President Gwen (L) and IPP Kathleen

Four members of SI Burnley including President Gwen and her mother, Immediate Past President Kathleen, attended the 75th Chartering celebration weekend for our Friendship Link club SI Copenhagen.

On Friday evening, over 200 Soroptimists and guests from 14 countries attended a Reception at the Town Hall and were welcomed by SI Copenhagen president, Dorrit Lingbo.  

The theme for the Conference on Saturday was “Women Through 75 years: Role Models.”  At the start of the conference, the immediate past president of Soroptimist International, Hanne Jensbo, lit a candle for Soroptimism.  Barbara Murray of the Burnley club lit the second candle “For International Contacts and Friendship Clubs”. There was a spontaneous round of applause as she made the dedication in English and then in Danish.  After the formal ceremonies, Hanna Jensbo made the opening address which was followed by a number of presentations on the conference theme by eminent and powerful women.  The second speaker was the Swedish Ambassador to Denmark, Inga Eriksson Fogh, who outlined both serious and light-hearted milestones in the fascinating history between the two nations.  She was followed by Lise-Lotte Rebel, a Bishop in the Helsingør Diocese who gave a thought provoking presentation about her family background, her religious studies and her rise to her current position.

After a short break, there was a dynamic presentation by Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissioner for Climate Change.  She, too, explained how she had progressed both personally and professionally to her present role and the challenges she now faces with the critical global climate changes.   The final speaker was  Bolette Christensen, a former Director of the Confederation of Danish Industries (DI) who spoke positively about management tools and learning processes especially in the way they could be beneficial to women in business and the professions .

The final ceremony of the Conference was a short presentation by the Director of a programme for women and their children who need support.   Two young women were introduced to the delegates and presented with cash awards to use towards their future security.  Their ‘thank-you’ was poignant and their emotions infectious.  At the closure of the Conference, the Soroptimist Symphony was sung and guests retired to enjoy the refreshments and an afternoon free to explore Copenhagen.

The Gala Dinner on Saturday evening at the stunning Moltkes Palae was spectacular.  There was a champagne reception in the glittering rooms.  The menu was divine and memorable – Creamy lobster bisque with lobster clunks, fennel and slow-baked grape tomatoes; Grilled Veal Tenderloin, roast pancetta, spinach, carrot puree and rosemary sauce – served with roast potatoes; Ice cream withMadagascarvanilla, raspberries and apricots served with gâteaux Marcel and crème brûlé.  The meal was accompanied by fine white, red and dessert wines and finished off with coffee and exquisite chocolates.   The courses were interspersed with short presentations by various guests and there was a programme of international songs by a gentleman choir conducted by a young woman.

On the final morning of the weekend, guests had the option of various guided walks around Copenhagen or a bus tour of the city and its surroundings.  It really was a Wonderful, WONDERFUL programme for Copenhagen’s 75th Charter celebrations.

President Gwen Greenwood (R) and club member Barbara Murray with the latest batch of Comfort Packs

Burnley Soroptimists have again been making up Comfort Packs for the ladies at the local Women’s Refuge. 

President Gwen said “These women frequently need to flee an abusive situation in haste and arrive at the refuge without any possessions – not even personal items.  We know from past experience how much these toiletry packs are valued by the ladies.  In fact, when they were asked to relate their experiences at the Refuge for last year’s annual general report and magazine, a number of ladies recalled how grateful they were to receive an individual pack of personal items when they arrived.”   

Each wash bag contains essentials such as soap and flannel; toothbrush and paste; shampoo, comb or hairbrush and a pack of tissues but add other items such as conditioner, shower gel or body creams when they have them. 

President Gwen continued “The Burnley Soroptimist members donate all the contents for the Comfort packs.   Some members add an item or two when they do their weekly shop, others pass on items superfluous to their needs and some make a modest donation to buy items which may be needed to complete the packs.   The Burnley Soroptimists have also passed on quality children’s clothes and games to the Refuge.”  

“It is humbling for those of us who have enjoyed a happy and harmonious family life to know that these modest comfort packs have such a positive impact on the ladies who arrive at the Refuge and we have embraced the opportunity to support local ladies who are experiencing difficulties. ”  

Picture: President Gwen (centre) with host and hostess John and Ivy Crossley

A highly successful “wedding reception” to celebrate the marriage of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton was organised by Burnley Soroptimists.   The event was held to raise funds for a Contact Centre which facitates an absent parent having contact with his or her child in a supervised and safe environment.

The royal wedding feast was held in a marquee at the home of Burnley club member Mrs Ivy Crossley and her husband John.   Tickets for the event were based on the actual royal wedding invitations and guests were welcomed with a glass of ’bubbly’.   Club members brought along contributions of sweets and puddings to supplement the grand array of fine fayre provided by the hostess.  Guests were also asked to bring along gifts for a novelty Bring and Buy stall but with all the items gift wrapped to look like wedding presents.  These were sold off and at the end of the day over £550 was raised for the project. 

