SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL OF CANBERRA INC

SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL
OF CANBERRA INC

CLUB HISTORY
Soroptimist International of Canberra was chartered on 1 April 1959.The club celebrated its Golden Jubilee on 1 April 2005.

Charter member Heather Shakespeare and new member Julie Stephan cut the birthday cake

Over the 50 years our members have been active at all levels of the organisation at club, region and international level, helping to promote the status of women both locally and globally.
The club had been a long time member of the Region of the Monaro. This region amalgamated with Region of New South Wales in 1996
Club members regularly attend the Region of New South Wales Council meetings, which are held four times per year. The Region president for 2004/5 Catherine Evans is a member of Canberra Club. The club sends a voting delegate to the biennial Federation Conference of Clubs and our members have attended many International Conventions and Board Meetings.
The active participation of club members in the various levels of Soroptimist International has kept the club involved in the wider world of Soroptimist International and helps ensure that our efforts in the local and international level community help to make Soroptimist International an effective Global Voice for Women.
Thirteen members attended the XVlI International Convention in Sydney in July 2003.

Canberra members at the Sydney Convention 2003

MEMBERSHIP
SI of Canberra is a very active club and currently has 48 members. During 2003/4, we gained 5 new members, three new members were inducted and two members transferred from other clubs to our club. Our current membership reflects the nature of our community and includes women working in and retired from a variety of fields including: - agricultural chemistry, biology, dentistry, education, environment, financial advice, health services, information technology, law, library services, non government agencies, nursing, parliamentary service, petroleum geology, pharmacy, real estate, Service Station proprietary, shipping, veterinary science and many levels of public administration both local and national, which reflects the Australian Public Service - the lifeblood of Canberra.
Membership offers opportunities to:

serve the community by sharing skills
become part of a global network of like-minded women
network with varying occupations
attend conferences in the South West Pacific Federation countries biennially and International conventions every 4 years in other parts of the world Looking forward to Glasgow in 2007
make new friends from around the world
become more aware of issues, particularly those concerning status of women and families
lower your blood pressure through laughter and fun
work to make the world a better, fairer and safer place for all
CLUB MEETINGS
Business meetings/dinner meetings are held on the third and fifth Tuesdays of the month, starting at 6.30 pm. Dinner follows at 7.15 pm. The club executive works hard to ensure that meetings are run efficiently and effectively. A guest speaker (usually from one of the Programme Focus areas) is invited to each business meeting allowing time for both information and social interaction after dinner.
The Executive committee meets in the home of one of the members of Executive on the first Tuesday of the month at 6.00 pm
Each club member is invited to serve on at least one of the following committees:

Programme of Service
Extension/Membership
Social
Finance
Hospitality
The club maintains Friendship Links with S.I. of Nara in Japan (Nara is also Canberra's sister city), with Hannover in Germany, Bury in the UK, Omagh in Northern Ireland and Seattle South in the USA.
Under a new initiative four clubs in the South West Pacific have been linked under "Together We can make a Difference" Cluster system. Canberra Club has in its cluster, SI Nelson, (New Zealand), SI Freemantle in Western Australia and in the Region of New South Wales, SI Ku-ring-gai and the single Region club SI Solomon Islands
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
Canberra has a varied social calendar, which includes specific fund raising events as well as functions for members and partners to enjoy each other's company. In the last 2 years we have enjoyed:

attending two very successful theatre party evenings
hosting a Year of the Outback dinner for Region of NSW
Christmas in July - now an Australian 'tradition' to enjoy heavy European festive fare when our weather is cold
Australia Day Brunch
Melbourne Cup Parties
collecting hams for distribution by the Salvation Army in Xmas hampers
'Clean Up Australia' at a Black Spot litter location in Canberra
Organising 2 'white elephant' stalls at our local Fyshwick markets that raised over $2000 and 2 cake and book stalls which enabled us to donate $1600 to the Canberra Bushfire recovery plan in 2003 and more recently to assist the SISWP Tsunami appeal.

Members selling books for the Tsunami Appeal

being members of the organising committee for the Canberra International Women's Day Breakfast
knitting 'chickens' and Bilbies (a tiny Australian marsupial mammal) to hold a chocolate Easter egg - these are a very successful fund raiser

HOSPITALITY
Many Soroptimists journey to our National Capital and our Club often welcomes overseas.
FEES
Annual fees are currently $145, with discounts for early payment. This covers payment of fees to the Federation and International levels of Soroptimist International, copies of the Region, Federation and International magazines and club running costs (minutes, postage, newsletters etc.). There is also a one-off joining fee of $25 which covers the cost of the badge, constitution etc.
CURRENT EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

President: Ruth Blunden
Past President: Margaret Hall
President Elect: Margaret Hall
Treasurer: Virginia Passmore
Secretary: Carolyn Nimmo

For further information, contact our club secretary, postal address
PO Box 30 CAMPBELL A.C.T. 2612 AUSTRALIA
e-mail us at canberra@siswp.org
Contact Phone number (02) 6299 1571 President Ruth Blunden