Our President’s December coffee morning made over £130.00: additional funds for the Hoskins
Trust.

And finally, friends and family joined us for our Christmas ‘Safari-lunch’ which consisted of eating,
socialising, carols round the piano and a raffle that contributed £150.00 to Amnesty International.

Our club looks after the plants in the garden of the Nicol Unit in Stratford Hospital.  The garden was  recently completely re-landscaped thanks to the generous donations from the Friends of Stratford Hospital.   This meant  much hard labour by club members who uprooted precious plants and  nurtured them while the diggers etc moved in, then everything was replanted, together with new plants for the winter and for next spring.  The garden looked very pretty at the recent grand opening and work will continue to ensure a cheery outlook for those in the adjacent ward.

Four Club members attended the Soroptimist International Convention in Montreal.  They brought back news of international developments directly to the Club which strengthened our association with the global outlook of the organisation.  They said that hearing about the positive actions of clubs worldwide made them proud to be  Soroptimists.   www.soroptimistinternational.org

Once again we provided a team of helpers to man a drinks stand at the Shakespeare Marathon.   This year there were more runners than ever.  By the time they reached us they still had seven miles to go to complete the full marathon and we were very impressed by their courteous cheerfulness.  Even the stragglers, reduced to walking, were happy and smiling.

 Dr Kathleen Greenway MB CHB was made an honorary member of the Stratford Club in August. The presentation coincided with her 90^th birthday and was given in affectionate appreciation of her long and loyal support of the club since 1^st January 1969. Kay qualified in medicine and surgery at the University of Birmingham, spending her student days at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. She became a General Practitioner and spent her working life in the villages of South Warwickshire. Kay continues to support the club’s Seniors group which meets monthly to enjoy food, wine and good company.

The garden of Hall’s Croft, the Jacobean Home of Shakespeare’s daughter, was the venue for our ‘Pimms and Strings’ evening in aid of the Shakespeare Hospice. We served Pimms and canapés. The ‘strings’ were provided by the always-generous Orchestra of the Swan, who braved the summer chill to entertain us with wonderful music. We were joined by members from clubs in the Midland Arden region, by family and friends, and by anyone else who wanted to enjoy an evening listening to music as they strolled round the beautiful garden. Flowers and herbs (as used by physician Dr Hall), were at their best and Hall’s Croft provided the perfect backdrop. And we raised nearly £700 for the hospice.

Family and friends joined with us to celebrate our annual charter event, which this year was an informal summer tea party in a member’s garden. The sun shone, the food was irresistible and the conversation buzzed – outdoing the bees that live in hives at the other end of the lawn. It was a lovely way to socialise, to get to know our latest members, and simply to relax.

Several club members are keen walkers, actively supporting the local Ramblers Association with one member clocking up well over 1,000 miles a year. The rest of us just enjoy ambling about in the fresh air. The two came together in April in a delightful guided walk round the estate of the National Trust property at Charelcote and at the same time raised £80.00 for the quadrennial Soroptimist International project in Sierra Leone (www.projectsierra.org ). SI is working with Hope and Homes for Children to support women and children affected by the 10 years of civil war in Sierra Leone. This brings the total raised by our club for the project to £1,700 over four years.

President Penny hosted a coffee morning in May for funds for the Stratford-upon-Avon branch of Amnesty International. A healthy £290 was raised. Some of this will go towards balloons to be launched in celebration of Amnesty’s 50^th anniversary. This happily coincides with the 50^th anniversary of Stratford’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the balloons will be released behind the Swan Theatre on 28^th May at 4.30pm – all welcome. 50 balloons will be set free, each bearing the name of one of Amnesty’s prisoners of conscience. The rest of the money from the coffee morning will go towards work of the branch including their special focus on human rights in China.

Stratford Soroptimists supported the coffee morning and some are pictured above with Penny. Club member Sarah has a national role on the executive board of Amnesty UK. Soroptimist Shelagh is wearing her chain of office as mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon.

Once again we manned a drinks station at the annual Shakespeare Marathon.  This year there were more runners than ever.  By the time they reached us they still had 7 miles to go to complete the full marathon, and we were impressed by their courteous cheefulness.  Even the last stragglers, reduced to walking, were smiling.  The money we earn from doing this will go to the Shakespeare Hospice.