Besides the fund raising there was a brain teasing free quiz relating to the royal family and a fun game of “Mr and Mrs” which had the contestants realising how much – or how little – they knew about each other.   For instance one man said he was better at singing than whistling or playing an instrument but his wife disagreed.  As the answers were revealed, the wife said she couldn’t believe he had chosen singing because he had “an awful singing voice’.  The husband countered with “Yes, you are right – but you haven’t heard my whistling!” which had the other guests roaring with laughter.   The couple who successfully answered every question about each other and won the competition were club member Susan Biggs and her husband David.   He was asked if his wife had been invited to a royal wedding whether she would worry most about what to wear, what to buy as a wedding present or the protocol.   He immediately said she would be most concerned about what to wear – and Mrs Biggs agreed with him.  

Thanking the host and hostess, President Gwen Greenwood said “This was a highly successful event and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  We can’t thank Ivy and John enough for their generosity today and the members had a delightful afternoon.  It was an interesting, imaginative, fun-packed afternoon with excellent food and good company.  It was a chance for us to celebrate the royal wedding and raise much needed funds for the Contact Centre which Burnley Soroptimists and other SI clubs in the region support.” 

President Kathleen Howarth presenting a cheque for £1500 to the Dyneley Riding for the Disabled representative, Catherine Hargreaves.  The money was raised at a fun race night.

Margaret Parsons of the Burnley Express presenting the Championship prizes to Kevin Quinn.

Members of SI Burnley were ‘certain’ that they could raise much needed funds for the Dyneley branch of Riding for the Disabled with one of the their mock race evenings.  A similar event  ’Going to the Dogs’ with a greyhound theme in the previous presidential year had raised over £1000 for the local Emmaus project.   Their latest effort, “A Racing Cert” with a racehorse theme exceeded their projected target and raised an amazing £1500. 

Wooden horses designed and made especially for the occasion were pulled along a track at St Cuthbert’s community hall as friends and supporters cheered them along to a winning line.   There was laughter as one of the Burnley Soroptimists and a friend donned a well-worn pantomime horse outfit and danced around the room as the guests enjoyed a modest nosebag of turkey sandwiches and nibbles.  They were also challenged to answer a fun quiz with questions as diverse as “Who rode the queen mother’s horse Devon Loch when it collapsed on the run-in to the Grand National?” and “What was the Mule called in ‘Watch with Mother’?”.

After six closely close run races there was a Championship race with all the winners competing against each other.   Kevin Quinn’s horse “Super Samuel” came from behind to overtake the front runners and take the title.  He was presented with a bottle of pink bubbly, flowers, a silver trophy and a voucher for £25 by Margaret Parsons, News Editor of the Burnley Express who had sponsored the Championship.  Mr Quinn kindly donated the £25 voucher kindly donated by Mrs Heap of 1st Choice Pet Foods to the Dyneley RDA group.  1st Choice also donated 40kgs of horse feed to the race winners which was passed on the RDA group.

The immediate past president of the Burnley Soroptimists, Pauline Frost-Hardwick, thanked everyone for their support and contributions to the successful event.  She said “The girls from the Dyneley RDA group deserve all the support we can give them.  They do a superb job with young and not so young disabled people and they need funds for specialist equipment to continue their vital resource.  The young ladies have more than contributed to the success of the event by selling tickets, individually sponsoring races and horses and selling tote tickets.  They even helped us to decorate the room with pictures of their horses and other riding related items.  We are so pleased that all the hard work has paid off.  Our president, Mrs Kathleen Howarth who, unfortunately couldn’t be at the event, will be handing the proceeds over very shortly.”

Unfortunately, Mrs Ogden broke a bone in her foot a short time before the event and had to call on her husband, Jim, to serve the guests their glasses of Sherry from an impressive selection.  Members of the Social Committee rallied round to help and Joyce obeyed the medics – she rested her foot by sitting at the busy Bring and Buy stall for the duration of the event.  Guests brought home made jam, cakes and attractive jewellery besides a wide ranging selection of new, unwanted items.  

Club president, Mrs Kathleen Howarth said “This is the first time we have had an event of this kind and we are really grateful to Joyce and her husband for offering their home and hosting this highly successful Sherry and Shortcake morning.   This was a great opportunity for members to get together socially and we raised over £370 which is incredibly impressive for a few hours of fund-raising – besides which, we all went home with tasty home made produce and bargains recycled by members who no longer needed them.”    

Picture: The incapacitated Mrs Ogden ‘running’ the well stocked Bring and Buy table.  

President Kathleen Howarth with Braille Books and simple writing frames for Nigeria.

As part of their Programme Action marking International Literacy Day in September, members of S. I. Burnley sent out a large quantity of Braille books and other educational equipment to a school for disabled children in the Osun state of Nigeria.  

Club member, Marlies Oloyede and her Nigerian born late husband became aware of the needs of the children on one of their regular visits to the region.  Two other Burnley club members who had worked together in a sensory disability team used their contacts to gather books in Braille format and some technical equipment to enable the disabled children to improve their literacy skills despite their difficulties.    

