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June 2010

At the Club's June meeting Nuhu Salihu and his colleague George, from Village Aid, a Bakewell based charity, spoke to members about their work in West Africa. After a discussion members agreed to support the Midland East project to provide micro-credit loans to women's groups in Cameroon. Nuhu said he would identify a specific group for Derby to support. Village Aid is Joint President Celia's charity for the year. The Midland East project will continue for 2 years until May 2012.

George and Nuhu from Village Aid with Joint Presidents Ruth (left) and Celia

March 2010

News for SI Derby members

There is currently one space left in the hotel booking for the Manchester Conference. Contact Marion if you are interested. Assuming this place is filled 17 members will be attending the conference this year.

A day at the Buxton Festival is being organised for Monday 19th July. If you are interested, contact Laura.

 

November 2009

9 members of SI Derby attended the SIGBI
conference in Cardiff. They are pictured (left) in their finery at the banquet.We also took part in the "Bras in the Bay" event, where thousands of bras were donated to Oxfam for recycling, but none of us were as brave as this lady!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 2009

President Margo Broadhurst (2nd from right) with her guests at the 72nd Charter Dinner at the Midland Hotel, Derby.

The speaker was artist Pollyanna Pickering (far left), who spoke about her journey to Belize to sketch the rain forest and the animals living in the environment. Other guests included the Mayor of Derby, Sean Marshall and his consort and the president of Midland East Region of Soroptimist International, Linda Moore (far right).

 

June 2009

More news from Cameroun (see also entries on this page and the Our Activities page)

The Mbororo people of Baba II have now completed the building of the water catchment area and the pump is up and running.

April 2009

At the AGM on April 2nd 2009 Margo Broadhurst (right) took over from Pam Burrows as president of SI Derby. Margo's theme for her year is "Friendship" and the president's charity will be The Infant Trust which is a charity founded by the sister of a former member of SI Derby in South Africa to provide help for infants and small children who have suffered sexual abuse.

March 2009

At the Midland East Region meeting on 21st March 2 members of SI Derby acted as facilitators for an open space workshop event. Five workshops in all covered the 4 SI focus goals for 2007-2011 and the 5th dealt with optimising Friendship Links.

The 4 focus goals are:

Soroptimists will ensure that women and girls:
enjoy equality and equity
live in safe and healthy environments
have access to education
have leadership and practical skills

The five facilitators - 3rd from left Marion Merkens of SI Derby (safe and healthy environments) and 4th from left Roisin Murray of SI Derby (leadership and practical skills).

February 2009

News from Village Aid about the water project in Cameroon

The amount raised by the Soroptimists has been used in Baba II which is 10km outside of Bamenda to build a water catchment area. The communities have secured their contribution which will be spent on the excavation of the pipe line. The contractor has visited the community and his contract is signed.
The Mbororo community have been very enthusiastic about this project and have been very willing to contribute and act fast towards its development.

 

February 2009

Derbyshire Wish

A message from Bridget who is our contact with Derbyshire WISH Refuge

Pat, Pam and I visited WISH on Wednesday 28th January to deliver some more of the Welcome Packs. As usual we were made very welcome and as usual we were so impressed with the support that is given to women in the most difficult and distressing circumstances. However, as we all know these days, nothing comes cheaply and they are constantly struggling to make ends meet. In our meeting with the management we clarified what and when our support would be :-

1) We will continue to provide Welcome Packs. We will deliver 20 packs twice a year, in June and December.
2) The Packs will be given to women who arrive with nothing, having left their homes in traumatic circumstances, and will provide essentials. We were told that some women do not need the packs as their arrival may have been planned and they will have had the opportunity to bring with them their own essentials.
3) The Packs will continue to provide essential items of personal care and immediate needs. (List below.)
4) We will contribute to a Central Store cupboard which will stock items of food etc that the staff will manage. This is a new aspect of our support and gives us the opportunity to buy additional items of food with our own shopping - food that will provide the basics for meals for adults and children until the women are able to shop for themselves.

Please bring any of the items listed below to any SI meeting or drop them in at my house if you are passing.

Wecome Pack List
Small hand towels
Small hair brushes
Shower gel / soap
Shampoo
Toilet rolls
Tooth paste
Toothbrush
Small jar coffee
Small pack tea bags
Small pack sugar
Small pack UHT milk
Packet of biscuits
Small cereal packets

Items for Central Store Cupboard
Large packs of cereal
Tinned food - beans, tuna, mince, frankfurter sausages, spaghetti etc - anything that constitutes an easy meal
Packets of Pasta

This list could be endless - but please ensure that any sell-by dates have 6 months or more.

We were asked to pass on the staff's thanks to all the members of SI Derby - we really are making a difference.

Happy shopping,

Bridget

September 2008

Annette Porter, Immediate Past Midland East Region President and SI Derby member, releases a dove for the International Day of Peace at the Region meeting on 20th September

 

April 2008

The new Executive Committee comprises:
Pam Burrows, President
Margo Broadhurst, President Elect and Membership
Celia Beizsley, Vice President
Gill Taylor, Immediate Past President and Treasurer
Chris Blythe, Programme Action
Ruth Williams, Publicity
Marion Merkens, Co-opted member
Bridget Yates, Region Rep
Jill Blount Secretary
Janet Doleman Fundraising liaison

 

April 2008

At the AGM Pam Burrows took over from Gill Taylor as President SI Derby.
Pam wishes our SI Quadrennial Project, Project SIerra to be her charity for the year.

