Regional Newsletter June 2015

Page 1 of 6

As I type this newsletter I am reminded of the international dimension of our organisation as I prepare for my trip to Turkey to the convention – I hope to see some of you there.

I can hardly believe that 6 months have

passed since I took office. It has been a

very full 6 months. In March my own

club Folkestone held a fashion show

along with the local academy to raise

money for the Rainbow centre helping

homeless people in the area. I visited S.I.

Maidstone at their March meeting

where the guest speaker was Mandy

Reynolds the first woman padre in the

army; it was very interesting to hear of

her experiences. Brian and I attended S.I.

Sevenoak’s presidential lunch at the St.

Julien club and I had the privilege of

presenting 25 year badges to twins! and

in April we attended S.I.East Grinstead’s

presidential dinner.

We visited Anne Hudson’s bluebell wood

and garden [ including full afternoon tea]

in May where the profits were going to

Pestalozzi International village.

S.I. Folkestone celebrated their 50th

Anniversary in May with a dinner at the

Channel Suite. Our friendship links from

Lille and Haugesund were represented.

On the Sunday we all went to Tavernetta

in Folkestone for lunch before saying

goodbye to our guests. I am going to

S.I.Canterbruy this week to their meeting

in Whitstable Castle for World

Environment Day.

The 5p project is now coming to an end

with entries from 9 clubs. Kay Richmond

Chairman of UKPAC will announce the

winners at the June meeting and Jenny

Vince will present the cheques at the

A.G.M. in October along with the winner

of the Daphne Whitmore Rose Bowl.

The Federation Management board

wishes to bring the following to

your attention:-

Notification of new members: The FMB has become aware that some Clubs are not notifying Federation

Office of new members immediately they have been inducted. It is important to do so and not to wait until the end of the Club year, as

this affects the new member's rights — she will not receive the magazine, will not have access to the Members Only part of the website (as she will

not have a membership number) and she will be disenfranchised from attending Conference. It also means that SIGBI cannot have up to date

membership figures.

SIGBI member month: SIGBI proposes to hold its first Membership Month in May 2106 to celebrate what

we do well and promote our organisation as the preferred one to join. Clubs could consider how they want to celebrate membership and

use this celebration to recruit new members. (Easy Guide and/ or tool kit).

Questions for keynote speakers: at Glasgow Conference (Dame Stella Rimington, Jo Fairley and Sarah Montague) on the Friday morning and

for Programme speakers (Justice Rowan Downing, Andrew Bevan and Olivia Giles) on the Saturday. For more information please look at

Conference pages on the website. Could Clubs to submit questions so that the sessions can be arranged to make most of the time and questions

addressed. A full explanation of how to submit questions for the Keynote

Speaker panel session will be in the Club mailings and on the website. Questions should be sent to Joanne Wagstaff at SIGBI Office

SIGBI development day: The Leadership and Club Development

Day is on 3rd October 2015 at the East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham. The flyer and registration form were sent out in a

Regional mailing in March. Places are restricted to 5 per region.

The SIGBI Growth Plan has got off to a slow start. We will ask Folkestone

and Medway to feed back their progress once they have started.

Associate Membership issues have been addressed and information on

this will accompany 3 resolutions to GM in Glasgow. Please read the paperwork in readiness for the GM. When the resolutions are circulated

there will be accompanying documents which have been produced to show how concerns have been addressed.

Making a difference booklet. The second edition of 'Making a Difference' booklet to cover Programme projects 2012 to 2015

will be available soon. The one covering 2011 to 2013 was very popular with 15,000 being printed. It proved to be an excellent

publicity/promotion tool. The new one promises to be even better.

Membership and Conference database: The database is up and

running. Please encourage members to use it. Any comments from members would be appreciated. Please send them to Sally Higgins at

SIGBI Office.

