The Soroptimist movement went on growing rapidly during the 1930s.\u00a0 Members saw opportunities to look beyond their local community. They could meet and cooperate with women in other clubs and at Soroptimists at international meetings – a source of interest and pleasure.\u00a0 In the early years, there were \u2018vocational parties at the Soroptimist Conventions. Members met their counterparts form other parts of the country and the world.<\/p>\n One of the benefits of membership of Soroptimist International today that Soroptimists across the world welcome any member visiting their area.<\/p>\n The Sister club<\/strong> plan was set up to make it easier for Soroptimists to reach out to clubs in other countries. They deepened the ties of friendship.\u00a0 Soroptimists learned about each other. They were also able to help in an emergency and cooperate on joint projects<\/a>.\u00a0 The Sister Clubs were renamed Friendship Links<\/strong> in 1970, and the connections are better organised .<\/p>\n The spirit of cooperation and friendship was further reinforced in the UK by the creation of the Benevolent Fund<\/a> in 1938.\u00a0 The Benevolent Fund<\/strong><\/a> helps members of Soroptimist International who are in difficulty.<\/p>\n SI Woking members have many wonderful memories and souvenirs of such visits.\u00a0 \u00a0Some of us spent a memorable spa day in the original spa of the town of Spa in Belgium!\u00a0 And among our souvenirs are this cookbook brought by a visitor from SI Gold Beach. The lovely pincushion reminds us of our visitor from Estonia.<\/p>\n Finding friends is always important, but Soroptimist\u00a0 International is about more than friendship.\u00a0 In 1933 it was said that \u201cThe binding force of Soroptimism is service.\u00a0 Without that, it is just a pleasant club.\u00a0 With it, it becomes a band of women united for service, for truth and justice in every town and country where its influence has been felt.\u201d\u00a0 During the 1930s, Soroptimists\u00a0 tackled social issues in their community: housing, youth, the elderly, crime, prisons.\u00a0 \u00a0The SI Club in Halifax, for example, helped to provide single-person flats throughout the decade and Si Sheffield offered a rest home..\u00a0 Today, we still address those issues:\u00a0 SI Woking has contributed for example to the York Road Project (homeless), the Women’s Support Centre and Send Family Link (prisons).<\/p>\n During the 1930s, women in the US and the UK could talk in terms of the improvements in their status.\u00a0 \u00a0In 1934, Mrs Mercy Ellen Crehan, of the America Federation, is reported to have said at the Paris Convention: \u201cA hundred years ago women were known as females, fifty years ago, we were ladies, but now, thank God, we are women.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In other words, women were considered as an integral part of society, not sas chattel, not as a group apart.<\/p>\n Progress is often a case of ‘two steps forward and one step back’.\u00a0 During the 1920s, there were around 150 women’s football teams – but that stopped in the 1930s.\u00a0 Read this BBC article to find out more here<\/a>.\u00a0 More about the history of women’s football in Surrey here<\/a>.<\/p>\n In continental Europe, progress was checked by Fascism.\u00a0 Soroptimist Clubs in Germany, Austria and Italy had to close.\u00a0 \u00a0Women’s football in Italy was just beginning.\u00a0 They played one official match, and were banned from playing more.\u00a0 Football was a game ‘unsuitable for women’. The Depression of the 1930s also affected more businesswomen than businessmen.\u00a0 In general, more women than men lost their jobs . Interestingly, despite the much-improved status of women in 2021, it is said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, more women than men have lost their jobs…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our February Film Night produced a lively discussion. We reviewed the film \u2018Breathe\u2019, about the life of Robin Cavendish.\u00a0 At a\u00a0 young age, Robin had polio, a disease that is a distant memory for most of us.\u00a0 But polio \u2013 like Covid-19 today – was a fearsome disease before the polio vaccine was discovered. Polio made Robin Cavendish terribly disabled, but it did not defeat him.\u00a0 On the contrary: he pioneered living at home with a respirator. Not only that, he made a huge contribution to improving the lives of disabled people.\u00a0 He richly deserves the tribute his son, Andy Serkis, has paid him in his film \u2018Breathe\u2019 and the blue plaque in his home town in Oxfordshire.<\/p>\n The film buffs among us had a lot to say about the making of the film and how the characters were portrayed.\u00a0 And the nursing and physiotherapy professionals had many comments about caring for the victims of polio. All members were impressed by the story of Robin Cavendish. \u00a0Secretary Christina summed it up when she said \u201cA powerful film, sad in many ways, but inspiring\u201d.<\/p>\n Tickets, donations and a raffle raised \u00a3210 for Send a Cow<\/a>. The charity helps African communities out of poverty.<\/p>\n On 6 February\u00a0 2021, the Economist magazine had an article about another form of violence to women: honour-based killing.