March 2008

On March 28th SI Derby celebrated its 70th anniversary with a Ceremony of Thanks at Derby Cathedral. The ceremony was attended by members, friends and Soroptimists from around the Midland East Region.

Gill reads a lesson in the Cathedral

November 2007

SI Derby member Annette Porter has completed her year as preident of Midland East Region. She was presented with her past president's badge at the Region meeting on 17th November 2007 by incoming president Christine Sanderson-Fagan of SI Leicester.

Annette also received gifts and flowers from all clubs in the Region, presented by Gill Taylor, presideny of SI Derby.

November 2007

SI Derby member Celia Beizsley recently joined SIGBI Federation president Hilary-Kay Young and other Federation officers on a tour of clubs in Cameroon. She took up an invitation for a member from Midland East Region to join the trip as our Region has paid the Federation fees for Cameroon clubs, which allows them to spend more on projects in their country. Celia was a volunteer in Cameroon after leaving university and was very keen to pay a return visit. One of the guides for the Federation group was Bridgette Fomunyam, a member of SI Bameda, who is Chief of Programme for Cameroon Radio/TV in Bamenda. Celia and Bridgette renewed their acquaintance at the Harrogate conference and as a result Bridgette spent 2 days with Celia in Derby. Celia arranged a busy programme which included an interview on Radio Derby, a talk to students and staff of the University of Derby (plus some soroptimists) called "Women, the Media and Cameroon", which was very well attended, and a visit to the Buxton campus of the university where she met a programme leader for Catering and Hospitality to collect some materials for a fellow member starting a business in this field. Bridgette also enjoyed a visit to a garden centre and an evening with some members of SI Derby to complete a busy 2 days.

Bridgette with SI Derby president Gill Taylor and Membership Secretary Margo Broadhurst

 

 

 

 

Bridgette and Celia at Radio Derby

 

 

September 2007

The club was pleased to welcome formally to membership Jill Blount, who is an occupational therapist. SI Derby has achieved the aim of the SI "Can-do" campaign, to increase net membership by 10% over the last year.

On September 13th a special meeting was held in order for the four members who attended the SI International Convention in July to report back to the club and discuss how the issues will affect SI Derby. Marion Merkens spoke about work in progress on the strategic plan for SI, which is being spearheaded by Lynn Dunning, now immediate past president of SI. Annette Porter spoke about the new programme focus 2007-2011 and Doreen Curl introduced the new Quadrennial Project "Project SIerra". In addition, Margaret Haine outlined the structure of SI for our newer members.

To learn about Project SIerra visit www.projectSIerra.org

May 2007

SI Derby recently welcomed new member Celia Beizsley to the organisation. Celia is head of the careers advisory service at the University of Derby.

April 2007

Our new president Gill Taylor takes the reins for our 70th anniversary year. Appropriately, her theme will be "Let's Celebrate".
Gill's chosen charity for the year, which reflects her own profession as midwife, will be Baby Lifeline, which provides training for midwives in the UK to promote safer practice worldwide. To view her plans for the year visit our Programme page.

 

 

Bridget Yates on the left handing over to new president Gill Taylor

Our support for Young Carers has been recognised by Soroptimist International. We featured in an SI report for the United Nations "Giving Girls a Chance"

March2007

SI Derby has welcomed 5 new members over the last 2 years and has several more 'in the pipeline'. A mentor is appointed to new members to help them integrate into the club. We are pleased to say that all our recruits are still with us and taking an active part in the club's programme,

October 2006

7 members of SI Derby joined soroptimists from all over the Federation at the annual conference in Gateshead at the end of October. One of the highlights of the event was the "Pink Bridge", when we lined the Millennium Bridge over the Tyne dressed in pink in support of breast cancer week.

SI Derby members on the Pink Bridge

Keynote speakers at the Conference included Dame Tanny Grey Thompson and Simon Weston, as well as Soroptimist International President Lynn Dunning.
On Saturday evening SI Derby member Annette Porter was installed as President for Midland East Region. The theme for her year will be "The Millennium Goals - Work in Progress"

Annette dressed for the Change of Insignia at the SIGBI conference in Newcastle

October 2006

In October SI Derby welcomed a new member, Carol Thorpe. Carol teaches IT to adults.

November 2005

60+ Years as a Soroptimist

President Bridget Yates presents a Federation long service award to SI Derby member Phyllis Winterton, who has been a member of SI Derby for over 60 years. Phyllis spent her working life in education and her Soroptimist category when working was Head of Department of Food Studies. Phyllis remains a regular attender at club meetings and contributor to club activities.

 

SI Derby present £600 to SI South Africa

At the SIGBI federation conference in Bournemouth £600 raised partly by SI Derby and partly by our president's book club was presented to South African soroptimists to support their work with AIDS orphans at the Vufthamo home.

SI Derby Gains International Recognition for its Lobbying on Trafficking of Women

The club was awarded International Recognition 2004 for our Lobbying on Trafficking of Women, which has been ongoing since 2003. The project falls under the programme area Human Rights and the Status of Women. Our programme action officer (far left) received the award on behalf of the club at the Federation Conference in Bournemouth. The work on lobbying has continued throughout 2005 and 2006

 

 

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