New Clubs: It is great news that SI Chester was chartered in February. There is a petition for new Club SI

Whitefield, India. In addition, SI Southern England has submitted a development plan for a Club in Salisbury and SI South East England

are working on possible Clubs in Brighton and Thanet. SI Milton Keynes may be chartered soon as May SI Gandhara, Pakistan.

Magazine Survey: A survey about the future of Soroptimist News (for example paper copy, on-line, both or other options) is being sent to all

members via email. The deadline for response is mid-July. For those members on email could 'mailing buddies please ensure that they can

respond. (Perhaps taking a laptop to a meeting might be a useful way.)

Notes from

President Sheila

It would be really nice for some of you to send me photos and a brief report of a workshop or session you attended to share with existing and new members.

Notes from

Federation Councillor

Hilary Roberry

Regional Newsletter June 2015

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Citizenship Awards: Students in Year 10

were invited to take part in a

competition to recognise citizenship and

community service. This was run by

Soroptimist International Beckenham

and District as part of their Educate to

lead action programme. Certificates and

prizes were presented on 21st

April.

Our applicants this year work voluntarily

with children of all ages, with adults and

those at a disadvantage, with those

developing their own beliefs and values

in life. They have raised money for RUSH

UK and also participated in the

organising team for the schools

Romanian Shoe Box appeal which brings

joy to so many orphans and families in

need. The range and commitment

shown by the students is extremely

impressive.

The very strong nominations from our

winner and runner up showed us how

their understanding of different cultures,

beliefs, values and perspectives on life

has developed. They have clearly

benefitted personally from their

involvement, developing new skills,

learning to work with others and

tailoring their approach to the needs of

individuals, as well as gaining in

confidence themselves. All this will look

very good on their CVs, and Archbishop

Tenison’s should be very proud of them!

Both our winner and runner-up have

been involved with RUSH UK fundraising

activities and the organising of the 400

boxes for the Romanian Shoe Box

Appeal. Our runner up, Eleanor Ingram,

is a leader/helper at Messy Church for

families, she plays the piano for

children’s and adults’ choirs and

regularly gives her time to be involved in

helping to organise events at school.

Our winner Ella Young volunteers as a

quartermaster at Dockland Scout

project, is always learning new skills and

works with others on water sport

activities, as well as helping with lessons

and the horses at Kingsmead Equestrian

Centre and participating actively in

school events. Well done Ella and

Eleanor! You are excellent role models

for others to follow and be inspired by.

Your modesty in your achievements does

you credit and will stand you in very

good stead for your future!

Beckenham Club Annual Lunch: This

replaced our popular International

Evening, proving to be a good choice.

The venue was West Kent Golf Club in

the peaceful countryside very close to

Down House, some energetic visitors

fitted in a visit there as well as the

lunch. Visitors came from far and wide –

Netherlands, Croydon, Eastbourne, East

Grinstead, Lewes, Medway and

Sevenoaks. Friendships were renewed

and new ones made - all visitors were

very much appreciated but especially

former members of Beckenham who had

often travelled considerable distances.

The sun shone, the meal and service

were excellent and Beckenham was

privileged to have as their speaker, Chris

Duffin of Lewes Club, first woman

governor of Strangeways Prison. She

gave a lighthearted talk of her career

which rounded off the event beautifully.

£450 was raised to help homeless, lonely

and vulnerable people in Bromley.

PA Prison Reform Trust: On Thursday,

22nd January SI Canterbury hosted a

very successful launch for the Prison

Reform Trust’s report ‘Transforming Lives – reducing women’s imprisonment’

at Chartham Village Hall. The launch

was attended by all the local criminal

justice agencies including the police, courts and probation. They were

addressed by Debbie Cox of Rebuilders,

which provides work and accommodation

for ex prisoners, Jenny Earle of the

Prison Reform Trust, who wrote the SI/

PRT report, and Emma Vecchiola of

Kent Probation, who highlighted the

support which Canterbury Soroptimists are giving to their groups for women

offenders. The talks were followed by

lunch and enthusiastic discussions

between the guests.