\u00a0 The article talks about attitudes and the need for change. Find the article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Girls can suffer life-long harm as a result of female genital mutilation (FGM).\u00a0 FGM is a traditional ‘rite of passage’ in some countries.\u00a0 One organisation that campaigns to stop the practice is Hope for Girls and Women<\/a> in Tanzania (HGWT). Led by Rhobi Samwelly,\u00a0 HGWT talks to parents and village leaders to show them\u00a0 how traditional rituals can take place without harming young girls.\u00a0 HGWT\u00a0 also offers safe houses for women and girls escaping from FGM.\u00a0 \u00a0The photo show some of the girls from the Butiama area in Tanzania.<\/p>\n The ‘cutting season’ begins in December each year and lasts for several weeks.\u00a0 So that is when girls start arriving at the HGWT Safe Houses.\u00a0 In December 2020, 240 girls arrived from the local area.\u00a0 \u00a0The charity tries to get parents to agree not to make their daughters undergo ritual FGM.\u00a0 If parents do not agree, the girls can stay in the Safe Houses .\u00a0 There they receive education and training so that they can become independent adults.<\/p>\n This month we discovered one of Woking’s best-kept secrets.\u00a0 It’s a place in the centre of town where you can listen to great live music or make music yourself. Or just chill out. This is what the Phoenix Cultural Centre<\/a> and Fiery Bird venue<\/a> offer.<\/p>\n Founder Elaine McGinty was our February guest speaker.\u00a0 She explained that the aim of the Centre is to make music easy and enjoyable for everyone in Woking.<\/p>\n Phoenix Cultural Centre is applying for funding to improve what they offer to the community.\u00a0 Find out more and help them get their funding here<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019re definitely looking forward to visiting Fiery Bird when lockdown permits!<\/p>\n We reported earlier about the statue of suffragette and musician Ethel Smyth that will be in stalled in Woking.\u00a0 But she is not the only famous woman musician the town has known.<\/p>\n Adelina de Lara (1872-1961) was a\u00a0 talented classical pianist and composer, who lived in Woking. During her long career, Adelina de Lara\u00a0 studied and played with famous artists.\u00a0 \u00a0Some of her pupils became very well-known as did some of her descendants.\u00a0 \u00a0So now we know who De Lara Way is named after!<\/p>\n Last year, we reported on the inquiry of the Women and Equalities Committee of Parliament into body image<\/a> and the digital universe.\u00a0 \u00a0The Committee has collected evidence from the general public.\u00a0 It has also taken research into account.\u00a0 Recently, the Committee held an oral evidence session.\u00a0 Members of the Committee put questions to Ministers and other witnesses about what the government is doing and could do to help people who suffer from poor body image.\u00a0 You can read the transcript and watch the Committee’s meeting here<\/a>.\u00a0 You can also read a blog about body image on the Government Equalities Office website here<\/a>.\u00a0 Reports of oral evidence sessions are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This work is very important.\u00a0 Poor body image can really affect life chances. For example, in a survey, 1 in 5 people said that poor body image has hampered their career.<\/p>\n The Department of Justice is\u00a0 also thinking about changing the law to stop intimate image abuse: https:\/\/www.lawcom.gov.uk\/project\/taking-making-and-sharing-intimate-images-without-consent\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n And the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working on the harm that can come from social media. Information about that here:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/woking-and-district\/files\/2021\/01\/The-London-Soroptimist-300x150.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFriendship, mutual aid and cooperation<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/woking-and-district\/files\/2021\/01\/Pincushion-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/woking-and-district\/files\/2021\/01\/SIWD_Club-Pennants-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/woking-and-district\/files\/2021\/01\/Oregon-cookbook-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h4>\nService<\/h4>\n
Status of Women<\/h4>\n
But…<\/h5>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/woking-and-district\/files\/2021\/01\/Film-night-Breather-300x114.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/woking-and-district\/files\/2021\/01\/Oxfordshire-blue-plaque-scheme-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHonour-based killing<\/h2>\n
6 February, UN Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/woking-and-district\/files\/2021\/01\/Girls-fleeing-FGM_Tanzania-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoenix Cultural Centre and Fiery Bird venue<\/h2>\n
\u201cWe believe creativity is a human behaviour, not a skill\u201d<\/h3>\n
De Lara<\/h3>\n
Body image – changing the perfect picture<\/h2>\n
Other work relating to social media<\/h3>\n