THE first meeting of the year was held on January 9 at the Southcrest Hotel, Redditch.

A prospective new member, Christine, transferring from Burton on Trent, was welcomed.

The speaker was James Bradley, who talked about Water Aid.

James first became involve with Water Aid in 1981 when he retired from the Civil Service.

Water Aid is a British-based charity which works mainly in Africa and Asia. Throughout the world, 800 million people do not have access to clean water, consequently 400 million school days are lost through illness.

To date, 20 million people have been helped by Water Aid, which provides village pumps and toilet facilities.

The success of the work is achieved by the sustainability of these projects by the involvement of local people.

The greatest beneficiaries of the work are the local women as collecting and providing water are culturally regarded as women’s work (to carry up to 20 kilos for five miles) and so they are actively involved in planning, setting up and running schemes at a cost which equates to £15 per head for a tap in a village and a latrine. Soroptimist International is a service club for women from business and the profession and meets on the second Thursday of the month at the Southcrest Manor Hotel in Redditch.

Prospective new members are welcome. For more details, see www.sigbi.org.