Canterbury AGM was on 23rd April and

here is a picture of the New President

Jane Webb with President Elect Yvonne

Freeman:

Jane Webb thanks Carol Salter for all her

hard work in the last year as president

SI Canterbury News

SI Beckenham Club

Events

Regional Newsletter June 2015

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Bulawayo Water Project: Helen

Madzokere and Su Rennison presented

US $2,000, in cash, to Nompumelelo

Mlotshwa (Mpumi), from SI Bulawayo.

The evening included an interesting talk

by Mpumi about the Nutritional Garden

Water Project and a celebration supper.

Water is the source of all life and in

Bulawayo water shortages are a part of

everyday life. SI Bulawayo is a

friendship link to Canterbury Club raised

US $2,000 (£1,295) towards buying new

pipes for an irrigation scheme for SI

Bulawayo’s Nutritional Garden Water

Project. The garden provides local

families, in Gwanda South, with fresh

vegetables all year round. Gwanda South

is a drought prone region in the South

West of Zimbabwe where livestock are in

danger of dying through lack of water

and vegetation during years of drought.

The SI Bulawayo Borehole

Rehabilitations project has now been

completed at a cost of $2,191.42. SI

Bulawayo Club provided the funding for

the shortfall of $191.42.

The activity focused on three areas:

1. Economic empowerment and

employment – the members earn an

income from the sales of the garden

produce and can now afford to send their

children to school

2. Ensuring food security and access to

healthcare – from the produce they are

able to feed their families and from the

money they earn they are able to buy

other food supplements

3. Environmental sustainability – they

use agricultural methods that are

environmentally friendly. This includes

mulching to reduce water evaporation,

drip irrigation to conserve water, crop

rotation, use of manure and they use wire

instead of wood to fence their gardens.

Simple Suppers: Each Friday one of

Canterbury's Soroptimists joins Kent

Surrey & Sussex Probation at their group

for women offenders in Margate. The aim

is to help local women keep out of

trouble, avoid committing crimes and

stay out of prison. It follows our research

which looked at how women are treated

in the criminal justice system. Groups are

run each week throughout Kent, Surrey

and Sussex. Recently 12 members and

friends came to a Simple Supper which

raised £120 towards materials for the

women to use.

Visit to Parkside School: SI Canterbury

is delighted that, as part of our Literacy in

Schools project, on 10th March, Jasper

Cooper visited Parkside School,

Canterbury and engaged the children for

over 90 minutes. He also presented the

prizes from all the book week

competitions and posed for the local

press. Sammy Black, Literacy Leader,

said “it was a fantastic event for the

children and teachers” and “they would

never have had such an event if it weren't

for the generosity and kindness of SI

Canterbury - thank you, thank you!

Please pass our gratitude to the club

members who organized the day’s

events”.

Jasper Cooper is the author and illustrator

of The Kingdom of Gems trilogy, a

Children’s Fantasy Adventure Trilogy.

He has visited many schools leaving behind a legacy of inspired children and

enthusiastic teachers. “Visiting a school

is a delight for me,” Jasper said, “I love

talking about my writing and artwork,

and enjoy the enthusiasm of the children.

It is great to have the opportunity to creatively inspire them with their reading

and writing.”

SEVEN BILLION DREAMS. ONE

PLANET. CONSUME WITH CARE.

UN World Environment Day 5th June,

2015

SI Canterbury marked the UN Day by

celebrating our local environment with a wonderful evening in the beautiful

gardens at Whitstable Castle. Members,

Regional President Sheila and guests

(including two prospective members) explored the gardens before holding their

monthly meeting inside the Castle.

