President’s message
President Jenny Titcombe’s Message
Welcome to the website of Soroptimist International of Southampton and District
Our club was chartered in 1952, and we have an active and lively membership of over 30 women involved in a diverse range of professions and voluntary work. We currently undertake service projects in the local area, such as supporting women’s refuges, a housing scheme for young single mothers, and Contact Tea for the elderly.
We also support international projects such as the Soroptimist International Quadrennial Project, (Project SIerra) in conjunction with Hope for Homes for Children, which helps homeless and orphaned children in the war torn areas of Sierra Leone. Another international project (which came to our attention through the attendance of a member of the Club at a meeting of the Royal Commonwealth Farming Associaion) is helping to support a village in Zambia which has recently been badly affected by floods, by providing funding for equipping a school and purchasing new seeds.
Another issue in which we have become more involved over the past year is the problem of trafficking of women, and the need for ’safe houses’ to be provided and funded when there is no public money available.
This year the President’s Charities will be Leukaemia Busters - providing funds to help with the re-equipment of the Simon Flavell research laboratory at Southampton General Hospital, and Practical Action - helping to fund a clean water project in Sudan.
The Club has a monthly evening dinner meeting held on the third Tuesday of the month currently at the Fleming Park Golf Club in Eastleigh, and a varied list of speakers is lined up for the coming year. A Business Meeting is held on the first Tuesday of the month at the Bradbury Centre in Southampton. We also have diverse fund raising and social events, theatre visits and outings during the year.
We are looking for enthusiastic women who live in Southampton or the surrounding area who are interested in helping the local community, making a difference in the wider global community, making friends and enjoying social contact. If that sounds like you, please get in touch, so that you can find out more, and hopefully come along to one of our meetings to see what it is all about..