SI BAROSSA VALLEY INC Club Closed 2021

Welcome to the Barossa Valley Soroptimist Club!                Follow us on

The Barossa is one of Australia's prime tourism destinations. World famous for its amazing wine culture and rich passion for food merged with a thriving arts scene and innovative regional development.

We are a Club of 38 active and enthusiastic women who want to make a difference to the lives of women and girls in our own community and across the world. Members come from a wide area, Kapunda to Gawler, and with a diverse range of backgrounds but we all enjoy the close friendships and the challenges of achieving our goals together.

Many of our club projects have received recognition including several awards from the Premier's Association of Community Service Awards.

We meet twice a month. We meet at the Vine Inn in Nuriootpa on the second Monday of the month for our main business meeting and then again on the fourth Monday of the month for a more social get together, dinner and often a guest speaker. We often organise social 'get togethers' throughout the year.

If you'd like to visit or find out more about us and what we do just email  sibarossavalley@siswp.org

SI Barossa Valley Club Projects and Activities

SIBV Support Education as the key to advancing the status of women and girls.

• SIBV support The Barossa Young Carer's Programme by providing Scholarships to help these young carers financially enabling them to continue their schooling.
• Contribute to two award prizes to University students; studying Bio-technology (Plant technology), studying Gender Studies.
• Award two prizes to a local high school student and a local primary school student to help towards the cost of their studies.
• Support the local High Schools "Business Week" activities annually with involvement in judging, support the annual "Children's Week"activities, and recently provided funds for a local play group coordinator to attend a training course.
• SIBV Sponsored two children at the Sunrise Children's Village in Cambodia for many years.

SIBV raising awareness of Domestic Violence.

'Walk The Talk' an advocacy and awareness raising campaign dedicated to the elimination of violence against women. Barossa Soroptimists join with Northern Adelaide Domestic Violence Service (NADVS) to 'Walk the Talk' in the Barossa during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Nov 25th - Dec 10th.

In partnership with NADVS, SIBV has also hosted a Domestic Violence Forum in the Barossa with funding from SPOKE Barossa Valley, Barossa Domestic Violence Advisory Group (DVAG) and SA Police (SAPOL) and run a public awareness campaign, stickers on ‘Dunny Doors’.

Domestic Violence Seminar

SIBV in partnership with the Northern Adelaide Domestic Violence Service held a half day seminar with guest speaker Sara Wendt. Sara presented her research on Domestic Violence with a focus on rural areas and the NDVS team provided participants with practical information on responding to DV. The seminar was held at the Yalumba Winery conference rooms and was a great success. Keynote Speaker Sarah Wendt along with Elaine and Mel from NDVS provided an insight into the prevalence of domestic violence particularly in rural areas. SIBV Members thank the Northern Adelaide Domestic Violence Service for their partnership and support in putting on this event and SIBV continue to work with NADVS in raising awareness of DV and in providing services and support. 

Mental Health Awareness

Doctors on Campus

SIBV supported the Nuriootpa High School "Docs On Campus" Programme. DOC is an early intervention community partnership of health and education to improve the mental health and wellbeing of school students.
Students are seen at school by a local doctor who makes an assessment, prepares a mental health care plan and refers the young person to a mental health clinician if needed who consults at school.
DOC is free, confidential and addresses the needs of young people and their families, creating a healthy school community. 1 in 5 people will experience mental health issues at some stage. DOC is an early intervention model to help to bring the issues of mental health to the open.

"Beating the Winter Blues"

A mental health and wellbeing forum, "Beating the Winter Blues" was a highly successful event. Organised by SIBV in partnership with other local community services. It was designed for anyone to come along who interested in maintaining good mental health or to learn about living with and caring for someone with a mental illness.

Emotional Well Being Forum

The forum was a great success covering topics of Problem Gambling, Financial Counselling, Anger Management for young adults, adolescents and children, Drug and alcohol abuse, Mental Health GP, Suicide Prevention strategies. Soroptimist International was the lead agency in partnership with Gawler Lions, Gawler  Council, Light regional Council, Gawler and Light Rotary, Inner North Country Health, Relationships Australia, and Adelaide Rd. Medical Centre Gawler.

The Community Kitchen

The Community Kitchen is a community project supported by SIBV and the Uniting Church Nuriootpa. It is held at the House of Hope every Thursday from 5pm till 7pm. There is great support from the wider community and an amazing band of volunteers including SIBV members, Uniting Church Nuriootpa members and community members volunteer to make and serve meals and The Barossa Kind Hearted Kitchen have been a huge support.

For more information please contact Kath sibarossavalley@siswp.org

Empowering women

Through our International Women's Day breakfast SIBV has been able to provide funds to Catherine House for their programmes to "Educate Women Out Of Homelessness". Support has also been given to Louise Place a 24-hour Supported Accommodation Service that supports young parents, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, during their pregnancy and in the early months of parenting.

The IWD Breakfast has raised awareness of, and has supported the UN Women's Programmes, the Northern Adelaide Domestic Violence Service and other community projects.

International Women's Day

SIBV celebrate International Women's Day each year with a 'Breakfast in the Barossa'. Our guest speakers at the breakfast have included Kelly Sloane, Poh Ling Yeow, Leigh McLusky, Rebecca Graham, renown author Fiona Mcintosh and Kate Taylor from the 2h Project. Our latest speaker Jess Greatwich (pictured) spoke to a sell out crowd with the theme “tangible solidarity”. “There’s the opportunity for women to be more visible in society and in business, that can be a catalyst for making changes,” said Jess.

Keep an eye on the SI BarossaValley Facebook Page for announcement of this annual event and ticket sales. Funds raised from this annual event support our projects both local and international.

Women's Business Forum

This initiative by SI Barossa Valley aimed at giving rural women the opportunity to attend a seminar a little closer to home, to build on their professional skills, listen and learn from inspirational guest speakers sharing their own experiences and make contact with other like minded women. The successful half day seminar included a workshop, keynote speakers, morning tea and lunch and we're looking forward to planning similar forums in future.

Essential Care Packs

Items including soap, shampoo, a tooth brush and shaving kits are out together into an "Essential Care Pack" and delivered to the Angaston and Tanunda Hospitals. The packs are given to people who find themselves admitted to hospital unexpectantly without basic hygiene items and to those without family or other support networks.

Optima Oil Production

A fun day picking local olives kindly donated to our club. The olives are processed into oil and members spend another day bottling the oil. Our own locally designed label is put on the oil which is then sold as a fund raiser to support our Soroptimist local and international Projects. 

Melbourne Cup Luncheon

SIBV had held a fabulous Melbourne Cup Luncheon for many years as a fundraiser to help support Soroptimist local and international Projects. It's always a sell out and always loads of fun. Contact details and ticket sales are announced through our facebook page around September each year.

Quiz Nights and film nights

Always a fun time! We hold these events at various times to support our Soroptimist local and international Projects.

Days for girls

Days for Girls International is a not-for-profit organisation who aim to create a more dignified, humane and sustainable world for girls through advocacy, reproductive health awareness, education and sustainable feminine hygiene.

SIBV support the Kapunda Sewing Group who sew feminine hygeine kits for Days for Girls, to be sent to girls in Africa (Uganda) so that they can have access to both education and dignity.

Other Hands On Activities

Members continue to volunteer time to support KESAB, the Barossa Bush Gardens and the Driver Reviver initiatives. We also regularly collect items of non perishables to donate to Barossa Community Care.

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