December Lunch | Graham Tom, Luxury Bespoke Jeweller and Diamond Specialist

This year we are starting off the festive season with lots of sparkle as our December speaker is luxury bespoke jeweller and Diamond Specialist Graham Tom. Graham divides his time between his home in Sotogrande and London at his jewellery workshop and offices in Hatton Garden. He is a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and British Jewellery Association. Graham offers a discreet service delivering uniquely designed gemset fine and contemporary jewellery to suit his discerning clients lifestyle. Typical commissions may range from an Eternity ring for a commemmorative event to an important pair of earrings for a gala dinner. He is also available to remount jewellery perhaps into a more favourable piece or setting and to source rare Coloured Diamonds for Investment.

We are delighted to say that Graham has also kindly donated the top prize in our Raffle in aid of the Animal Charity Prodean. The raffle will be drawn at the lunch on the 9th of December and Graham will present the lucky winner with a superb collection of semi precious stones and a design consultation to make them into a fabulous bespoke bracelet or necklace.
For further information please contact Graham on http://www.grahamtom.com/.

Wednesday 9th December

San Roque Golf and Country Club

Drinks reception and arrivals from 12.00 midday.

Speaker commences at 1pm prompt

November Lunch | Leslie Gent, Global Head of Capital Markets and Product Research, Global Investments Services, Coutts & Co

We are delighted to have Leslie Gent, Global Head of Capital Markets and Product Research at Coutts & Co. as our guest speaker, for our November lunch on Thursday 19 November 2009 at our regular venue, San Roque Golf and Country Club.

This will be an interesting and informative event and will be open to both men and women. Please invite your husbands, partners, friends and work colleagues. There will be a drinks reception from 12.00 midday and our speaker will commence at 1pm prompt.

About Leslie Gent As Global Head of Capital Markets and Product Research, Leslie has primary responsibility for building, leading and managing a global team of investment specialists who provide security recommendations and support for equities, fixed income, long-biased funds as well as alternative investments.

Prior to this role, Leslie was a Portfolio Manager responsible for the portfolio management decisions for the NatWest and RBS Private Banking discretionary propositions as well as Coutts’ Sterling Discretionary Investment Management Accounts.

Before joining Coutts in 2006, Leslie spent five years at Charles Schwab in San Francisco where she was headed up the investment research division specialising in manager selection, asset allocation, and product research.

Previous experience includes four years at Robertson Stephens where Leslie was a sell-side equity research analyst covering the semi-conductor and data storage industries.

Leslie graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. She has obtained the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of London Society of Financial Analysts and the CFA Institute. Leslie is a participant in the CFA Institute’s Continuing Education program.

http://www.coutts.com/

What's On in Sotogrande | Christmas Concert Sotogrande International School

We are delighted to support this wonderful Festive concert featuring popular Christmas Carols, Seasonal Favourites and themed Musical Theatre. Stars include the acclaimed Welsh Tenor Steven LLoyd Morgan & Guests, which will include amongst others the Sotogrande International
School Choir and the brilliant Arran Harding of Tres Divos

Date and Time Wednesday 16th December at 7.30pm
Venue Sotogrande International School

Tickets 15 Euros (including a donation to the Schools nominated Charity) will be on sale from the 9th November from Sotogrande International School, Anglo Wines in Sotogrande, Beccy's in Monte Duquesa; Christins' Cards in Sabinillas; and GlitTerati Books in Benavista.

Reservations 697 783 942 or info at www.slmlive.com

Review | The Concierto de Voces Celestiales, A Huge Success and Total "Sell Out”

The Concierto de Voces Celestiales was a huge success and a total "sell out”. Our spectacular venue, the Monasterio de San Martin de Tesorillo was filled with fabulous music and an electric atmosphere. Our stars for the evening included the fabulous Steven Lloyd Morgan, Tres Divos, Donna Marie Hughes and Mario Solis. Everyone had a fabulous evening and loved the talented singers renditions of songs from top West End Shows: Popular Opera and all time greats such as "My Heart Will Go On", a worldwide hit for Celine Dion. Mario Solis also wowed us with his superb classical Spanish Guitar pieces. The concert was held in aid of our animal charity PRODEAN and we were honoured to have Carmen Ardula Canales, the president of Prodean with us on the night. A huge thanks also to Richard from Anglo Wines who sponsored our pre-concert cocktails and interval drinks.

