LITERARY LUNCH

AT

THE RIVERSIDE RESTAURANT

KING’S LYNN

SUNDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2011

12.30 for 1.00pm 

Guest Speakers

Sophie Hannah

Jim Kelly 

3 Course Lunch £25

Enquiries please use comment box below

FUNDS RAISED FOR OUR CLUB CHARITIES

SHELTERBOX              BAFROW        ST EDMUND’S SCHOOL

AUTHORS

Sophie Hannah

Sophie Hannah published her first book of poems, The Hero and the Girl Next Door at the age of 24. Her style is often compared to the light verse of Wendy Cope and the surrealism of Lewis Carroll. Her poems’ subjects tend toward the personal, utilizing classic rhyme schemes with understated wit, humour and warmth. She has published four previous collections of poetry with Carcanet Press. In 2004, she was named one of the Poetry Book Society‘s Next Generation poets.

Hannah is also the author of a book for children and six psychological crime novels. Her first novel, Little Face, was published in 2006 and has sold more than 100,000 copies. Her fifth crime novel, Lasting Damage, was published in the UK on February 17, 2011

Her 2008 novel The Point of Rescue was produced for TV as a two-part drama named “Case Sensitive” and shown on May 2 and May 3 2011 on the UK’s ITV network.  Its first showing had 5.4 million viewers.

Jim Kelly 

Winner of the 2006 Dagger in the Library award from the Crime Writers Association, Jim Kelly is the author of five crime novels in the series that features fictional journalist Philip Dryden. These novels are set in England’s Cambridgeshire Fens. Most recently, Kelly has written three novels in his new series featuring Detective Inspector Peter Shaw, which are set on England’s North Norfolk coast and in the port of Lynn.

Other reviewers on both sides of the Atlantic have raved about his work, as well. The Water Clock, his 2002 debut novel and the first in the Dryden series, earned praise from Publishers Weekly: “A masterful stylist, Kelly crafts sharp, crisp sentences so pure, so true, they qualify as modern poetry. The cold, bleak landscape of the fens seems to seep through the paper and chill the fingers turning the pages.” Second in the series, The Fire Baby, also was commended in a starred Publishers Weekly review: “Kelly proves that his outstanding mystery debut … was no fluke in this gripping sequel.” Death Wore White, from 2009, inaugurates the Shaw series; Booklist termed this a “fine thriller, in terms of both atmosphere and suspense.” That series has continued with Death Watch and this years’ Death Toll.   

The first event in President’s Sylvia year was the Bridge Drive held on the 9th June. The afternoon was very successful with 44 players and £350 being raised before expenses.

Members busy in the kitchen preparing the cream teas.  

The monies raised from the Bridge Drive were for the club’s charity supporting a school Albaraca in the Gambia.

Former member Margaret Adnitt and her husband John attended the event to give a brief talk on the work being undertaken and thank everyone for their support.  The photograph shows Margaret explaining the work to a player.

 On Saturday 20^th June the club held in partnership with West Norfolk Voluntary and Community Action a study day “West Norfolk Says No to Domestic Abuse”.

Delegates heard talks from a range of speakers including a Victim’s Perspective, the Role of the Police and the Voluntary Sector.  Delegates had the opportunity to ask questions and raise issues with members of a panel, consisting of a range of support organisations.

The first speaker was a representative of EASE (East Anglia Survivors Enterprise).  EASE is a support group which was established in 2004 to help meet the needs of women and child survivors of domestic violence.  It is run by women survivors and relies entirely on fundraising and voluntary donations.  Services offered include regular drop-in sessions in various locations, free training courses (e.g. First Aid, Food Safety and Money Management) and a free helpline

It is hoped to re-establish an EASE support group in the King’s Lynn area in the near future and the organisers welcomed any offers of help. 

It was agreed at the end of the day that although progress had been made, there was still a widespread need for help to be offered to those experiencing domestic abuse as well as those who had survived.  There needs to be a sustained effort to raise awareness of the issue; to change attitudes and behaviours so that abuse becomes regarded as totally unacceptable; to encourage victims to seek help;  to support those experiencing abuse and ensure that there is on-going help for survivors.   This can be done by; talking about the issue, lobbying local and district authorities to ensure that there is adequate provision and lobbying Members of Parliament to ensure that services for these very vulnerable people are not cut. 

The Friendship Weekend which celebrated 35 years took place on the 9th to 12th July. Members and guests enjoyed a trip to True’s Yard on the friday evening. 

On the Saturday the  guests together with some members were invited to the Mayor’s Parlour followed by lunch at the Green Quay and a guided walk around King’s Lynn

On Saturday everyone enjoyed a BBQ at a members garden. The glorious suuny warm weather made for a perfect evening to sit and relax as well as catch up with friends.

The weekend ended with the Charter lunch with 63 attending including Regional President Margaret who with President Sylvia cut the cake to commemorate the 35th year.  

On the 15 October the club raised nearly £100 for BAFROW from a very enjoyable Quiz evening. The winning team included the club’s most recent member with the last team including a member who helped to organise the event, so there was no cheating. It was good to see many new faces and not only did the evening raise funds but also helped to promote the club locally.

