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Orange the World to Stop Violence Against Women

Orange the World to Stop Violence Against Women

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Fifteen Club members met at the Ugly Duckling Cafe at Bond End in Knaresborough on the 25th January. We helped #Orangetheworld as part of the United Nations project to Stop Violence Against Women and Girls.  It was a great opportunity to raise awareness and we were highly visible in our orange clothes and accessories. So why Orange the World  ? ‘The UNiTE campaign has proclaimed the 25th of each month as “Orange Day”, a day to raise awareness and take action to end violence against women and girls. As a bright and optimistic colour, orange represents a future free from violence against women and girls. Orange Day calls upon activists, governments, and UN partners to mobilize people and highlight issues relevant to preventing and ending violence against women and girls, not only once a year on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of

President Sandra with Mayor and Mayoress and Gardeners
Centennial Flower Bed on Montpellier Hill, Harrogate

Centennial Flower Bed on Montpellier Hill, Harrogate

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Wow – Thank you Harrogate Borough Council Parks and Environment  Dept for a fantastic display of flowers to celebrate 100 years. The display is on Montpellier Hill, near the famous Bettys tearoom. It was great to meet Mayor and Mayoress of Harrogate, Cllr Trevor and Janet Chapman along with the Sue Wood and her team of gardeners. They spent 8 hours laying out and planting the colourful  display. We met  Cllr Andy Paraskos who is the council lead for Parks and Environment. The nearby Information Board  lets people  know more about who we are and what we do. What a great way to celebrate Soroptimist International’s Centennial year.

Dr Kathleen Rutherford MBE
The Life and Work of Dr Kathleen Rutherford – Zoom Event 28 April 2021

The Life and Work of Dr Kathleen Rutherford – Zoom Event 28 April 2021

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We've received a lot of interest in the life of our Founder President and member Dr Kathleen Rutherford. This has included requests to see the 1970 TV programme made about her life. We have therefore organised a special Zoom event that is open to anyone interested in her life. This will take place by Zoom on the 28th April at 6.30 pm for a prompt 7 pm start. Please email sihandd@hotmail.co.uk to reserve a place.
President Sandra Frier
Club President’s Welcome – our future plans

Club President’s Welcome – our future plans

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Club President Sandra Frier address: It is an honour to be the President for Soroptimist International of Harrogate & District for 2020-21. Although our AGM was not the usual formal Presidential handover of chain of office and celebration, eighteen of our members joined our virtual AGM on Zoom. We raised a toast to all our members as well as outgoing and incoming officers. We look forward to a time for celebration on a much larger scale when all our members can meet together again and we can return to a new ‘normal’. As a Club we are finding ways to communicate and look after each other. In the first week of lockdown our priority was to put a buddy system in place, whereby a team of Soroptimists regularly contact all of us to find out how we are and making sure none of our members

Andrea Trimmer 1973-2019

Andrea Trimmer 1973-2019

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The Club is both shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Andrea Trimmer on the 10th November 2019. Andrea was an active and passionate member of the Club and Soroptimist International. She joined the Club on 2009 and served as our Events Co-ordinator from 2010-14 when she became our Club President in 2014. During her Presidential year the Club raised over £3000 for her chosen charity – the ‘Young Carers’. She was until recently both Regional and Club Development Officer Andrea was a magnificent organiser of events. If Andrea took on a responsibility you could rest assured that it would be done. We held a great fund raising event a during the Tour de France in her Presidential year and the photo of Andrea on the yellow bike surrounded by Club members and friends made it into the local papers as well as our
Club members Visiting Allerton Waste Recovery Park
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover – turning our waste into energy

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover – turning our waste into energy

