECTS 2025-26<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Every year the club selects projects to support to focus the efforts of smaller project groups.
\nProject tasks can be as simple as collecting items needed by charities, to more complex activities like lobbying local MPs on legislative change. Individual members contribute their time depending on how their own circumstances and work commitments allow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Winchester Women\u2019s Refuge:<\/b>\u00a0We are a trusted partner and come up as the online link to the Refuge, we act as a liaison hub for other supporters. We have representation on the domestic abuse forum. We provide welcome packs. We organise an annual picnic in liaison with St Swithuns and provide Christmas presents for the children to give to their mums.<\/p>\n

Two Saints\/St James: a hostel supporting vulnerable women<\/b> This is a continuation of an established Southampton initiative, some needs are similar to the refuge, some needs complement it, for example items donated but not required by one may be needed by the other. In this instance donations and initiatives are exclusively for women<\/p>\n

Trinity & the Night Shelter-supporting the homeless and vulnerable:<\/b> Almost a quarter of users of Trinity are women. We have historically supported all users, here with \u201chot\u201d and \u201ccold\u201d food bags. More recently we have returned to financial donations, especially in response to extreme weather conditions. One member, currently liaises closely with Trinity to assess need. Through Trinity information is also passed to us about the needs of the Night Shelter. We recently provided apple trees for Bradbury house, the new residential facility attached to Trinity.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Both Southampton and Winchester\u00a0<\/b>have raised funds for solar lamps in the past and this summer held a successful fund raising garden tea The lamps enable young people to study in areas of the world where there is an absence of electricity. We support two programmes Solar Aid working in Malawi and the Little Sun Foundation working in Rwanda and Ethiopia. These lamps support education, health, the environment and family economy in these countries where 90% have no access to electricity and are over reliant on kerosene. This initiative has the potential to be develop as a STEM project with local schools.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The successful pilot scheme was first run in Northumberland. Soroptimist volunteers are trained and then attend court sittings to observe and report prosecutions progress. Dame Vera Baird, the Victim’s Commissioner, wants to roll out the scheme to more areas and has spoken at Region.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

The Pillowcase Project<\/b>\u00a0involves restyling pillow cases into dresses for young girls, sometimes with a message or small toy in pocket and making shorts for boys. \u00a0Updated paper work is sent to schools to introduce the project.\u00a0\u00a0 Individual Certificates of Achievement are awarded to participating pupils and an overall School Certificate is presented, alongside a book on textiles for their library.\u00a0 The garments go mostly to Africa and have mainly been made by schoolchildren as part of their curriculum or in after school activities. The project is an excellent way of fostering international goodwill and understanding and providing dual benefits for both the maker and receiver.\u00a0 The dresses have been distributed in the past via a variety of secure charity routes, most recently via Theresa Wells (SI Salisbury) and Edukaid.<\/p>\n

Fish\u2019n\u2019 Chip project<\/b>\u00a0sends knitted vests and hats in 2-ply wool for new born babies to eg Nepal and Africa for mothers, sometimes suffering from AIDS, who are so poor that they have to take their babies home wrapped in newspaper.\u00a0 SI Winchester has carried this project forward with the help of a network of contacts; family, friends, neighbours.\u00a0 Since November 2019 we have collected 115 knitted baby sets.<\/p>\n

\n

CLUB ROLES 2025-26<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Treasurer: Julie Blackwell
\nSecretary: (Federation contact) Pat Abbott
\nMembership: Gina Bird
\nRegional Representation: Tref Mitchell and Ellie Hill
\nWebsite : Julie Blackwell
\nPublicity and Social Media: Julie Blackwell and Helen Porter
\nFriendship Links: Jennifer Laute<\/p>\n

If you would like to find out more, or come along and meet us as a guest please contact\u00a0winchestersoroptimists@gmail.com<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Welcome to SI Winchester and District Welcome to the website of Soroptimist International (SI)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nWelcome! | SI Winchester and District | SIGBI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SIGBI : SI Winchester and District : Welcome! : SI Winchester and District is part of a worldwide organisation of women, find more information regarding the Welcome! here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome! | SI Winchester and District | SIGBI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SIGBI : SI Winchester and District : Welcome! : SI Winchester and District is part of a worldwide organisation of women, find more information regarding the Welcome! here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SI Winchester and District\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T17:25:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/files\/2025\/07\/Group-at-HCT1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"478\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/\",\"name\":\"Welcome! | SI Winchester and District | SIGBI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/files\/2025\/07\/Group-at-HCT1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-06-11T13:39:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-09T17:25:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"SIGBI : SI Winchester and District : Welcome! : SI Winchester and District is part of a worldwide organisation of women, find more information regarding the Welcome! here.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/files\/2025\/07\/Group-at-HCT1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/files\/2025\/07\/Group-at-HCT1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Welcome!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/\",\"name\":\"SI Winchester and District\",\"description\":\"A Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland Club website\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Welcome! | SI Winchester and District | SIGBI","description":"SIGBI : SI Winchester and District : Welcome! : SI Winchester and District is part of a worldwide organisation of women, find more information regarding the Welcome! here.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Welcome! | SI Winchester and District | SIGBI","og_description":"SIGBI : SI Winchester and District : Welcome! : SI Winchester and District is part of a worldwide organisation of women, find more information regarding the Welcome! here.","og_url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/","og_site_name":"SI Winchester and District","article_modified_time":"2025-12-09T17:25:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":478,"url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/files\/2025\/07\/Group-at-HCT1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/","url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/","name":"Welcome! | SI Winchester and District | SIGBI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/files\/2025\/07\/Group-at-HCT1.jpg","datePublished":"2008-06-11T13:39:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-09T17:25:06+00:00","description":"SIGBI : SI Winchester and District : Welcome! : SI Winchester and District is part of a worldwide organisation of women, find more information regarding the Welcome! here.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/files\/2025\/07\/Group-at-HCT1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/files\/2025\/07\/Group-at-HCT1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Welcome!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/","name":"SI Winchester and District","description":"A Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland Club website","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6462,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions\/6462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/winchester-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}