We are a local club supporting women and girls, promoting friendship, fun, volunteering and community service, as part of a global network and organisation. Find out more about our local Club below and select further information, to find out more about the global network.
Are you looking for a local women's club with a community focus but also national and international influence? Soroptimist International is a global organisation of women working to transform the lives of women and girls worldwide. We hold consultative rights at the United Nations and have been making a difference to the lives of women and girls since 1921. Our mission is education and economic empowerment, eliminating violence, improving food security and health and environmental stability and advocacy for women and girls. Find out how we do this locally further down and select further information for the global perspective.
We are women from all walks of life, who live in Faversham, Herne Bay or Whitstable. Our communities and environment are important to us. We support women and girls locally, nationally and internationally and our environment, through volunteering and our Club activities and projects.
We meet on the last Wednesday of each month, apart from August and December, in a central location in Whitstable. We also meet for regular social events each month, rotating between Faversham, Herne Bay and Whitstable.
Our Club programme is focussed on both local need and the global objectives of Soroptimist International. Our activities are geared towards supporting women and girls in our communities and in developing countries. We're also focussed on our environment, working in partnership with other local volunteers and organisations on joint initiatives.
Using the global Repair Cafe format, a team from SI Whitstable and District work with local skilled volunteers to repair things for members of the public, rather than throw them away. Whitstable Repair Cafe takes place on the first Saturday of the month, except August and December, 10am to 12.30pm, at St Alphege Church, High Street, Whitstable. During its first year, the Repair Cafe has achieved over 200 repairs!
Keep up to date with Whitstable Repair Cafe news on our Facebook page: Repair Cafe Whitstable and on Instagram at repaircafewhitstable
Club members volunteer with Maya's Community Support Centre in Herne Bay. The centre provides a Free Shop, Community Cafe and food bank. Club members have been involved in all aspects of Maya's since its launch and are currently collecting food from a supermarket for the food bank, organising the rota for food collection and managing warehouse operations. The Support Centre is award winning and ground-breaking, tackling poverty and deprivation locally and providing a blueprint for communities all over the country, to achieve similar results.
Whitstable and District Soroptimists have a strong partnership with the Rising Sun, through volunteer support and fundraising. Some Club members volunteer at the Herne Bay one-stop shop, providing advice, information and advice plus ad hoc support for one-off events. Club members volunteering supports individuals to make their own choices, regain their freedom and take control of their lives.
At the other end of our patch in Faversham, Club members volunteer with SATEDA, www.sateda.org a specialist domestic abuse charity, helping women remain safe whilst in an abusive relationship and safely exit when they feel ready.
