At the business meeting, President Maureen welcomed two members from the Llandudno Branch of the British Legion and presented them with a cheque for £736-00, the proceeds of the sale of the Poppies, knitted by members of the club. A letter had been received from “Happy Faces” thanking members for their cheque for £2000. Members brought gifts and donations for the Women’s Refuge, which are always greatly appreciated. We were pleased to hear that the books of poems are selling well and that a cheque will be presented to the Girl Guides.

We had lots of “Fun and Friendship” in the run up to Christmas, with a most enjoyable visit to Venue Cymru to see Tommy Steele starring in “Scrooge” and at the Christmas Party at Rose Tor Hotel, where the theme for the evening was “Ladies in Red”. The proceeds of the raffle at the party were donated to the International President’s Appeal: “Birthing in the Pacific”. The annual Church Service to mark Human Rights Day was held at St. George’s Church, Rhos on Sea.

At the first business meeting of 2012,  members participated in a group discussion session on recruitment and retention of members. The treasurer read a letter from Samaritans Purse giving details of the family the club supports in Rumania. 

Dates for diaries:

19 January: Speaker Meeting at St.David’s Church Hall at 7.30pm. Janet Murfin will talk about the Work of the Salvation Army.

2 February: Business meeting at Stella Maris at 7.30pm.

17 February: Regional Meeting at Cheshire View. SI Llandudno will be the “meeters and greeters” at this event.

 4 March: 49^th Annual Lunch at Imperial Hotel, Llandudno.

 24 March: Coffee Morning in aid of Water Aid, to mark World Water Day on 22nd March.

On Sunday13th November, eight members attended the Service of Remembrance at Holy Trinity Church, Llandudno, and took part in the parade to the Cenotaph on the promenade. President Maureen laid a wreath at the War Memorial on behalf of Soroptimist International.

On Tuesday 15th November, a theatre-going party went to Venue Cymru to see Tommy Steele starring in the West End production of “Scrooge”.

Members of SI Llandudno, Pat, Jane, Sheila and Maggie with other delegates, attending the conference on Monday 28th for the launch of the Women’s Network Wales at Venue Cymru.
Mary, Gaynor and Hilary also attended a march and meeting at the Town Hall in Llandudno to “Reclaim the Night” in support of local action to raise awareness of violence against women.

Girl Guides and President Maureen and members of  SI Llandudno enjoy reading the poems about “Friends”. The book of poems was written by the Girl Guides, and published by the Soroptimists in a joint venture to raise funds for the Guides.

Outside Buckingham Palace

In September a group of members spent two days inLondon, visitingWindsorCastleandBuckinghamPalace, where they were thrilled to see the exhibitions and “Kate’s wedding dress”, in particular. They also enjoyed a tour ofBuckinghamPalaceGardensand an extensive sightseeing tour ofLondon.

On 6th September we held a coffee morning at St. John’s Church Hall inMostyn Street, Llandudno, to raise funds for Soroptimist charities.

Coffee Morning

The photo shows Myfanwy, Gaynor, Madhu, Jane and Beryl welcoming customers to the coffee morning.

On Sunday 18th September, members and friends attended a service at St.Tudno’s Church, Great Orme, Llandudno to mark the U.N. International Day of Peace [20th September]. The service was conducted by the Rev. Canon John Nice who gave the address for Peace, recognising the Soroptimist vision of strong and peaceful communities worldwide. President Maureen welcomed members and read the Prayer for Peace in our World.Readingswere also given by Janet Murfin and Mary Longworth. Soroptimister Ray Stythe-Jones was the organist. The retiring collection at the service to mark the International Day of Peace raised £104.40 for ‘Help for Heroes’.

St. Tudno's Church

The poetry book produced in partnership with the local Guides and Brownies is now for sale at £3, all money raised will be donated to the Guides.

