As we start the new Soroptimist year, we send our very best wishes to one of our long standing members, Mary Ayre.  Mary has been a Soroptimist since 1985 but has decided the time has come to step down and our members are united in thanking her for her valuable contribution to the club. As Mary  said in a message to us at our April meeting, she has made many good friends through being a Soroptimist; she may not be a member of the club any more but that friendship will endure. We’ve recently welcomed new members to the club, Helen and Veronica most recently, and Camille last year. As so many organisations are closing, including Soroptimist clubs, it’s great that we’re thriving with over 30 members.    

Congratulations to our Prosperity Group who have raised £5,800 through successful bids for grants to create hygiene packs. The hygiene packs provide essential items to women and girls in crisis. The need to create the packs came from discussion with partners and to date, 115 have been distributed to local groups and organisations who then pass on the hygiene packs to those in need. Our partners in the project include Harbour, Support and Grow North East, Meadow Well Connected, De Paul and several local primary schools. Prosperity group works hard to buy the items, make up the packs and deliver them to partners and it’s a great example of we can tap into external funding to put the principles of Soroptimist International into practice.                            

Two of our members, Cynthia and Shirley, marked International Women’s Day in March 2024 by attending Smart Confidence, an event organised by Smart Works. The event explored the theme of confidence, looking at what it means, how it can help women and where it can be found. Our club has supported Smart Works on several occasions and this was a great opportunity for Cynthia and Shirley to network with like-minded people seeking to support women to gain employment and financial independence, including from left to right below, Becky Langley, manager of Newcastle United Women’s Football Club, Hannah Coffey from Smart Works and John McCabe, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce.   Find out more about Smart Works at https://newcastle.smartworks.org.uk/                

Our Christmas gifts for the children in Harbour’s refuge and in the community have been delivered by Santa’s elves. This year, 21 children will receive a parcel containing books, gifts or games, pyjamas and a selection box. Thanks to members Anne and Sue who helped Santa Claus with the shopping; his workshop is so busy at this time of year. However, you can always count on Soroptimists to help out when needed. Thanks also to all our members and their friends and families who also donated items for the children. As Lesley Gibson,  the Chief Executive of Harbour, reminds us, domestic abuse recognises no boundaries and the individuals and families with whom Harbour works are going through a very difficult time in their lives. It means a lot to our members to support women and children at Christmas and throughout the year.      

We held our last meeting of the year on Monday 11th December and as is our tradition, we shared a meal together and enjoyed some festive fun and friendship. As usual, our members produced the most amazing food. We also remember the organisations we support, especially Harbour.  As part of our Christmas meeting, we make up gift bags for women with whom Harbour works in the community and we use some of the funds we have raised to give gifts to the women and children who will be living in Harbour’s refuge over Christmas. This year, we also raised more funds for Support and Grow from a mini Christmas market and a raffle. Coming right at the end of the 16 days of activism against gender based violence, we think about the women for whom Christmas might be a difficult time and pledge to turn

Earlier this year, our club voted to adopt Support and Grow North East as our club charity for 2023-24. Support and Grow is charity which is rooted in local communities and provides a range of services across North Tyneside, Northumberland and Newcastle. Find out more about what they do at www.supportandgrownortheast.com/ A group of members visited Support and Grow on 15th November to get to know each other and we had a wonderful morning with Louise and her colleagues. They made us very welcome and we learnt a lot about the work Support and Grow does across the region. We heard some powerful stories about how the charity’s services have helped individuals and communities. I think it’s safe to say we were all inspired by what we heard and look forward to working with the team to support their work in whatever way we can.

At our November meeting, Planet group received their Reach for the Skies award, which they won for their creation of a bee friendly garden at St John’s church in Whitley Bay. Their success was announced at our Regional Meeting in September but it was lovely for club members to celebrate together.

Our club regularly donates items to support Kori Project which works to educate, empower and improve the health of women and girls in the Kori district of Sierra Leone.  Some of us were privileged to meet some of the trustees of the project in 2022 and member Rosemary keeps us updated with news and dates of shipments of items. At short notice, Rosemary got together 15 knitted/ crocheted blankets, 3 knitted jumpers, 49 knitted baby hats and a bag of 26 recycled bras to add to the shipment heading to Sierra Leone on 31st October. The knitted items are very important to the project as they are distributed to pregnant women who come to the clinic to give birth. At the clinic, the new mothers learn how to keep themselves and their babies well and safe and are encouraged to return for regular health checks. Soroptimist

  Club members were out in force on Sunday 1st October to support the Whitley Bay Fiesta. The theme was Express Yourself and there were lots of opportunities for this, not least the launch of the Whitley Bay Poetry Trail. As usual, there were stalls selling a variety of goodies, activities for everyone and lots of cake! The Whitley Bay Fiesta always brings the community together in a joyful way, building relationships, promoting well-being and giving everyone the opportunity to get together. The next Fiesta is on Sunday 3rd December – don’t miss it. We’ll be there.

We are delighted to announce that the bee friendly garden project, led by our Planet group, was awarded the Reach For The Skies award for programme action at the regional meeting on 23rd September. One of 5 finalists for the award, the project was beautifully described by Linda (on the right). She explained to us how important bees are to our environment, the risks faced by the bee population and the ways in which the garden project will attract not only bees but a wide range of other wildlife too. The garden in the grounds of St Paul’s church in Whitley Bay is also proving to be popular with the local human population. All those attending the meeting left with a gift bag containing some crocuses to plant to help attract bees to their own gardens and advice on plants which can attract bees throughout