Hello and welcome to the UKPAC website. My name is Jan Hemlin, and I am the Chairman of the UK Programme Action Committee. I hope you enjoy looking through this site and find many things of interest.

The Chairman's message is also produced in a newsletter format and sent each month, via Regions and clubs, to every UK Soroptimist. At the foot of this page you can access this February edition plus back numbers.

I saw my first crocus and a lonely daffodil on a roundabout this weekend in the Cotswolds. A glimpse of spring I thought, but then remembered it was only the last weekend in January! February and March promise to be busy months for Soroptimists, bringing with it lots of opportunities to raise our profile.

February 27-11 March Fairtrade Fortnight

Take a Step, this year’s campaign call to people in the UK to engage with the Fairtrade Foundation’s vision of an even bigger movement for positive change on unfair trade including making the switch to buying Fairtrade. Sue Challoner, SIGBI representative at the Fairtrade Foundation, has asked clubs to get in touch with her to record their steps and to send pictures of their involvement. 

 

International Women’s Day

What is your club doing to celebrate International Women’s Day? Last year Women for Women International launched Join me on the Bridge events on 8 March and 75,000 people took part in 464 events across 70 countries on six continents. Let's make Join me on the Bridge even bigger this year, by joining together on bridges to show the world that we can build the bridges of peace for the future. As last year, Women for Women International is staging a march in London, from 10.30am - 2pm. The timetable is as follows:

10:30 - Meet on the south side of Millennium Bridge. Make your sash and banner (have your face painted if you wish!) and learn the specially-composed Bridge March song. 
11:00 - Photo call on Millennium Bridge
11:15 - Start marching. All marchers will be given a biodegradable white balloon to release and make a wish. Entertainment along the route. Continue marching along Victoria Embankment
12:00 - Arriving on Hungerford Bridge, crossing back over the river to the Southbank centre
12:30 - March into the Royal Festival Hall for speeches and Women of the World (WoW) 2012 Festival, with stalls and entertainment inside Clore Ballroom
www.joinmeonthebridge.org - register on the website and then you will receive event updates directly to you. Download a PDF of the flyer at the link.
 

Federation Director of Communications, Jane Slatter, writes: "Please note that this year we will be able to go inside the Festival Hall for speeches after the march which will be much warmer! I am finding out about having a Soroptimist stall and will let you know more about it as soon as I have the details.

"Funny Women Charity Stand-Up Comedy Challenge - International Women's Day 8th March - 7pm until late Grange St Paul's Hotel, 10 Godliman Street, London, EC4V 5AJ. Tickets £120 price includes drinks reception followed by three-course dinner with wine - all profits go to the 10 charities including Women for Women International (WWI). Soroptimists are supporting Kate Nustedt UK Executive Director of WWI who will be one of the 10 people being sponsored to do a stand-up comedy routine. For more details see www.funnywomen.com/charity-challenge-about.php Lynne Parker from Funny Women ran a workshop at the Brighton Conference. We are shown on the Funny Women website as the supporter for Kate Nustedt from WWI - I have agreed that SIGBI will promote the event and try to get sponsorship for Kate Nustedt (I personally won't be attending the evening event due to financial constraints but I am sure it will be a great evening).

"Join me on the Bridge" events are a great way to raise the Soroptimist profile, so I am asking you all to concentrate our efforts on these please, and if you could encourage members (and friends) to join SIGBI President Maureen Maguire and I in London on the 8th March that will be fantastic."

 

Forced Marriage Consultation ends 30th March 2012

Over 12 weeks the Home Office is seeking views on whether making forcing someone to marry should be a criminal offence in England and Wales. For more information on this please go to the relevant page on this website. There are clear arguments both for and against making forced marriage a criminal offence. SI Bilston and SI Lichfield have put together information FOR the case and Sameem Ali (herself a victim of a forced marriage) has put the case AGAINST the proposal. The consultation period ends on 30 March 2012. 

VAW-SIN matrix
Thank you to all the clubs in the UK who have updated their entries on the VAW-SIN Matrix. As in previous years, Heather Knott will be updating the master copy this month and will circulate the document with an accompanying letter to Lynne Featherstone, Home Office minister (and champion for elimination of violence against women) and Home Secretary, Theresa May. 

UN.GIFT box

The UN will deploy large metal boxes with ribbons on top – all graffiti-proof in London during the 2012 Olympics and it is to be used to raise awareness of Trafficking. ‘Promises’ of exciting opportunities enticing people to the boxes – which when opened reveal, in contrasting monochrome, the stark reality of human trafficking stories.

Gift Box (Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking) is an innovative project giving communities an opportunity to raise awareness of human trafficking during the 2012 Olympics. It is an enticing community sculpture, created by UNGift and Stop The Traffik, that people will encounter at street level in London and will invite them inside to find out more. Thanks to Dr Patricia Martin Midland Arden representative for bringing this to my attention. 

UKPAC Study Day Reminder

On-line registration is available for the UKPAC Study Day on 30 June at Leeds Trinity University. In addition to registering on-line, you can also book your accommodation at the same time.

Cord International

A speaker from CORD International will attend UKPAC meeting on Saturday 18th February to raise our awareness. CORD is an international organisation working to build lasting peace in partnership with people living in conflict or post-conflict situations.

360 Empowering Women Tour

A reminder from last month's message: Soroptimist, Claire Chidley, has developed ‘360 WISDOM’ designed to set you back on track and help you rediscover what matters most to you. She’s embarking on a major UK tour in February/March 2012 called ‘Empowering Women’, teaching her 360 WISDOM theory in a one-day workshop.  Tickets are discounted for Soroptimists. For more information go to Claire's website. Those of you on Facebook or Twitter will already have received information on this (if you're not following the UKPAC on Facebook or Twitter, why not consider it!).

Ovarian Cancer March awareness-raising month joint intitative
All four national Ovarian cancer charities are working together for the first time during Ovarian cancer awareness month (March 2012) to build awareness of signs & symptoms of Ovarian cancer. Target Ovarian cancer, The Eve appeal, Ovarian Cancer Action and Ovacome have come together to provide a collaborative web-based resource to ensure consistency and uniformity in the information provided.

Apologies

My apologies in advance that I won’t be able to commit to attending regional events over the next few months as my husband, David, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma just before Christmas. He will be receiving Chemo until the end of May. Life is rather like a rollercoaster but he remains positive. Thank you to the UKPAC committee for all their support.

Best wishes
Jan Hemlin - February 2012

 

 

 

 

Newsletter back numbers

A newsletter format (as a PDF) of the Chairman's Message, is distributed each month to every Soroptimist in the UK . Please note that although the Chairman writes her message at the beginning of each month, from time to time this is updated during the month, to reflect breaking news, and the following month's newsletters will reflect those additions. These updates will also be advised through Twitter and Facebook where appropriate.

 

February

January

December