Soroptimist International Bath and District

At our AGM the chain of office was transferred from Di to Diane via zoom which was novel but no less significant. Di was thanked for her all the work that she put in during her tenure and Diane is happy to be taking over especially in our centenary year. Lots to plan and do!

Our annual quiz took place on 13th April and as usual there was a good turn out with good food and drink and a raffle.

The event raised over £700 thanks to the generosity of the participants and the members of the club themselves. Women’s refuges are a life line for so many victims of violence and abuse.

We were delighted to hand over a cheque of over £1,000 to our charity of the year called Mummy’s Star who help and support women who become ill with cancer during their pregnancy, or find out up to a year afterwards. It is such a worthwhile charity and deserved our attention over the year. Sarah gave a moving talk before we had our dinner.

Members from the club donated Easter eggs so that the children living at the local refuge can enjoy some chocolate over the holiday period.

We were delighted to meet up with our new Friendship link sisters from Baden-Baden over the last few days. We were able to take them to several places within Bath as well as towns and villages in the countryside for lovely food and drink. We also had a reception at the Mayor’s Parlour which finished off the visit very nicely. We will hopefully see them again when we visit their town in June for their 50th anniversary celebrations.

It was good to get together to share ideas and listen to Dishi talking about membership and then Sally Bee, author and life coach talking us through ways of improving our daily life. Great Programme Action pressentations as well. We should be proud of our organisation!

To recognise International Women’s Day , 3 Bath Soroptimists stood outside Bath Guildhall after an Orange Cafe event to raise awareness of  ‘No to violence Against Women’.

To celebrate this day, an event was put on by the local councils in the Bradley Stoke area which included interesting talks, singing and some very interesting speakers including the ‘Red Dress’ which has been touring the world with ladies from impoverished areas adding their sewing skills and stories to the dress. An amazing achievement.

On 8th March International Women’s Day, 2 members visited Trowbridge County Hall where Julian House were exhibiting art work created by the ladies and children living in their refuges. The art work was truly amazing and thought provoking. Doing art work has really helped these ladies move forward and we look forward to seeing more in the future.

It was a pleasure to be able to teach ladies at the local refuge to sew and knit, some of them trying their hand at it for the first time. We were made very welcome and we hope to do this on a regular basis.