World Environment Day is celebrated every year on 5th June to raise global

awareness about taking positive

environmental action to protect nature

and planet Earth. The United Nations Environment Programme runs the Day

and the theme for 2015 is how the well

being of humanity, the environment and

economies ultimately depends on the responsible management of the planet’s

natural resources. Evidence is building

that people are consuming far more

natural resources than the planet can

sustainably provide. The slogan for this

year is: Seven Billion Dreams. One

planet. Consume with Care. Living well within planetary boundaries is the most

promising strategy for ensuring a healthy

future.

Whitstable Castle, Tower Hill,

Whitstable CT5 2BW is a delightful

place to visit. There are four acres of

ornamental gardens overlooking the sea. They are managed with biodiversity in

mind and encompass a wide range of

habitats to encourage wildlife. The cafe

serves light meals and delicious cakes!

Regional Newsletter June 2015

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Every second year, Soroptimist

International Great Britain & Ireland are

given six tickets to the Queen's Garden

Party. The President goes along (Jenny

Vince this year, and guest) and there is a

ballot for the other 2 tickets (with guest

each). Croydon Soroptimist Grace Onions

was overwhelmed when she learned she

had been picked out of the ballot and

wasted no time dusting off her hat for

the grand occasion. Grace, Croydon

Club’s Membership Officer attended the

garden party with husband

Amaraghosha. Grace says ‘I was amazed

and thrilled to find out that I'd been

lucky enough to win a place!’

A Sunday afternoon in May saw some of the Eastbourne Soroptimists host a tea-

party for the Eastbourne Contact-the-

Elderly group - something we do most years. This year the tea-party took place

at a member's home in Hellingly,

where 13 guests and their drivers partook

of tea, sandwiches, home-made scones

and cakes (somewhat unexpectedly, the

hostess' dog also partook, which caused

great amusement). This annual event is something we enjoy doing - a really

rewarding and enjoyable occasion.

Good Citizen Award: Over the past few

weeks East Grinstead Club have been

working with Year 9 at Sackville School on

their annual Good Citizen Award. Two

members visited a morning assembly in

February to tell the students about the work of

Soroptimist International and to introduce the

competition. Each student then completed an

application form describing his/her

contribution to the family, school and

community and outlining what he/she

considered to be a good citizen. Over 200

forms were then sifted and reduced to a list of

eleven. From that list, six students were

shortlisted for interview. Interviews took

place in the Mayor’s Parlour at East Court and

the four interviewers were very impressed by

the high calibre of candidates. Grace de

Souza was chosen as the worthy winner with

Nuha Diaz Cano, Rhia Hobby, James

Purnford, Jess Shephard and Charlotte

Thomas close runners-up. Grace was

presented with a certificate, plaque and

cheque for £30.00 which was matched by the

school. The five runners-up were awarded a

certificate for inclusion in their Records of

Achievement. This annual Award is designed

not only to encourage the students to

consider their roles as local citizens but also

to demonstrate to the community that young

people do play an important and valuable part

in today’s society.

Feminine hygiene kits: Working with

the international charity Days for Girls, East

Grinstead Club are preparing feminine

hygiene kits to be sent to girls in over 75

countries in 6 continents. The charity’s belief

is that every girl in the world deserves

education, safety and dignity and works to

help girls gain access to sustainable feminine

hygiene kits. Not only are kits provided but

the communities that receive them are helped

to establish their own production

programmes. Without these packs, girls

experience days without leaving the house

which results in days without school and days

without income. It is estimated that many girls

miss up to 2 months’

schooling per year but, if those girls are able

to stay in school, the poverty cycle can be

broken.. In the last week, members have

produced over 20 attractive drawstring bags

containing washable feminine hygiene

materials, soap, flannels and underwear. This

will be an ongoing project which will help

transform the lives not only of the girls

concerned but also their families and local

communities.

Cheque for Canine Partners: One of

President Janet Vanderhook’s main charities

this year has been Canine Partners. This

charity founded 25 years ago trains and

partners dogs with people with disabilities.

