Bromsgrove and Redditch SI

It was a full meeting of Bromsgrove and Redditch Soroptimist's on Thursday evening the11th February at the Southcrest Manor Hotel Redditch.

We were all looking forward to the public speaking competition that was to take place before the business of the evening.

Three local schools put forward a student to participate in the event which was a preliminary competition for the Regional Public speaking competition which is to take place at Dudley Council Chambers on March 12.The competition includes schools from all over the Midlands.

Those who entered our preliminary competition were:-

Grace Duggan - My Heroine - Droitwich Spa High School

Louis Mertens - European Union - For or Against - RSA Academy Arrow Vale

Ella McEwan - What has politics got to do with us? Droitwich Spa High School

The plan was for one of the three students to go through to the regional event, but the students presentation and clarity of argument for the subject they chose caused the judges some difficulty in choosing a winner. It was therefore agreed that all three students would be entered for the Midland Arden Region competition in March.

After the meal the business of the evening commenced.

Matters discussed were the moneys raised for the Basement project at the quiz night that was held on January 16 at Windmill Community Hall. Due to its success it was agreed that another quiz would be arranged in the near future.

Plans for our 50th Birthday party were discussed, at the moment a dinner has been arranged for the weekend of October 22 More on that in a later edition.

The second walk of the new walking group which took place on February 7 had the sun shining down on us again. The next two walks will be on Thursday, March 17 and Saturday April 23. Although the walks are organised by the Soroptimist's it is open for anyone who may wish to join us. At the moment we are limiting walks to no more than five miles, and avoiding boggy fields. Contact 07812985927.

A Pudding Evening event is scheduled for May 7 where we are hoping to invite those who have an interest in joining the group. We have a membership month coming up in May and all efforts to recruit new faces to join the Soroptimist's is ongoing.

Nominations for club officers, the MAR (Midland Arden Region) Inspirational Woman Award, sponsorship for a parachute jump to raise funds for Homestart and the book club were also discussed.

Soroptomist International is the worlds leading women's voluntary organisation with close to 90,000 members in more than 3,000 local clubs in over 100 countries.

Soroptomist's focus on transforming the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and globally through education, empowerment and enabling.

Your local branch, Bromsgrove and Redditch meets at 7pm every second Thursday at The Southcrest manor Hotel in Redditch. Prospective new members will be very welcome.

If you would like more information about your local club please get in touch on either 07812985927 or 07799482444 for further details. You can also go to sigbi.org and find the link to Bromsgrove and Redditch SI.