Girl Guides in Print

A Fashion Show was held at the Imperial Hotel, Llandudno on Wednesday, 12^th October. The show featured clothes from collections at Clare’s Department Store, Llandudno, and all the proceeds from the event will be donated to President Maureen’s charity ‘Happy Faces’.

Fashion ShowSandra modelling at the Imperial Hotel

Fashion Show group:

Front Row: Councillor and Mrs Gregory Robbins, mayor and mayoress of Llandudno, with President Maureen.

Back Row: Soroptimist models Val and Sandra, with models from Clare’s Department Store.

Sandra modelling at the Imperial Hotel

Llandudno Soroptimists supported the Llandudno Hospital League of Friends event at Trinity Church on 6th August. Elaine, Hilary and Jane are seen in the photo with the table well laden with prizes for the Blue and Yellow Tombola.

I had a very interesting time at the Soroptimist International Convention in Montreal, as all the speakers were eminent Canadian ladies with something worthwhile to say: these included

Adrienne Clarkson, who came to Canada as a little girl from Hong Kong and grew up to become Governor General of Canada, 

Samantha Nutt who spoke of the plight of women and girls in war torn countries in Africa and what can be done to help them.

Anna Maria Tremonti, an inspiring radio broadcaster and war correspondent, proving women can succeed in the media if they are determined not to accept no for an answer.

Lee Graff, a lovely lady who has developed a corrective make up called Cover FX which conceals all kinds of blemishes and gives patients new self-confidence

Maude Barlow who is keen to get women into Science and has worked to make people aware of the Global Water crisis – she predicts that the next war will be over the right to water.

And Mobina Jaffer, who arrived in Canada from Uganda at the time of Idi Amin. She covered many areas including human trafficking and the exploitation of women and girls.

I enjoyed the “frenchness” of Montreal – it is the second largest French speaking city in the world after Paris. Our hotel was right by the old town so it was not far to walk to find nice restaurants. I had lots of fun going on a Bateau Mouche ride on the river, a trip to the “Sugar Shack” where they make maple syrup, a “pop” concert at the basilica, and a performance of the Cirque Eloize. It was good – acrobatic acts, rather like Cirque du Soleil.

I met up with Soroptimists from our region, our federation and from around the world – too many to tell you about, but I must mention that I met up with Traudy Pichler, Jane’s friend from our friendship link club in Vienna, who is the President of the Austrian Union.

The next International Convention will be in Istanbul in 2015 – it is inspiring to hear of all the influence we have at the UN and the good that projects like Project Sierra achieve – we were told that we must always say “Soroptimist International”, not just Soroptimist, because it is the international bit that is important.

At the Board meeting before the Convention there were a number of difficulties between the four federations, but I was not involved in any of those meetings, and they had no impact on the actual Convention. However, I can tell you that there will be a serious impact on SI finances as a result of an overbooking of hotels in Montreal – I can reassure you that this in no way affects SIGBI finances. Regarding the Logo – due to the immense cost of changing badges, banners, insignia, and so on, Sally will remain our emblem, but for purposes of printing and being a bit more snappy and modern, SIGBI will be adopting the dynamic S and this will be seen on letter headers. Finally, the Long Term Theme is Soroptimists educate to lead.  We have had three words to guide us for the past four years: Awareness, Advocacy and Action. The new words as we go forward are: Educate, Empower, Enable.

I finish with a little mantra which struck a chord with me given to us by IPP Margaret Lobo

If you are planning for a day, catch a fish

If you are planning for a year, plant rice

If you are planning for a decade, plant trees

If you are planning for a lifetime, educate a woman.

The speaker for the evening was Mrs. Phyl Evans who spoke about her collection of Book Marks. Over the years, Mrs. Evans has collected nearly a 1000 book marks from all over the world and each book mark has a personal meaning. Mrs. Evans recently attended the World Association of Flower Arrangers in Boston USA and was awarded first prize in her class, the subject being “stones”. A vote of thanks was given by Sandra Snow.