These amazing dogs assist their partners

with everyday practical tasks such as opening

and closing doors and cupboards, pressing

buttons and switches, unloading washing

machines and spin driers and undressing at

East Grinstead

Club Projects

Eastbourne Club

Contact the Elderly Tea

Croydon Club

member attends

Queen’s Garden Party

Regional Newsletter June 2015

Page 5 of 6

bedtime. The partners are responsible for the

dogs’ daily exercise, grooming, feeding and

playing; giving them a real reason to get up in

the morning and venture outside the home. In

shops the dogs assist by handing over their

partner’s purse thus promoting conversation

and interest amongst proprietors and

shoppers alike.

Members recently visited Canine Partners’

Headquarters in Midhurst to see how the

charity trains its canine and human partners

and to hand over a cheque for £150 making a

total donation for the year of £500.

Walking for women: Enthusiastic

walkers amongst us donned walking

boots and windproofs for an invigorating

five-mile sponsored walk around Jeskins

Country Park to mark International

Women’s Day. We were sponsored by

other club members, families and

friends, raising £300 for Choices, our

local women’s aid.

Hospital leads the way on FGM: Our

local hospital, Darent Valley has fully

implemented national FGM guidelines

for the training and management of staff

and is now delivering a high quality

service, which includes psychological

support for women who have undergone

the procedure, we were told at a club

meeting. Katie de Freitas, Clinical

Midwife Special Projects (left) and Ursula

Marsh, Assistant Head of Midwifery gave

a joint presentation. DVH midwives are

seeing an average of 2 new FGM patients

a month.

As part of our awareness raising

programme, two members of the club

have shown official DVDs and made

short presentations on FGM and forced

marriage to volunteers at a Home-Start

North West Kent meeting at Dartford.

The charity offers confidential support,

friendship and practical help to parents

with young children, recruiting and

training volunteers who are parents

themselves – to visit families with at

least one child under five at home.

Build on Books for Ebola Orphans:

the picture shows the children in their

smart new uniforms holding their

colourful school satchels and being

excited about being back at school!

The club helped kit the 125 school-

aged children with new uniforms shoes

and school bags. The children’s

possessions had been burned when

their homes were sterilised. Local

seamstresses and tailors made the

uniforms. Returning to school is quite

an achievement for our orphans. They

are supported by the local community

and not cared for in orphanages which

is much better for the children. They

no longer seem to be stigmatised as the

local community have been kinder to

them so they are more confident.

Our next plan is to turn their

temporary homes into permanent

homes and to build bore holes in the

areas where the children live. We don’t

want them to resort to drinking fifthly

stream water when we have to stop

providing sterile bagged water.

SI Gravesend are reviewing the work of

the past year on the SIGBI Flagship

project ‘Elimination of Violence

Against Women’ which encompases

Domestic Abuse, Human Trafficking,

FGM, Forced Marriage and Elder

Abuse. They are having a talk in June

from Domestic Abuse Services about

their current work and the challenges

they face. They are also raising money

for their Post Ebola Orphans Project

and they have a cream tea in June. This

project has been put forward to region

as one of the projects for all the 5p

pieces members are collecting. Other

projects are: Beckenham 5000 project,

Canterbury Rebuilders, Folkestone

Demelza House, Lewes Pestalozzi,

Maidstone, Restoring Hope, Medway

Towns Coppafeel, Tunbridge Wells

Water Harvesting and East Grinstead

Green Gym Mental Health Project.

Soroptimists are everywhere! Above

are a group on holiday with the

Meopham Active Retirement

Association. Here they are with

Soroptimists of the Metz Club- can you

see the logo above their heads? The

tour also included a visit to the

European Parliament in Strasbourg.

SI Maidstone held a lovely Presidents

lunch in March which I attended.