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Club members Visiting Allerton Waste Recovery Park Do you ever wonder what happens to the rubbish you put in your black bin bag? Club members visited Allerton Waste Recovery Park to find out what happens to North Yorkshire and York’s rubbish. Its mantra is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover. Rubbish into Engergy Turning our rubbish into energy – enough electricity for 40,000 homes. It’s sifted, sorted and incinerated at over 850 degrees Celsius. Why black plastic is so bad? Its not detectable by the infrared sensors that sort out plastic waste for recycling. The average household generates 1 tonne of rubbish a year! We saw how much rubbish is collected in just one week (and this was after everything recyclable is removed). Frightening. Energy not Landfill The content of the black wheelie bins used to go into landfill. Now more than 90% is processed by the

Club Programme 2019-20

Club Programme 2019-20

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All meetings take place at the Yorkshire Hotel Harrogate unless otherwise stated. If you are interested in attending one  of our meetings please email sihandd@hotmail.co.uk – Meeting start at 7.30 DATE 2019 EVENT     May 1st Club meeting   May 15th Speaker meeting The history & families of Kiplin Hall, Scorton, Richmond Cathrien van Hak       June 5th Club meeting   June 19th Summer Outing Visit to Kiplin Hall, Nr Scorton, Richmond at 2pm followed by afternoon tea   July 3rd Club meeting   July 17th Speaker Meeting ‘Park Life’, The Parks of Harrogate District, Sue Wood       July 19th ‘End of term’ Social event Community Venue to be confirmed   September 4th Club meeting   September 18th Speaker meeting Renowned Gemologist takes us through the ‘History of Diamonds’. Demonstrates with samples! Robert Bolton   October 2nd Friendship Evening Featuring the Club

Club Celebrates reaching it’s target to raise £3000 for Meru Women’s Garden Project

Club Celebrates reaching it’s target to raise £3000 for Meru Women’s Garden Project

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Club members Celebrated  reaching our  target and more by raising £3500 for the Meru Women’s Garden Project in Kenya. This is equivalent to providing the resources to establishing twelve gardens.We were delighted to welcome three  prospective members and enjoyed an excellent  supper meeting at the White Hart Hotel on 6th February. The Club’s three year project to support our Federation project included raising funds and awareness in many different ways to support women and their families in Meru Kenya .The ladies in Meru have developed sustainable market gardens producing food for their own families and extra produce to raise family income. The project has also introduced education programmes for girls and boys with the aim of stopping Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), still widely practiced in this part of Kenya though illegal. The picture shows Soroptimist Penny Broadley, Joint President Hilary Waddington, Soroptimist Val Hills and

Call My Bluff raises £330 for Club Charities

Call My Bluff raises £330 for Club Charities

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The summer social for Harrogate and District Soroptimists, their partners and friends took place on Friday, July 20th at Darley Christ Church Community Centre. 6 teams competed in a cheese and wine “Call My Bluff”. 4 different wines and 4 different types of cheese were variously described by a panel and the competing teams had to decide which descriptions they believed. The choice between Champagne, Cava and Prosecco caught out many teams and virtually nobody guessed the Orkney Cheddar. Amazingly the real winner was one Soroptimist who does not drink but who guessed the wines from their bouquet (or scent).  However, her team chose to ignore her answers! As the evening wore on the noise levels and laughter grew as people threw themselves into the competition. The evening was rounded off with a foodie quiz, raffle and a light supper. President Hilary thanked the panel

Meru Supper evening raises over £420 for the Meru Women’s Garden Project

Meru Supper evening raises over £420 for the Meru Women’s Garden Project

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Harrogate & District Soroptimists raised a further £421.25 at their latest Meru Women’s Garden Project fundraising evening supporting women and children in Kenya to start their own market gardens, thereby empowering  the women to feed their families, create security and aid financial independence . In total Harrogate and District Soroptimists have now raised over £3000 since they started the project at the Autumn Flower Show in 2016 when they gained a Silver medal for their innovative garden. Club Members and guests alongside Yorkshire Regional President Chris Clark and Yorkshire Regional President Elect Pat Kilbane enjoyed a wonderful summers evening at the Hub in Knaresborough. Belebele an African Drumming and Singing group really set the mood before an excellent African supper after which Di Flemming and Jen Berry had everyone on their  feet singing a couple of Kenyan songs ably translated by Eunice Kwallah a guest