What do we do?
With a great Programme Action Officer within our team we have every reason to contribute in so many ways, large and small, to keep ACTION at the heart of what we do throughout the year.
We have a range of on-going projects at LOCAL level including working closely with our local hospice and women’s refuge; at NATIONAL level supporting our Regional Presidents work in Malawi and INTERNATIONAL level with our four year project known as Project SIerra.
At all three of the levels above we seek out ways to make ourselves more aware of issues (AWARENESS) inform others (ADVOCACY) and support (ACTION). These three A’s form the heart of our Programme Action focus.
Why not come along to one of our meetings to find out what a difference you could make too.
Here’s a taster of just some of the things we have achieved recently:
- March 2009 - We held an exhibition stand at Endeavour House in Ipswich to mark International Women’s day and raise awareness of Soroptimist International.
- February 2009 - Marshalling the “Walk of Memories” in support of St Elizabeth’s Hospice
- February 2009 -Members of the club attended a briefing at Ipswich Women’s Aid, Outreach Centre to discuss new projects and continued support. Some great ideas have come from this that the club will be taking forward over the coming year.
- January 2009 - “Street Free Project” The club had a speaker in January 2009, Helen Hepburn who is the leader of the “Street Free Project” for Ipswich. This project has been running since the Ipswich prostitute murders, its 5 priorities are to intelligence gather, develop routes out, tackle demand prevention, community intelligence and write a strategy for off street prostitution and coercive men. The project is attracting national interest for its pioneering work. The Club hopes to work further with this project in the future.
- December 2008 – Toilet bags for the women’s refuge. As part of support for the local women’s refuge, twice a year we make and fill toiletry bags for those arriving at the refuge.
- Swinging in to action More than 120 people enjoyed a fantastic evening packed in to the Sproughton Tithe Barn swaying to the rhythms of the Swing Street Big Band and tapping their toes to the sounds of Glen Miller. The event, organised by the club also included a delicious fish and chip supper and successfully raised £1k for charity.