View video

October Event | Concierto de Voces Celestiales on Friday 16th October

On Friday 16th October we will be presenting a fabulous concert in aid of the Animal Charity Prodean. The Concierto de Voces Celestiales will be open to all. It will take place at the beautiful Monasterio de San Martin de Tesorillo (see map below) which is 15 minutes from Sotogrande.
This amazing musical extravaganza will feature the highlights of Musical Theatre and Opera will star the Welsh Tenor Steven Lloyd-Morgan, Tres Divos, soprano Donna Marie Hughes and classical guitarist Stephen Greenwood.

Tickets are 35 euros and include pre concert cocktails and interval drinks especially provided by Anglo Wines in Sotogrande http://www.anglowines.com/.

The drinks reception will commence at 8.30pm and the concert will start at 9.30pm prompt.
Tickets are available from Anglo Wines and Videola, Sotogrande, Beccy's, Duquesa; Christina's cards, Sabinillas; Glitterati Books; Benavista and more.

There will also be raffle tickets for sale at 5 euros also in aid of Prodean , the prizes are really superb and the raffle will be drawn at the Concert Interval.

So dig deep. It's all in a really good cause.

More information:
www.slmlive.com/monasterio
Hotel Monasterio de San Martin website
Click here for Google Map and Drivng Directions
Prodean Animal Charity

Digital Photography Courses in Sotogrande, Cadiz, Southern Spain

Philakia produces unique images combining creative talent with today's photographic technology. We also offer photography courses. If you would like to know more about photography Philakia offers a 3 day course on Digital Photography, Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. Set in the inspiring environment of beautiful Andalucia in the South of Spain. For more information click here.

Review of September 2009 Lunch

We've have a fantastic response to our September speaker Sharmen Lane. Sharmen is an amazing motivational speaker who came over from New York especially to talk to us. We're now filled with enthusiasm and constantly delving into her book "The 7 Secrets to Create Your Fate" to spur us on and and help us redirect our energies into achieving long held passions and ambitions. The perfect way to start off our Autumn/Winter calender of events.

September Lunch | Sharmen Lane, Motivational Keynote Speaker, Radio Show Host & Self Help Author

Sharmen Lane will be our speaker at September lunch, on Wednesday 16th September, at our regular venue, San Roque Golf and Country Club. Please arrive around 12 noon.

About Sharmen Lane Sharmen Lane has trained, managed, and coached thousands of individuals on what it takes to get what they want in business and in life. She is rapidly gaining ce-lebrity status as an author, speaker, and host of the Success Made Simple Radio Show on Webtalkradio.net, with a worldwide audience of more than 100,000 listeners every month.

Sharmen gives you the WOW and the HOW! Unlike most motivational speakers who just give you the rah rah excitement, Shar takes it a step further… she gives you motivation and inspiration along with practical yet powerful information and tangible tools to create the life you want. Shar offers amazing techniques and tips to help make you suc-cessful at achieving your goals, no matter what they are.

Sharmen’s own literary agent who has represented some of the most successful authors in the country, such as Eckhart Tolle and Kevin Trudeau, and who was responsible for the For Dummies Series of books!

Sharmen wrote the book titled “The 7 Secrets to Create Your Fate”, a personal growth, self-development book that provides the motivation, inspiration and information to help you create the life you dream of. She has personally gone from being a manicurist to mil-lionaire and she did it by using all the principles described in her book. Shar takes you from NOW to WOW and shows you how to make it all happen!

She currently has several programs. The 7 Secrets to Success, Success Made Simple (easy as ABC), The 3 C’s To Success, The 7 Secrets to Create Your Fate and GPS~Navigate Your Way To The Life You Want, just to name a few.

Learn more about Sharmen Lane by visiting her website http://www.sharspeaks.com/

Review of June Lunch

Passionate Cook Rashida Reidel gave us an interesting and varied talk on the benefits of using natural foodstuffs, organic fruit, vegetables and fresh herbs. She even chatted about the virtues of "healthy chocolate", which we all agreed had to be tasted to fully appreciate. So we did! The perfect way to launch us into our summer break and enjoy the summer holiday season.

Visit Rashida's website at www.easydishes.com.

Special Membership Offer from June to December 2009

Sotogrande Women is offering a special six month membership rate of 37 Euros. If you have been to a Sotogrande Women meeting previously and hadn't got around to joining - now is the perfect opportunity. We have some fabulous speakers lined up at a range of superb venues.