SI Maidstone News

SI Gravesend News

Regional Newsletter June 2015

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Links with Guide Movement: The Club were able to support Kemsing Rainbow, Brownie and Guide groups. The hall where the groups were meeting burnt down last year completely destroying their work and flags. We were only too delighted to donate £200 towards new flags. We were invited to a service at St Mary’s church Kemsing on 1

st March

2015 to dedicate the new flags. Annual Lunch: Another March event was the Annual Club Lunch (usually the President’s lunch) at St Julians Country Club in Sevenoaks. We were so pleased to have as our guests the SEESI Regional President, Sheila Ash and The Chairman of Sevenoaks District Council, Cllr Jill Davison. Sheila presented two of our members with their 25 years of service badges. Shirley Brigham and Pat Downing, as the photo show yes they are twins! Notice the lovely wisteria in the background!

I have had several requests to give you some information about the milk bottle tops. Thanks to all of you who continue to collect them. The contact in Eastbourne has now collected over 5 tons. Recently the money raised has supported the Eastbourne Prostrate Cancer support group with a quiet room at the Eastbourne District General Hospital, where consultants can talk and support patients and also equipment for the Urology ward. The next project is a template Biopsy Kit

which will cost £15,000.

Su Rennison from S I Canterbury died in April 2015 aged 77. Her funeral was held in the Choir in Canterbury Cathedral. . Sue touched a variety of people's lives and she was a joy to meet: happy, hard working and friendly with a strong sense of fun. She could be relied upon to give fair, honest and positive feedback on any problem. She was decisive and positive at all times. In her working life she had been Tutor Librarian at Nonington College. She then took on, as one of the first women, the onerous and challenging job of Stewardship Advisor running a team of workers at Diocesan House. Married in the Crypt at Canterbury Cathedral she then became a dominant and well known participating figure in the life and work of the Cathedral where she served as a steward. Always interested in the Arts she proved herself to be a good public speaker and a talented writer of prose and poetry contributing, vetting and helping; both in the publication of Voices in Verse and Teller of Tales. On retirement she had learned to play the viola! As a member of the Canterbury Club she became our Honorary Member. She served as President from 1979-1980 and then from1987-1988. Her diligence, thoroughness and dedication to her work in all areas was an example to us all. Su was a truly inspirational Soroptimist and the Club as it stands today is her legacy to us.

Marjorie Lambert. From SI Eastbourne and District died in March aged 85. She had been a soroptimist since 1973 and had recently been made an Honorary Member by the club. She joined Haywards Heath and then she went to Sheffield from 1983 and finally she joined Eastbourne in 1989. She was a much loved and respected member of Eastbourne Club and held office as President, Programme Action Officer, Secretary and Minute Secretary. Her knowledge of Soroptimism was extensive and she was proud of its achievements. She was, however, always open minded towards change and innovative ideas to take Soroptimism forward.

Marjorie started the Eastbourne Club

Newsletter, which she edited from 1993 to

2004. This proved an invaluable link for

members and our Link Clubs in keeping

everybody up to date with news and events of

the Club.

Marjorie’s career was in nursing. Firstly as a

Midwife (mirroring Helen Worth of “Call the

Midwife” fame and with whom she was in

contact) and finally as a Nursing Director.

After retiring from the NHS, Marjorie ran a

successful and happy Nursing Home in

Eastbourne. She finally retired to Westham,

where she was very involved with the local

community and lived happily with her two

beloved Bichon Frise dogs, Glitter and Lacey.

Marjorie was a true Soroptimist in every

sense of the word. She was a little lady with a

big heart and an indomitable spirit. She will

be greatly missed by us all.

Regional Meeting dates for the future:

2015 3rd Oct, 5

th Dec.

2016 5th March, 4

th June , 15

th Oct (AGM)

Regional Executive Dates:

2015 - 5th Sept, 8

th Nov,

2016 - 13th Feb, 14

th May, 17

th Sept.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this

newsletter. I would like articles by 20th

Sept for the next edition. If your club has

not contributed this time maybe you would

like to send me an article in the future.

Denise Staplehurst Newsletter Editor.

SI Sevenoaks News

Milk Bottle Tops

Obituaries