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June 2021 – 100 years – Women’s health – Suffragette – Queen’s Award – Woking – Period dignity – Women in prison

June 2021 – 100 years – Women’s health – Suffragette – Queen’s Award – Woking – Period dignity – Women in prison

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100 years of Soroptimism 1971-1981 Soroptimist Movement The main event of the decade was the chartering of the Woking Club in 1976!  Surrey had several Soroptimist International Clubs by the 1970s – in Reigate, Epsom, Kingston, Elmbridge, Guildford…. For several Guildford members, Woking was a better place to meet. So they began to look for additional members and a suitable meeting venue in 1975.   For a brand new Club, a brand new venue: Centre Halls, part of the extensive redevelopment of Woking in the early 1970s (photo: Surrey Advertiser Archive).   The new club was formally chartered in April 1976.  Sheila Jerred was elected first President during the Chartering Ceremony and wore the newly-created chain of office.  Another new tradition:  a blue tablecloth embroidered with the names of all members – which we still do today.   Woking was not the only place to start

May 2021 – 100 years – Woking Street Angels – basketball – Chernobyl – marriage certificates – environment – India Covid crisis – Domestic abuse – #WhoIsShe –

May 2021 – 100 years – Woking Street Angels – basketball – Chernobyl – marriage certificates – environment – India Covid crisis – Domestic abuse – #WhoIsShe –

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100 years of Soroptimism 1961-1971 Soroptimist Movement The Sixties may have been swinging when everything was thrown into flux.  Soroptimist International did not follow that trend! It had become a well-established – and a global – organisation.  In 1960, the Governing Body of Soroptimist International wanted to mark its status as a recognised worldwide body.  So it recommended that December 10  – the day on which the UN Charter was signed – become Soroptimist International Day.  10 December has been a special day for Soroptimists since then.  SI Woking marks the occasion by making a donation to the International President’s Special Charity. By the end of the 1960s, there were several SI Clubs in Surrey, including in Guildford and Reigate…but not in Woking, not yet. But the Golden Jubilee  of Soroptimist International  in 1971 was an opportunity to look back on the past and forward

April 2021 – 100 years – Modest fashion – Women’s Centre – St Vincent volcano – Domestic Abuse Bill – HeForShe – Surrey Women’s safety survey – Girls and sexual abuse at school – Changing the Perfect Picture – Woking Debate

April 2021 – 100 years – Modest fashion – Women’s Centre – St Vincent volcano – Domestic Abuse Bill – HeForShe – Surrey Women’s safety survey – Girls and sexual abuse at school – Changing the Perfect Picture – Woking Debate

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100 years of Soroptimism 1951-1961 Soroptimist Movement International Headquarters The Soroptimist movement began as a network of clubs.  As the years went by, the Clubs were loosely gathered into geographical Federations. But there was no single governing body leading the Association – the headquarters simply changed with each President.  This changed in 1952 when a governing body was established.  Soroptimist International Headquarters are now in Cambridge, UK. National Federation headquarters The Great Britain and Ireland Federation (SIGBI) bought a property in Bayswater Road, London in 1952.  No. 63 became the Federation’s headquarters for many years, as well as residential Club for members living outside London. Eventually, the Federation’s headquarters moved out of London and No 63  became a hotel open to all.   It is still a special place for Soroptimists to stay and meet sisters from other Clubs – and sample the special No. 63

March 2021 – 100 years – Violence against women and girls – Endometriosis – Surrey Gardens Trust – non-fatal strangulation

March 2021 – 100 years – Violence against women and girls – Endometriosis – Surrey Gardens Trust – non-fatal strangulation

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100 years of Soroptimism 1941-1951 Soroptimist Movement Wartime When the 1940s began, the Soroptimist International Association was firmly established worldwide. It had three Federations: America, Europe and Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I). GB&I was created in 1934 and includes Clubs in Commonwealth countries.   Today we have five Federations:  South West Pacific arrived in 1978 and Africa in 2020. 1946 was a milestone :  the Association celebrated its 25th anniversary.   But the chaos and hardships of  World War II brought new challenges.  Many Soroptimist Clubs in Europe had to close. A new Soroptimist tradition was born in 1948:  the Procession of National Flags marks the start of all  Conventions and Conferences.  Our photo from the Barbados convention in 2008 shows what a colourful and uplifting tradition it has become. Peacetime – “Working for the world we want’ When peace came, much in the world had changed. 