For more information please contact Irene on +34 663 850 207 or email irene@luxury-partners.com.

Click here to download our membership form.

Review of May Lunch

Our speaker for May was the Architect and Interior Designer Lyle Pewsey. Lyle presented a selection of fabulously creative ideas on " How to give your home a Facelift" and also donated three Interior Design consultations to our raffle in aid of PRODEAN. Special thanks also go to Anglo Wines, Black Box Theatre and KoolJewels for their raffle prizes.

June Lunch | Rashida Reidel, Passionate Cook and Advocator of Healthy Food

Our June lunch is on Wednesday 24th June at the San Roque Golf and Country Club. Arrivals as normal for drinks from 12.00pm and our speaker will commence at 1pm prompt.

June's speaker is Rashida Reidel, who was born in Algeria and speaks four languages: Arabic, French, English and Spanish. She has lived an international life in Paris, London, Geneva, Beirut, Maritius Island, Buenos Aires and now lives in Marbella.

At her beach-side villa, is a covered, open kitchen facing the sea, and this is where Rashida teaches international dishes her way, that are healthy, easy and fun.

She has been a regular guest for nearly 3 years on REM FM , which is now Talk Radio Europe and joins Hannah Murray on her cookery show every first Monday of the month

For further information , please visit www.easydishes.com.

SotoSolWalk 2009

Ok Girls, now is the time to have fun and get fit in aid of Cancer Research. The SotoSol walk is an 18k walk around Sotogrande on Saturday 30th May. See all the details are below if you fancy taking part:

The 5th Annual SotoSol Walk in aid of Cancer Research will take place on

Saturday May 30th

Registration & warm up commences at 8.30 am with a 9 am prompt start

All welcome, bring your children, your partner,your dogs!

This 18 km fun walk round the urbanisation of Sotogrande commences at
Sotogrande International School and finishes at El Club Maritimo in Sotogrande Port where a welcome glass of cava and tapas await you.

Lunch, drinks, coffee will be available - El Club Maritimo are offering us a special menu

T shirts, Registration and sponsor forms available from May 11th at SIS

We have many helpers distributing water and snacks en route

Last year we raised €15,000 for Breast cancer research, lets see if we can beat that figure this year!

For further information & to make a donation
visit www.justgiving.com/sotosolwalk

or contact Wendy Moody 667 573 584, Alison Tindling 690167317
Mary Waterous 630532779 Christine Hodgson 619737018
Jo Tromans 671733522 Rupali Khanna 608467403

May Lunch | Lyle Pewsey, Interior Designer

Our May lunch is on Wednesday 20th May at the San Roque Golf and Country Club. Arrivals as normal for drinks from 12.00pm and our speaker will commence at 1pm prompt.

Our Speaker is the celebrated interior designer, Lyle Pewsley who is the CEO of Lyle Pewsey Architecture and Interior design Marbella and London. Lyle's creative designs have featured in many international lifestyle magazines and he has worked in many world locations on some spectacular projects.

The subject of his talk will be "Give your Home a Facelift", which is particularly relevant in the current economic climate as many people will now choose to make changes to their existing home rather than move.

About Lyle
Lyle Pewsey is a celebrated interior designer whose projects have graced the pages of several International lifestyle magazines. He has worked with a variety of design styles, from classic to contemporary, first in Cape Town where he gained his BA in architectural design, later in Singapore where he masterminded the interior design of Discovery Channel’s Asian offices and the Singapore Grand Hyatt Hotel. Since moving to Marbella in 2002 he has focused on residential projects and designed interiors for luxurious developments such as Torre Bermeja, La Trinidad, El Embrujo and El Retiro de Nagüeles as well as numerous villas in Spain and the UK. More than just an architect and interior designer, Lyle offers a service based on his belief that a home should be a reflection of the owner’s personality and lifestyle rather than just a design statement. His aim is to to provide personalised design that encapsulates the preference of the client while taking their ideas several steps further. This client-friendly philosophy makes stylish design accesible to a wide range of people looking for professional help and guidance . From advice on jazzing up a faded interior to the management of an extensive project to style your whole home, Lyle has the creative vision and practical experience to bring your ideas to life.

