Programme Action
Goal 1 of the New Programme Focus 2011-2015 states that ‘Soroptimist International will improve the lives and status of women and girls through education, empowerment and enabling opportunities.’
Objective 1 of this Goal states ‘Increase access to formal and non-formal learning opportunities.’
SI Wallasey Club members have 3 key projects this year that link with the above objective.
Project 1 involves Wirral’s Tam O’Shanter urban farm where local children have free access to learning and volunteer opportunities related to caring for farm animals, as well as fun and learning events. Members serve in the gift shop to support the Farm’s much needed fundraising, and one Club member has used her fundraising skills to offer ideas about further fundraising activities.
Thanks to a nomination by President Stella on behalf of Club members, Tam O’Shanter Urban Farm has been short listed for a local Tourist Award. Results are eagerly awaited.
Stella and Sue on the counter at Tam O’Shanter gift shop
Project 2: Club members gave Wallasey Girl Guide Vanessa £100 towards her Community Action trip to Morocco where she experienced the culture of Morocco in Marrakech. Chosen as one of nine girls from the North West of England, Vanessa undertook community work in the village of Imal and taught local women a craft enabling them to produce saleable items. This educational trip to Morocco with the advocacy and empowerment of women by the Girl Guides reflects the Aims, Objects, Vision and Mission of Soroptimism. The picture shows Vanessa receiving her cheque from President Stella before her trip.
Project 3: The Club continue to support the Cheshire-base charity Uganda Learn4Life. This charity helps to ensure children at a secondary school receive education, as education at this level is not funded by the Ugandan government. The Club project for this year is to raise funds to provide some new 2 tier bunk beds in the girls’ dormitory as the top layer of the present three tier beds must be removed for safety reasons.
The picture below shows President Stella presenting some new school uniform donated by SI Heswall, to members of the Charity Ian and Joan. Joan (called Jo An by the school children) gave a lively and informative talk about her recent trip to the school in Uganda. News from Uganda was that the school uniform was greatly appreciated.
The Liverpool Signing Choir.
This choir use British Signing Language (BSL) instead of vocal words to ‘sing’ to music. The choir, led by Cath Hegarty MBE, is rapidly becoming well known and greatly appreciated. To help enable education and to support the choir, Club members donated £500 during 2011 so two girls could undertake BSL exams. The girls were successful and these BSL skills have the great potential to help them in future employment.
Cath Hegarty MBE
The Liverpool Signing Choir performing at the Bridgewater Hall
Women and Children’s Aid
Goal 1 objective 3 – ‘Eliminate violence against women’.
With this objective in mind, Club members continue to support the Wirral Women and Children’s Aid (often called the Women’s Refuge). In the last year members have supplied some large size ladies knickers (not easy to buy ‘off the peg’) and some socks for girls. We have also filled 6 ‘exit buckets’. These are buckets filled with essential household items, e.g. cleaning products, dustpan and brush, toilet rolls. When a woman leaves the Refuge to go to her new home she is supplied with an ‘exit bucket’ of these much needed items. Club members did not forget the women at Christmas time as they provided 12 pairs of pyjamas in the correct sizes to form part of individual presents for each woman. The children had not been forgotten as early in the year a supply of children’s ‘welcome bags’ were given. These hand made bags in cheerful colours contain small items e.g. pencils and colouring book and soft toy.
Some of the members with President Stella holding one of the ‘exit buckets’
