VSO London Supporter Group (UK)

VSO Central London Walk for International Women' s Day

Thank you to those who joined us last weekend for the Central London history walk. While it was a select group, everyone enjoyed themselves and it went well. £25 has been raised for VSO. 

Please note that the event planned for Sunday 14th March has been postponed as there were too few attendees registered. However, we hope to run one again after Easter when the weather warms up. 

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London Walk for International Women's Day!
Join this Westminster walk and discover all about inspiring women who shaped history right here in London.

• When: Sunday, 7 March 2010, 2:30pm

• Meeting point: Outside St Martins-in-the-field Church (Trafalgar Sq).

• The route will take in several points of interest linked
  to women in history. The walk will last 1.5-2 hrs and will end near
  Westminster Tube station.

• All are then welcome to join us as we continue along the embankment for a well deserved drink at the Nell Gwynne Tavern
  www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub1351.php.

• If you would like to join one these Sunday afternoon walks, please register by going to www.doodle.com/qkr6rfuivwswqdp5 and bring along a donation of £5 or more. All money will go to VSO to support their life-changing work for people like Tabita.

The walk is part of the VSO campaign for Tabita and all women who walk millions of miles every day, whether to collect water, tend fields, go to markets, or get medical assistance:

Tabita lives in Sierra Leone. She was in labour for several hours at home with a traditional birth attendant, when she was advised to go to the health centre in the next district. When Tabita arrived at the centre, no-one there had the training to perform the caesarean section she needed. 

Tabita set off for the district hospital, but the hospital lacked the equipment needed for the operation.  Finally, Tabita arrived at Magbenteh Health Centre. By now, she had been in labour for three days. At Magbenteh, Tabita had an emergency caesarean section. Sadly, because Tabita had not received proper medical attention, her baby was already dead and Tabita was left with a lifelong disability.

For more about the VSO campaign and other walks across the UK, please visit www.walkforvso.org.uk

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A group for members of VSO London Supporter Groups. These pages aim to be a virtual hub for groups in London e.g. East, West, Central.

VSO Central London supporters group aims to offer regular (usually every other month) get-togethers for returned volunteers, potential volunteers and others interested in VSO work or Development.

Thanks to all who came along to the latest meeting 30th November
It was great to have more feedback and as discussed we will try to meet six times a year, on the first Monday of every other month.

We will attempt to do two 'formal' events a year, but keep the others as social events.

We discussed our next event and it was proposed to try a hustings with London MPs/PPCs to elicit party responses on international development. Julia will liaise with VSO in the first instance to get some guidelines.

We are proposing a March date for the hustings event, so please pencil in 1 March 2010.

Following on from that, we hope to meet:
Monday May 10 (to avoid bank holiday)
Monday July 5
Monday September 6
Monday November 1
More information on meeting places will be posted nearer the time. If you have a suggested, please say!

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Last meeting: supporters 'social' 23rd Sept 2009

Over 25 people turned up for the social held at the Pitcher and Piano. The event was informal and people spent time sharing ideas about what they would like from a regular group and ways to get involved in VSO support.

It also gave those considering volunteering a chance to talk to former volunteers about their experiences abroad and settling back into the UK. Representatives from established Supporter Groups from West and East London were also on-hand to offer their experiences of group involvement.

Ideas discussed included:
A more structured skillshare evening where people talk about their transferable skills e.g. project management / fundraising

A charity music evening (there were some talented people among the attendees!) to
raise money for VSO

A network VSO can call on to support particular campaigns e.g. Migration of Health
Workers

If you have suggestions for future events please feel free to exchange ideas via this communitiy.

Thank you, Jane (moderator)