Penrith Soroptimists held their Annual General Meeting recently at The Roundthorn Hotel. 

At the start of the evening two members were given long service certificates in recognition of their time at the Club.  These were Sylvia Kidd for thirty-five years and Jean Hall who has been a member for thirty years.

Members were welcomed by the outgoing President Anne Kerr who thanked the Club for the support given to her during the year especially during her time of illness.

It was reported that the Club had a successful year and financially supported various causes in particular the main charity, Parkinsons UK Eden Support Group, who have been given an amount of  £1,000.  Other charities supported during the year included Water Aid and Fairtrade.

During the year, Penrith Soroptimists have been involved with several organisations including The Calvert Trust, Eden Talking Newspaper, Eden Rivers Trust, Fairtrade Cake Competition and the Cooking4Life Project at Eden Foyer.  In addition the Club’s Friendship Links in Poland and Bangladesh have received support from Penrith SI.

Photo shows left to right: Syliva Kidd, President Anne Kerr and Jean Hall

The treasurer of the Support
Group, David Steele, was invited to the Club along with other
representatives of Parkinsons UK to receive a cheque for £1,000.

he Treasurer of the support group, David Steele and President Anne Kerr

A cake competition was held
where contestants baked cakes following one of three set recipes
using, wherever possible,  Fairtrade ingredients.  Vouchers for £20,
£10 and £5 were  kindly given by Sainsburys; a company that fully
supports Fairtrade goods.

Each category had first, second
and third winners and then the overall winner with the most points,
Pat Newsham, was awarded the first prize,  the second prize overall
was Diana Wokhukukwa and the third was Gillian Bain.

Once the prize presentations had
been completed, the cakes were divided up and distributed, along with
other donated cakes, to those attending the Free Afternoon Tea.

Photo shows left to right: Evelyn Milburn (aunt of Gillian Bain who was unable to attend), Pat Newsham, Diana Wokhukukwa and President of SI Penrith Anne Kerr

SI Penrith member Debbie Hicks with Jill Smith PA Northern Region

About thirty members and guests enjoyed a demonstration of cookery by
celebrity chef John Crouch.  John is involved in a project organised
by SI Penrith called Cooking4Life which is being run in association
with Impact Housing at the Eden Foyer.  The purpose of the project is
to teach young parents, carers and teenage children how to create
nutritious and economical meals that are relatively easy to prepare.

As well as preparing Bulgar Wheat salad, Tuna and pea curry and Sweet
and Sour red kidney beans, John gave a continuous dialogue into the
history and background of the ingredients.

Some of these were amusing anecdotes and as he said, “Ideal scraps
of knowledge to use at a Pub Quiz.”  Including: “banana skin is
the best natural shoe polish!”

When the dishes had been prepared it was time to sample and everyone
tucked in to the wide choice of food that was available.

SI Penrith member Maureen Dixon with John Crouch

What does the word “Titanic” mean to you?

It may suggest: huge, luxury, class distinction, icebergs or even Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio with a haunting melody.

But in the words of Craig Revel Horwood, “It was a disaaster daarling!”

Isn’t is strange that a huge visitor centre should be based on a tragedy where so many lost their lives?  But that’s all water under …er over the bridge.

However, this wasn’t on our minds as we left our convoy of coaches and made our way into this Titanic building opened in 2012 to commemorate the maiden voyage of the ship on 2 April 1912.

The ground floor has the usual coffee shop and souvenirs and the tour of exhibitions starts on the first floor up the escalator.  Here we were given a ticket date-stamped for the voyage.

I was very impressed at the entrance by the huge movie screens projecting vintage film of Belfast with more than life-size silhouettes of people strolling across the picture as if they were on the streets too.  This really brought the atmosphere of  early twentieth century to life especially as some of the fellow guests on my voyage had dressed the part in retro clothing.

We slowly made our way through the various stages of the exhibition until we took a cage-like lift to another floor which simulates the ride to work for the thousands who spent their lives employed by Harland and Woolf in what was, at that time, the largest shipbuilding company in the world.

Every detail of Titanicalia was included in the various showcases together with a mock-up luxury cabin with the latest innovations including hot and cold running water.

After about an hour and a half we arrived at the replica ballroom with its grand staircase which was the venue for our Federation Change of Insignia ceremony.  Unfortunately, not all could be seated; there were just too many of us.  I managed to squeeze in, albeit at the back.

When everyone had been thanked too many times for me to count,  the handing over of the chains commenced which was very entertaining especially viewing the interpretation of the dress code.

Our own Pat Black, taking up her role as Federation President,  gave her speech. Quite a daunting task and the nerves were showing somewhat.  But she did well and I am sure the adrenalin was really pumping through. Later we moved downstairs to the atrium for drinks.  A group, appropriately named  “Leading Ladies” entertained, but the music was mostly drowned out by the voices of over a thousand Soroptimist sisters all talking at the same time!

Unfortunately, for me and probably others too, the cold winds from outside blasted in when the automatic doors opened each time someone approached them.  This made us huddle together to keep warm and  I’m sure I saw an iceberg glide by, along the River Lagan, under the moonlit sky.

It was a night to remember – and we were the lucky ones – we survived.

The Club held a Friendship Evening recently which took the form of an “Antiques Roadshow”.  Members and their friends searched through their attics and cupboards and brought along items to be valued by Mr Jay Davies owner of Antiques No 11 St Andrew’s Churchyard.

It was a great evening of friendship rounded off with a bring and share supper.

Another £73 was added to the Charity Fund supporting Parkinsons UK.

There were several inspirational speakers including Naomi Long MP who spoke of her journey from a working-class background to entering the male dominated civil engineering profession and later into politics. Naomi said “No-one ever told me, when I was a child, that I couldn’t do something”. Subsequently she became a Councillor in Belfast, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Lord Mayor of Belfast. She is now an MP at Westminster but still firmly grounded in East Belfast.

Hon Justice Teresa Doherty QC CBE spoke about her work in Sierra Leone as a Judge of the High Court and Court of Appeal dealing with the aftermath of the Civil War in that country. This topic was of particular interest to Soroptimists as fund raising for Sierra Leone has been a long running project for members.

Another speaker, Hon Mobina S B Jaffer QC, a lawyer and politician, shared her progress from a law practice to becoming the first Muslim woman member of the Canadian senate. Her particular interest is in equality and she has worked extensively to counteract the problems of trafficking.

All members staged an outdoor demonstration to raise awareness of trafficking and wore purple representing the “Purple Teardrop” campaign.

The logo for the Conference was taken from the Angel of Thanksgiving statue (picture below ) which has recently been erected on the riverside walk outside the Waterfront Centre. The aim of the sculpture is to bring people together to change hearts and minds; to make bridges across the divides in our community. To work towards a peaceful, happy existence for everyone on this planet.

Photo shows left to right back row: Pat Black, Federation President Elect; Brenda Stokoe, President of SI Darlington front row: Jill Smith, President of SI Northern Region; Anne Kerr, President of SI Penrith; Kath Shearer, President of SI Newcastle upon Tyne