President, Mrs Kathleen Howarth said “We take so much for granted when we can see and hear.  There are children in this school with various levels of sight and hearing loss who greatly benefit educationally from the relatively simple and surplus equipment which we are able to send to them.   These are not state of the art items.  There are magnifiers which allow partially sighted children to see the written word and writing frames which allow them to keep their school work neat and level.    Many of the schools have had VSO workers and some of the blind children have knowledge of Braille but they’ve had no opportunity to practice it because Braille books are so difficult for them to obtain.  They are also bulky, for example, the Braille copy of “The Little Oxford Dictionary of Current English” which we will be posting out later this week comes in 16 volumes! 

We have also sent out a large quantity of hearing aids which are matched to the individual loss of each hearing impaired child.   They had more than they needed for their pupils and distributed the surplus to six other schools. 

 A teacher with all his or her skills needs to be able to communicate effectively with the pupils.   This equipment greatly helps in the education of children with a sensory loss.  It not only improves their educational potential but also gives them some degree of equality with their fellow pupils.”

Hostess Mrs Una Green receiving a Spode Soroptimist plate from a club member.

A highly successful fundraiser for Pendleside Hospice was held at the home of SI Burnley club member Mrs Una Green and her husband Tony.  The event called “Putting on the Ritz” was a sumptuous afternoon tea accompanied by the best champagne.

Guests were greeted on arrival with a glass of Pimms and delightful music from the talented Royal Northern College of Music graduate, harpist Miss Mairi McLeod. 

A Bollinger Bowls skittle competition and a game ’putting’ at a copy of the Ritz facade kept the guests entertained between the showers and a ‘Prize Every Time’ bottle stall plus a Silent Auction encouraged everyone to give generously.  One of the guests also donated a piece of specialist equipment for visually impaired people which was sold on to a local community group and added to the proceeds. 

Burnley club President Kathleen Howarth thanked the hostess, her husband and others who had worked so hard to achieve the grand total of £1,331.

President Kathleen presents the hostess Helen Warland-King with a Soroptimist golf umbrella.

A downpour at the beginning of an American Independence Day fundraiser failed to dampen the spirits of nearly 50 Burnley Soroptimists and friends.   The hostess’s husband Colin continued to ‘broil his burgers’ on the BBQ shielded from the deluge by a guest holding an umbrella!  

As the rain persisted, the guests entertained themselves indoors studying pictures of famous US landmarks and answering questions as diverse as “Who was the youngest US president?” and “What do the initials C.I.A stand for?”.  Meanwhile, in the kitchen, club members and friends were preparing hot dogs, onions and garnishes.  

After the burgers and ‘dogs’ had been consumed, everyone tucked into American muffins and home made chocolate brownies.  

The rain finally started to ease off and the guests ventured outdoors to enjoy some US themed games.    An 80+ year old Burnley Soroptimist who had been her school Sports Captain was “disappointed” to find her netball skills had left her when she joined in the Basketball competition.  That particular game was won by a guest, Tom Warman, who pipped daughter Ruth to take the prize.   Another guest, Cliffe O’Neill, narrowly beat three others to win the Ring on a String competition.  ‘Tossing the Horseshoes’ was won by Richard, husband of past president and former club secretary, Ann Haddock.  The Skittles competition was so fiercely contested that there had to be a play off between five of the guests.  It was finally won by the hostess’s next door neighbour who had come straight round to join in the festivities minutes after arriving back from holiday.     

A raffle seemed to have enough prizes for most of the guests to win one and the day was brought to a spectacular conclusion with the host and his friend Alan setting off some celebratory fireworks which had been kindly donated by Homebase in Clitheroe.

President Kathleen thanked the hostess and her husband for all their efforts adding further thanks to other Soroptimists and guests who had contributed to the great success of the day.    Presenting Helen with a Soroptimist golf umbrella, the president apologised that it was not now ‘brand new’ because we’d had to use it to shelter the guests during the worst downpours of the day. 

President Kathleen said “The proceeds of the raffle will go to the hostess’s chosen charity, the MS society, and the rest of the profits will go to the Contact Centre which is one of our SI Burnley Programme Action projects.   In spite of the weather, everyone enjoyed themselves very much indeed and joined in the fun by wearing red, white and blue clothes.  By the end of the day the weather had changed and we were all sitting  outside in the glorious sunshine.  We’re now looking forward to our next event, a Pimms reception and champagne Afternoon Tea called ‘Putting on the Ritz’.”     

President Kathleen Howarth presented a long service award and flowers on behalf of the Burnley Soroptimists to Miss Nora Simpson, M.B.E.

Miss Simpson has been a member of the club for 40 years and had served in many offices including President until failing heath forced her resignation.

President Kathleen said “It is really sad that Nora is unable to continue as a member of the club.  She has been a very committed Soroptimist over the years and has forged and maintained many of our Friendship Links.   Until a few years ago she also maintained the scrapbooks recording the club’s social events and programme action work.  Unfortunately failing eyesight forced her to relinguish this task but her legacy is greatly appreciated.”