The Sheffield branch of Soroptimists held their annual Charter dinner at the Copthorne Hotel in Sheffield on March 20th.
Members were honoured with the attendance of the President of SIGBI Jackie Mosedale, the Lord Mayor of the City of Sheffield, Councillor Graham Oxley, the Master and Mistress Cutler, Mr & Mrs James Newman, and the Bishop of Sheffield, the Right Reverend Dr Steven Croft and his wife Ann.
The main speaker for the evening was Ann Cryer MP. Ann talked about her contribution to promoting the cause of women in today’s world. She mentioned that her grandmother, Dinah Place, was a suffragette and Independent Labour Party member, so politics and socialism have been part of Ann’s life from an early age. She became the youngest serving Labour Party Councillor in the country when she was elected to Darwen Council at the age of 22. In 1997 she was elected as MP for Keighley and kept the seat in 2001 and 2005. She explained the challenge involved as the first MP to raise the issue of forced marriages in the House of Commons. Despite initial criticism, she has relentlessly pursued her campaign to improve the human rights of women and she ended her speech encouraging more women to take up roles of responsibility in politics, whether locally, or nationally. Ann will be stepping down at the next election but she intends to be an active member of Soroptimists and so hopefully she can continue her good work with regard to the status of women.