The Foundation for Research on Women’s Health, Productivity and the Environment (BAFROW) is a national non-governmental organization based in the Gambia. It was founded in July 1991 and registered as an independent charitable trust a year later. BAFROW is financed by income generated from its founders, while its programs are supported by grants and donations. Please see the link page for their website address where more information can be found on their work. 

A Body shop evening was organised in October by a member’s daughter who was home for the week-end to raise funds for St Edmunds Community School. The daughter had done work experience at the school during her Teacher training. Staff from St Edmunds School, together with the members works colleagues, neighbours, club members and family were invited to the evening. The evening was a great success with refreshments and nibbles enjoyed by all as well as £75 being raised.

Members attended a jewellery party in November at a member’s house. The evening raised £45 as well as giving members great ideas for Christmas presents.

On the 9 December 17 members enjoyed a delicious Christmas meal at the Riverside Rooms in Kings Lynn. The venue and food was great, but as always the company and friendship of members made the evening.  

Some club members attended a Race Game evening in February and soon got into the swing of trying to beat the bookie’s odds - happily they did not have to bet their own cash and the luckiest punter received a prize of lottery tickets in the hope that their luck would last until the weekend draw. It was good fun (if a little exhausting for the bookie and their runner – otherwise known as vice president and president elect) and raised £65 for the club charities.

On the 3^rd March the club organised a Public Speaking Competition for the local primary schools. The evening was an overwhelming success with 11 teams taking part supported by friends and families. The quality of the presentations made by the teams was impressive, with the judges having a very hard in deciding who the winning teams should be. In the end the result was that South Wootton Team A won, St Martha’s Team 3 came third and South Wootton Team B came third.   

On the 12 March 7 members attended the Regional Meeting in Cambridge. They joined other members from the Region to take part in a photo shoot on a bridge promoting Internation Womens Day.

In May 2009 we held a tea party to thank local knitters who had made garments to be sent to a school in the Gambia. Due to the cost of shipping the items this has now ceased but the trustees are still receiving knitted items to sell in the UK to raise funds for the school. 

Three members attended a Friendship weekend at Lubeck in Germany in June. This is our latest Friendship Club.

During the weekend the members were whisked round various areas of Lubeck. In the evening they met up with Lubeck members as well as the other visitors from Denmark, Sweden and France.

Our members enjoyed tours including The Old Court House which was very impressive, as well as other wonderful buildings and wandering along very old streets,which were very similar to parts of King’s Lynn.

On the Saturday evening the formal part of the evening began with the Friendship clubs giving a short address on their project work and each presented the Lubeck club with a gift. For King’s Lynn out members spoke of our project work as well as introducing the Hanse Festival and inviting members to attend.

In July we held our annual luncheon with guests from both London Anglia Region clubs and also from our friendship link clubs.

The lunch was held at Park House and was it was enjoyed by all, not only because of the fine food, but also because of the chance to meet up with old friends.

At the end of August members help provide teas and refreshment at the Wolferton Scarecrow Weekend. Once again the weekend was a great success helped by wonderful weather.

Members enjoying making the club scarecrow prior to the weekend.

The Remembrance Day Service in the town in November was attended by several club  members led by President Miriam  pictured with our wreath.

The December business meeting was followed a week later with a social event by way of an evening meal at the Olde Bank restaurant which was enjoyed by 22 members.

A fund-raising Bridge Drive evening was a great success raising some £130 from the raffles.

Participants enjoyed the game and loved the food and the remaining refreshments were much appreciated by a local charity in King’s Lynn.

Club member, Maggie Orage, a former regional president, explained her role in the Malawi Project and the needs of the children attending the farm schools there. She illustrated her presentation with plenty of photographs.

President Miriam was delighted to report that, overall, SI King’s Lynn has raised about £300 for the Malawi Project.

Eight Soroptimists from Kings Lynn met  members from their Friendship Link clubs,  SI Solihull and SI Amber Valley (Derbyshire) to celebrate a joint effort in raising funds for Project Sierra in March.  The members – eighteen in all – met at Marston in the East Midlands and heard all three club presidents give a summary of how their turned their £1 into £10  raising more than £1,000 in all.  Solihull had contributed £700 of that total.

The secret of their great success turned out to be the appointment of  of two members as facilitators of the fund-raising tasks – meeting in small groups to discuss ideas and matching  those who would be good working together.

In March members of SI Kings Lynn arranged a Public Speaking Competition for Junior School children from the Kings Lynn area.

An audience of 65 people enjoyed three minute speeches on subjects of the Environment, Recycling and Bullying. Each school who took part had 2 teams of three members. The young people came from  5 local primary schools.

The Chairman of the Judges congratulated all the children as each performed  the speeches in a very confident manner and all had taken part in research and surveys which made the speeches very interesting. Whilst the Judges were deliberating the members of the SI KL served refreshments.

The winners were announced by Mary Mackie 1^st was Glebe House, 2^nd South Wootton and third was St Marthas. The President of SI Kings Lynn, Mrs Miriam Cairns presented the cheques, medals and certificates to the teams.

This is the second competition held and its hope many more will be arranged. Schools from the Kings Lynn area were all invited to participate. The Head Teachers were thanked for allowing the pupils to take part.