SI Colchester

International Women's Day

The Colchester Club celebrated International Women's Day on Saturday 7th March with a breakfast hosted by Club member, Dilly Meyer. This was attended by both Colchester Club members and local people.

The event raised in excess of £120 and this was split between the Regional Project Malawi Wish List and the Ethiopian Orphanage.


Jan Le Fevre, who set up the orphanage with the help of Colchester Soroptimists, attended the start of breakfast and gave those present an update.

 

 

Boxes for Romania

This year members of the club got together and again filled shoe boxes, covered in cheerful Christmas paper, ready to be sent out to Romania. This has become an annual event and is always great fun.

Members and their friends spend the year collecting suitable items to pack into a shoebox, covered in festive wrapping paper for distribution in Romania. Each box contains toiletries, toys and clothing. The box is then labelled for the appropriate age (eg Boy 6 or Girl 14). The boxes are collected in November and distributed in time for Christmas. We can just imagine the faces of the children as they unpack useful items, something to wear and a cuddly toy! Its a little early, but we wish them all a Happy Christmas.
 

Our Sponsored Child in Nazareth, Etiopia

Rahima Ayiredin was 15 years old in May 2008. She has one sister and one brother. Her father is a guard and her mother is a daily labourer; together they earn about £160 per year. With such limited resources, Rahima’s parents are unable to provide for their family. The community in which they live has high unemployment, limited family incomes and many children receive no schooling. There is also a lack of water and sanitation facilities.

Sponsorship enables an Ethiopian Group (NGO) to run a community-based development programme in Nazareth. Included in their work is a programme for basic educational needs for children who have never before had the opportunity to attend school and also a regular formal education programme (Rahima now attends this because of sponsorship).

Primary health care, HIV/AIDS awareness and childcare are included for adults (Rahima’s mother attends this health and welfare programme).

Headquarters

Groundbreaking for the club is its own headquarters, in conjunction with local projects. In July, members joined their president, Margaret Tomkins, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new St Anne’s Community and Sure Start Centre, where Colchester members will have their Headquarters. The club has gone into partnership with Colchester Borough Council, and Sure Start to build a new Community Centre in this area of Colchester which has been shown to be very poorly served with community facilities, especially for children and families.

As long ago as 1975 members of the Colchester club had the dream of having their own HQ become a possibility with a legacy from Lillian Gifford, on of our members. This legacy was used to invest in two flats, which were rented out and finally sold. This and the substantial sums raised through many fundraising events over the years have allowed the club to move forward.

Following extensive discussion and advice from others it was agreed that the club would join forces with other enterprises and the St Anne’s Sure Start Project was considered to be ideal. Sure Start schemes are part of a Government Initiative to achieve better outcomes for children, parents, and the community. The St Anne’s Forum, has among its objectives the aim of offering local people to meet, to organise community activity, to facilitate self-help, and to combat isolation.

The project consists of a brand new building, with space for Sure Start to have a creche and a family room. There is a café on the ground floor and two function rooms, which can be opened into one large room for 90 –100 people. On the upper floor is the club's office, along with other offices, and a room for midwives and health visitors to see people on a one to one basis.

St Helena Hospice

A long time ago now, but back in 1979 the Colchester and District Soroptimist Club which was instrumental in the setting up of the Colchester St Helena Hospice still provides service in this area.

The History:
Miss Irene Overton was club President for the year 1979/1980 during that year several members had experienced many problems and difficulties when caring for friends and family suffering from terminal illness.

At that time the hospice movement was being considered in many parts of the country. Irene Overton, Enid Macaulay, Gladys Bustard, Gwyneth Jefferies and Betty Lyes formed a group to consider the possibility of organising an open meeting for the people of the town of Colchester to study a proposal to start a hospice in Colchester. The open meeting was held in the Town Hall and hundreds of townsfolk attended.

Fund Raising:
Funds were raised in many ways, including a Fashion Show organised by Betty and Eric Lyes (proprietors of Lloyds of Colchester) and over £1,000 was raised that night alone. Fund raising continued in aid of the St Helena Hospice. Betty Lyes, Soroptimist; Peggy Spark, Altrusa Club; David Butcher, Rotary and a member of the Colchester Lions Club formed a group known as the A.L.R.S. committee. Bi-monthly antiques fairs were held at the Marks Tey Hotel and thousands of pounds were raised over many years until the St Helena Hospice was opened and running.

Continued Support:
The Club continues to support the St Helena Hospice in Colchester by manning the reception desk on Sundays. Members have recently been given roses to commemorate their continued support.

For more information on SI Colchester visit their website