Three Members of Prominent Women’s Charity Recognised in King’s New Year Honours List

Dr Kay Linnell, Ruth Smith, Pamela Swain and Elspeth Robinson have been awarded honours fortheir various efforts across the UK, Jersey, Kenya and Uganda, this January.

Dr Kay Linnell, a Forensic Accountant, Expert Witness and Key Adviser to the Justice forSubpostmasters Alliance, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, has been awarded an OBE for her servicesto justice.

Dr Kay Linnell said: “The Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance, JFSA, exists to regather the money wrongly taken from sub-postmasters and to recover their losses. It is only one of the struggles for justice that I have been involved with for so many years.”

A member of SIGBI’s Winchester club, Kay has been a Soroptimist – the name given to members of SIGBI – for over 40 years. She has held several roles, as part of the charity, including Regional President for the Southern England Region – and Kay was originally a member of the charity’s Greater London club (which was the first chartered in the UK).

“All Soroptimists that I have met have the same goal to fight injustice, inequality and make the world a better place,” Kay added.

Kay specialises in financial disputes and areas of litigation support including civil, family and criminal matters.

Ruth Smith, a teacher and member of a SIGBI club in Jersey, has been awarded an MBE for her services to communities in Jersey and Kenya.

She moved to Jersey at 23 years old, in 1973. Since then, Ruth has spent time there supporting the community as a youth worker and part-time teacher, teaching English and psychology. Ruth also led the Jersey Dyslexia Association for many years and established a youth club in Trinity.

In 2014, she took a gap year to travel to Australia, South Africa, and Kenya. During her time in Kenya, she founded a school in the town of Malindi.

Ruth Smith said: “I established my own school in 2015, self-funded, initially as an early-years school because so many children were not attending school. Today, it supports nearly 300 pupils, from early years up to Year 6, and employs 18 staff.”

The school is registered as a charity in Jersey called The Friends of Malindi Bright Future Academy. Ruth visits regularly, often three months at a time, and is next due to visit early this year.

She also contributes to the school by donating proceeds from her children's storybooks about Twinkle the Donkey, featuring illustrations by local artist Anita Eastwood.

Pamela Swain, Chief Executive of the British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN), from Fleetwood, Lancashire, part of SIGBI’s club in Blackpool, has been awarded an MBE for her services to dental nursing.

Pamela has worked for the Association since 1992. She has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to the profession and is known for advocating for dental nurses.

Pamela said: “Dental nurses are the ‘Cinderella staff’ of the dentistry profession - and dentistry is itself a ‘Cinderella service’. It does not get the recognition that other areas of the health services get.

“Dental nurses are often paid minimum wages - even when they work for an NHS practice they are not recognised as NHS staff, and so do not have access to the benefits enjoyed by NHS employees.

“Many dental nurses work part time, so their earnings are relatively low, despite the important job they do. I’m proud to be a part of the work BADN does in supporting and promoting dental nurses.”

Pamela is also Editor of the British Dental Nurses’ Journal and writes regular columns for several dental publications.

Elspeth Robinson, Founder, Chair and Fundraiser for the Kumi Community Foundation, from Darlington, County Durham, has been awarded an MBE for her services to disabled people in Kumi, Eastern Uganda.

A member of SIGBI’s Darlington club for over 19 years, Elspeth founded the Kumi Community Foundation in 2002.

Elspeth Robinson said: "I first went to Kumi Hospital in Uganda following my redundancy afterworking as a physiotherapist for nearly 40 years.

“28 visits later, my input has progressed into the Kumi Community Foundation, a registered charity,which has changed my life.

“I started by treating a few children with disabilities in the hospital rehab department and gradually, wedeveloped a programme based in the rural community for families living in extreme poverty and withdisabilities and/or malnourishment."

Elspeth visits Kumi every year and stays for about ten weeks as she supports individuals in remoteareas of the Ugandan bush. While in the UK, she fundraises for the programme.

Ruth Healey, President of SIGBI, said: “What a great honour for Kay, Ruth and Pamela, not to mention Soroptimists everywhere. Having known each woman for a number of years, this January’s awards are highly deserved and acknowledge each person’s tireless dedication to their causes.

“They each join a long line of amazing, courageous and inspiring Soroptimists worldwide who have been recognised in similar ways for their hard work and action on behalf of people in need, specifically women and girls.

“Kay’s efforts for justice, Ruth’s efforts in education and Pamela’s in the dental profession really sum up what it means to be a Soroptimist, and to be a part of SIGBI.

“On behalf of Soroptimists everywhere, I congratulate Kay, Ruth and Pamela on their awards and their addition to an impressive roll call of inspiring women. We’re so proud of the work our members continue to do.”

SIGBI, originally founded in 1934, is part of Soroptimist International, a global organisation formed in 1921, born out of the service movement.

The organisation – which has consultancy status at the United Nations – focuses on empowering women and girls to achieve their full potential and works to eliminate barriers and discriminations that hinder women’s progress.

The charity does this through its 248 clubs throughout the UK, Ireland, Malta, Asia and the Caribbean – over 200 of which are in the UK – and currently has a total of 5,150 members.

SIGBI is a membership organisation which focuses on empowering women and girls to achieve their full potential. Get involved now: https://sigbi.org/