February 2021 – 100 years – Female Genital Mutilation – Phoenix Cultural Centre – De Lara – Body image – Polio

February 2021 – 100 years – Female Genital Mutilation – Phoenix Cultural Centre – De Lara – Body image – Polio

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Then and Now – 100 years of Soroptimism 1931-1941 Soroptimist Movement “I do not think I am being over optimistic when I predict that in a few years’ time there will be a Soroptimist Club in every town and city of importance in Europe and America” .  Mrs Pitt-Rivers said this in the first edition of ‘The London Soroptimist’ Newsletter in 1926. She was right! The first UK Soroptimist Club published the ‘London Soroptimist’ magazine for the first time in September 1926.  It was followed by The British Soroptimist magazine, launched in 1930, and filled the need to circulate information, ideas and news to all members in the country.  Initially in black and white, the magazine evolved into a full-colour edition, called ‘Soroptimist News’ from 1991, and then ‘The Soroptimist’.  Today, the Soroptimist magazine is entirely electronic, easily downloadable with the app.  In every guise,

January 2021 – 100 years, Dame Ethel Smyth, Community policing, vulnerable children, domestic abuse, New Beginnings

January 2021 – 100 years, Dame Ethel Smyth, Community policing, vulnerable children, domestic abuse, New Beginnings

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January 2021 and the start of a new year.  We hope it will be crowned with success in every respect for everyone. Then and Now – 100 years of Soroptimism The journey began a hundred years ago, just after the First World War and the Spanish flu pandemic. Soroptimism can be hard to pin down.  In the 1940s a Soroptimist said: ‘We don’t know how to define Soroptimism – but we recognise common sense when we see it.’   Perhaps the Queen Mother hit the nail on the head. At  a Royal Garden Party to  which Soroptimists were invited in 1960 (during the London Convention), she is believed to have said “Soroptimist is a giving thing!” 1921-1931 Soroptimist Movement Throughout the second half of the 19th century, women were increasingly active in society.  This trend intensified at the start of the new century.  After the First

Celebrating Our History

Celebrating Our History

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Soroptimist International celebrates 100 years of history in 2021. As we go through the year, we will remember how our organisation came to be what it is today. Before Soroptimist International began 2021 is fast approaching.  Time to think about the world just before Soroptimist International started…. Throughout the 19th century, women were increasingly prominent in society.  Governments had begun to pass laws for the first time on social matters such as health.  Women were especially interested in those subjects.  They were also more able to continue their education – women’s colleges opened in the US and UK towards the end of the 19th century.  And many women’s clubs were set up at that time. In the US, they were just about socialising at first. Soon they were also trying to bring about social change. Then as now:  the 20th century saw great upheaval during

December 2020 news – Advent Calendar, Child poverty, Covid-19, Gender stereotyping, Hygiene Bank, trafficking, domestic abuse, African AIDS orphans, migrants

December 2020 news – Advent Calendar, Child poverty, Covid-19, Gender stereotyping, Hygiene Bank, trafficking, domestic abuse, African AIDS orphans, migrants

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Injustice Advent Calendar An Advent Calendar with a big difference – Traidcraft’s special calendar reminds us all of those who need help – and not just at Christmas.  Day 15 is about the Right to Mental Health. You can see how much you know about it and learn more by taking the quiz here. Child poverty Child poverty in parts of the United Kingdom is now so severe that the United Nations Children’s Fund -UNICEF – is coming in to help.  Read more about it in this Daily Telegraph article Women’s organisations highlighting current social problems Two women’s organisations – Young Women’s Trust and the Fawcett Society – have published reports on problems affecting young women in particular. Covid-19 impact on employment of young women Young Women’s Trust and the Institute for Fiscal Studies have published statistics on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on

November 2020 News – Remembrance Day, breast cancer, Woking Debates, modern slavery, domestic abuse

November 2020 News – Remembrance Day, breast cancer, Woking Debates, modern slavery, domestic abuse

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November 2020 news Remembrance Day  BBC Asian Network marked #RemebranceDay with  a look at the South Asian women who contributed during the First and Second World Wars. Author Anita Anand taled about  renowned suffragette Princess Sophia Duleep Singh and how she helped injured soldiers in Brighton.  #LestWeForget Local charity Walk the Walk Walk the Walk is raising money to help breast cancer sufferers.  £5 buys a balloon – and 50 acupunture needles! Acupuncture can bring relief to patients in pain. The balloons will fly virtually over the Serengeti Park.  There are prizes for the balloons that go highest and furthest. Women who made a difference BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour Power List 2020: See their take on seven women who made a global difference.  About this and more here  Woking Debates The Woking Debates meeting in early November 2020 took the theme ‘Should we all

October 2020 news : endometriosis, domestic violence, feminism, town twinning

October 2020 news : endometriosis, domestic violence, feminism, town twinning

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In the news in October 2020 Endometriosis is a miserable disease that only affects women.  Many years ago, radical surgery was often only the option.  We hoped that much better treatments were on  the way.  But the newspapers show that the situation hasn't improved very much at all. The Daily Telegraph published an article with a grim title: ‘It took 14 years for my GP to take my endometriosis seriously’ It's a condition that affects one in 10 women in the UK and yet it can be astonishingly difficult to be correctly diagnosed by doctors The Daily Telegraph interviewed Eleanor Thom in an article that seemed to show that doctors have real difficulty finding the correct diagnosis, let alone the right treatment: 'Doctors said endometriosis was all in my head'  And Emma Barnett interviewed in The Guardian,  waited even longer than Eleanor Thom for a