Welcome

Welcome to Soroptimist International, Solihull & District Club!  We hope you will enjoy the fun and friendship which comes with being part of this wonderful worldwide organisation.

As a global volunteer movement we work together at local, national and international levels.  We want to transform the lives of women and girls by  educating, enabling and empowering them.  This is done by by carrying out service activities, raising awareness of issues and lobbying. We provide essential items for our local women’s refuge, organise educational and inspirational events for girls and raise funds for projects & charities (although we are not specifically a fundraising organisation).

We also have fun while we are doing this.  We enjoy a variety of social events throughout the year and believe that a voluntary association should be based on fun and friendship.

Our Federation Soroptimist International Great Britain & Ireland (SIGBI ) is one of four Federations, with approximately 80,000 members in 132 countries.  Soroptimist International has consultative status at the United Nations, where we report on the work done by clubs worldwide and have the opportunity to lobby on issues that directly affect women and girls.

We hope that you will get involved in our Programme Action and Advocacy as this is at the heart of what we do.  This year, among other things, we will

• provide support to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the Borough of Solihull.  Women, in particular, tend to become isolated.  Their children are at school and the women do not know how to make friends and enter the local community support groups.
• Continue to support our local Women’s Refuge and Birmingham Gilgal Refuge.
• Donate items to the local food bank Helping Hands, Solihull.

The club is led by an Executive Committee which can include the President, President Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past President, Programme Action officer and other representatives, for example Membership, Marketing & Development and Friendship Links officers. Any member can become a co-opted member of Executive.

This year we do not have a Club President but we are being led by each of our smaller special interest groups. There are a number of these smaller Groups within the Club, each focussing on a particular activity. We currently have a Friendship Links group (which co-ordinates links with other Clubs in SIGBI and other Federations); Crafts and Laughs; Widney Manor Station volunteers; Lobbying; Health and Green and Education Group. Each group has a named leader, and all Club members are encouraged to join one or more groups, as this is a good way to make friends and find out more about the activities of our Club.

In friendship

All the members of Soroptimist International Solihull & District