April Lunch | Dream Image at Finca Cortesin Hotel, Golf & Spa

The venue for our April lunch was the beautiful five star Finca Cortesin Hotel, Golf and Spa.. We enjoyed cocktails and lunch in the spectacular surroundings. A special thanks to Dr Jean Luc Bachelier who flew in in especially from Paris to talk to us about Aesthetic Medicine and to the members of the Dream Image team.

Finca Cortesin generously provided us with prizes of four indivual spa days and one for a couple in aid of our Animal charity Prodean and one of our lucky members also won 1000 euros of Aesthetic Medicine with Dr Bachelier and Dream Image.

A very special day at a wonderful location.

Visit
Finca Cortesin Spa
Dream Image
Prodean

Fantastic Raffle Prizes in Aid of our Animal Charity PRODEAN

We have two superb raffle prizes in aid of our animal charity PRODEAN at our April Lunch (Thursday 23 April) including a fantastic spa day at Finca Cortesin plus our other terrific prize is 1000 euros worth of Aesthetic Surgery donated by Dream Image and performed by Dr Bachelier.

Visit

Finca Cortesin Spa

Dream Image

Prodean

April Lunch Venue | Finca Cortesin, Hotel, Golf and Spa on Thursday 23 April

Our April lunch is on Thursday 23rd April at the new five star Finca Cortesin, Hotel, Golf and Spa,which is located half way between Sotogrande and Estepona.

There will be change of venue from time to time, however our lunches throughout the year will mostly be at San Roque Golf and Country Club.

March Lunch | Gucci Wars with Jenny Gucci and Mary Harboe

Jenny Gucci joined us for a superb lunch in March. She was interviewed by leading journalist and presenter Mary Harboe. Jenny amazed us with her fascinating life story which was also the subject of the recent book the "Gucci Wars" which Mary wrote on Jenny's behalf. Members and lunch guests where delighted to buy copies of the book at a special prices and Jenny very kindly donated a copy as a raffle prize for PRODEAN.

Please read Brenda Cuby's review of The Gucci Wars.

The San Roque Club is the venue for 18th March Lunch

Our March lunch is on Wednesday 18th March at the San Roque Golf and Country Club. We will be meeting for drinks from 12.00 midday and our speaker will commence at 1pm. (arrivals after 1pm will not be admitted). Click here to view map and directions.

Our honoured guest Jenny Gucci , subject of the facinating book "Gucci Wars", will be interviewed by the award winning journalist and broadcaster Mary Harboe. This lunch is going to be very popular, therefore please reserve your place as soon as you can. The final closing date for reservations will be Monday 16th of March . No e-mail or phone bookings will be taken after this.

Diary Dates | Date Confirmed for March Lunch: Wednesday 18th March

Our March meeting will be on Wednesday 18th March at 12 noon. Make sure you mark this up in your diary, our speaker will be Jenny Gucci.

Performing Soprano , Voice Coach and subject of the "Gucci Wars"Jenny Gucci was studying music in Italy when she fell in love with one of the world's wealthiest men. A few months later she became Mr Paulo Gucci . However, when the marriage went sour, she quickly learned the downside of being a Gucci wife as her philandering husband cut her and her daughter off without a penny. The subsequent battle throught the High Courts of London and New York continued up to an after Paolos death in 1995 and has never been resolved . Jenny's story is facinating and she will talk about her remarkable life.

Introducing our Animal Charity, PRODEAN

Sotogrande Women has a new passion to give much needed help to the Animal Charity PRODEAN. We aim to help in a number of ways including: monetary donations, foodstuffs, blankets, baskets, cleaning materials and other essential supplies. In fact everything is needed. So really think before you through anything out, it could be of help.

Volunteers to help with the animals are also needed – a special request is also made to prospective "doggie walkers" … just think, save on a gym membership and get walking!

Carmen, the President of PRODEAN, spoke at our February lunch and introduced us to the Charity and our member Tete kindly translated.

There is much work to be done, the current website http://www.prodeancampodegibraltar.es/ needs updating and translating. We are also planning a Summer evening event in aid of PRODEAN and will need raffle and auction donations. (The venue and date of the event are not finalised, however it is likely to be mid-July).

Tete is also dedicating her time to PRODEAN to help take over supplies in her van and also being the main point of contact for enquires. You can reach Tete at TETEMIRIEL5@telefonica.net or on +34 600 6000 68.