There is no club meeting in August but members will support the Hospital League of Friends on 6 August with their “Blue & Yellow” Tombola. A Coffee Morning will be held at President Maureen’s home on 20 August.

The coffee morning in aid of local charities had been well supported and raised £231.85. Members were thanked for their efforts. Many letters of thanks had been received from charities that had been supported during President Myfanwy’s year of office. The donation to World Water Aid will be used for much needed water projects in Nigeria.

Club agreed to support the ‘Bee Plus’ project the aim being to inform and educate 7 -9 yr. olds about honey bees – explaining why the decline in the number of bees would have an impact on the environment and the economy. The project helps women and children in developing countries of the world to supplement their incomes by keeping bees and selling the honey.

Some members will be attending the Cheshire Show where the region will have a marquee showcasing and raising awareness of Soroptimist International and some will be attending the Llangollen International Eisteddfod Soroptimist tent.

Members had enjoyed a pleasant evening out at Talgoed nurseries, enjoying a meal and a demonstration on how to create a hanging basket.

The next outing will be for afternoon tea at the Beatrix Potter garden at Gwaenynog Hall, Denbighshire, where the children’s author was inspired to write the tale of the Flopsy Bunnies.

The next meeting will be on June 16^th, at St. David’s Hall which will be a talk by Mr. Don Rustage of Boodles, Chester.

 The next social event will be an evening at Tal Goed Nurseries, Glan Conwy, where the club will enjoy a meal and a demonstration of planting a hanging basket.

Arrangements were made for the coffee morning at St John’s Church, Llandudno on May 31^st; all proceeds will be going to local charities.

This year the President’s main charity is Happy Faces and the evening’s guest speaker was Mr. Richard Alexander representing that Charity. He explained to the club how the charity was set up in 2003 by Mr Ray Herbert to help children in North Wales who were disadvantaged for many reasons. They raise funds to buy mini buses, specialised equipment, and quality days out for these children that enhance their lives.  They have set up a 365 Club which involves people donating a penny a day towards the charity; members were told they could do this by visiting B.T.MyDonate. They have two charity shops, one in Rhos on Sea and one in Madoc Street, Llandudno. During the summer months they present three shows at the Town Hall, all the proceeds going towards helping this very worthwhile charity. Volunteers are needed to assist in various ways to help the charity. President Maureen said that the club will do all it can to support the charity.

A vote of thanks was given by Sandra Snow.

The next meeting will be on June 2^nd, at Stella Maris.

President Maureen will this year be supporting the charity “Happy Faces”, already a sum of £130 has been raised through selling knitted Easter chicks and bunnies. Mr Ray Herbert, from the charity “Happy Faces” will be the speaker at our next club meeting on 19th May at St. David’s Church Hall.

A busy diary of events has been planned for the year, beginning with an evening meal and demo at Talgoed Nurseries on 26th May, a musical evening on 11th June and a coffee morning on Tuesday, 31st May at St. John’s Church, Llandudno.

We are still collecting unwanted or broken jewellery for the Project Sierra appeal. Members of the Programme Action team will raise money for this appeal at the next regional meeting at Cheshire View on 21st May, by organising a “Guess the weight of the cake” competition.

Dr Gertraude Pichler from the club’s friendship link SI Belvedere in Vienna, had contacted the club following her recent visit to Moldavia. Dr Pichler reported that our joint project with SI Belvedere and a club in Japan, supporting a maternity hospital in Moldavia, had made a significant difference to the lives of the women there.

The President thanked all members for their friendship, support and help and for all their efforts and hard work during the year. 

As a service Club, many organisations both local, national and international had received support and donations totalling in all a sum of £5,087.97.

Beth Bithell of St. David’s Hospice and Gaynor Evans of Ty Gobaith were presented with cheques for £1240 each.

They thanked the Club for this wonderful contribution to their work and emphasised that they rely very heavily on support from organisations such as Soroptimist international to fund their work.