SI Ashton-under-Lyne held a concert of seasonal music on Saturday 5th December at Albion United Reformed Church to raise money and awareness of Alzhiemer’s Society. The music and singing was excellent and the audience enjoyed the evening enormously with a glass of wine and mince pies served by Ashton-under-Lyne club members. A total of of £1500.00 was raised for The Alzheimer’s Society which is President Lesley’s charity for the year.

Soroptimist International, Ashton-under-Lyne were please to present a cheque for £400 to the charity S.T.A.R.S (Special Time and Relaxation Sessions). This is a charity based in Tameside for children who are totally disabled to receive special relaxation time in safe surroundings. The money came from a legacy by a former member of the club Margaret Rogerson, who left it to the club with strict instructions as to how it should be used for the benefit of the young people in Tameside. S.T.A.R ticks all the boxes regarding this and the Ashton Soroptimsts are proud to know that the money will be used to by a hoist for the bathroom at Carmel Christian Centre where the S.T.A.R group meets.

Friday 26th June saw Ashton-under-Lyne celebrating their 72nd Charter Dinner at Stanley House. Distinguished guests were from right to left:- President SI Ashton-under-Lyne Lesley Walker, President SI South Lancashire Region Margaret Baker, The Civic Mayor of Tameside Cllr Vincent Ricci, The Mayoress of Tameside Mrs Julie Ricci, Federation President Elect SI Great Britain and Ireland Dr Margaret Emsley and President Rotary International Ashton-under-Lyne Geoff Mellor. 72 guests in total  attended the dinner which proved to be a very enjoyable evening. The speaker was Maggie Poppa from Leeds who spoke about her life after retirement from the Civil Service and how as part of her volunteer work she had bceome a news broadcaster for local radio in Yorkshire. During her time as a broadcaster, she interviewed over 100 famous peoples including a very memorable interview with Dame Vera Lynn.

Sharman Birtles, a member of SI Ashton-under-Lyne has been installed as High Sherriff of Greater Manchester for 2015-2016. The Office of High Sherriff is the oldest secular office after the Crown and is an appointment made by Her Majesty The Queen, as Duke of Lancaster,  The County of Greater Manchester was formed in 1974.  Sharman is the 42nd High Sheriff in the County and the 8th female to hold the position here.  She is extremely proud to be only the second High Sheriff who hails from Tameside. Commenting on her new role, Sharman said “it’s a huge honour.  Greater Manchester is the largest County outside London with 2.7 million living here so I know it’s going to be a busy year.  During my year in office I want to encourage people to volunteer in various ways and I will be supporting in particular the following

Distribution of Charities 2015 Ashton Soroptimists held their annual Distribution of charities at the club meeting held on Monday 13th April. This year’s President Councillor Yvonne Cartey had chosen the Matthew Burgess Memorial Fund as her main charity and a cheque for £1130 was present to Simon Walker in order to purchase a defibrillator and have in placed in a central position in Ashton Town Centre. Cheques for £300 were also presented to Willow Wood Hospice and Wood Street Mission in Manchester from the President’s charity Fund. A donation of £629.81 was presented to Stalybridge and Dukinfield branch of the Royal British Legion as a result of knitted poppies sold on their behalf. This is the 5th year that some of our club members have been knitting poppies for the Legion. A Donation of £200 was also presented to Stanley House, Audenshaw Masonic Hall, where

On November 15th SI Ashton-under-Lyne held a Craft Fair at Ashton Town Hall which, the Mayor and Moryess of Tameside attended and raised over £700 for President Yvonne’s Charities.                      

October’s speakers to the club were Phil and Angela from “Street Pastors” who along with a group of other committed Christians patrol the streets of Stalybridge on Friday and Saturday evenings to help diffuse issues of anti social behaviour and assist where needed with pastoral help in all aspects. Street Pastors is a National Organisation run by The Ascension Trust with over 100 branches in the country. There are 9 teams based in the Greater Manchester area and in Stalybridge there are twenty five members on the team. They have to undertake rigorous training in issues such as conflict resolution, drug and alcohol misuse and street safety. They also have some counter terrorism training all undertaken by Greater Manchester Police with whom they work closely. They work alongside nightclubs, bars and takeaways, and provide items such as anti drink spiking devices, flip flops, space blankets

The club hosted Angela Fuggle a represenative from the charity Beanstalk at their September meeting Beanstalk is a children’s literacy charity that recruits, trains and supports volunteers to build children’s confidence and inspire a love of reading. Angela told us about how the volunteer scheme works and how it enhances the lives of children who are struggling with literacy an reading in Primary School children aged 6 – 11. The charity was established in London 1973 by a Lady Magistrate. The charity is now working with 7,500 children in 2,300 schools all over the country, with an aim to support 20,000 children by 2017. The West Pennine branch of the charity was opened in 1989 and is now working with over 800 children in 200 schools. Beanstalk buy all the own learning aids and books and therefore need to to a lot of fundraising. More

     President Yvonne Carty, and Regional PAC Chair, Margaret Molyneux of SI Leigh, were joined by members of SI Manchester, Val Moss, Maureen Heywood and their President Stella Kay to support the National Trust initiative to plant snowdrops and turn Manchester into ‘Snowdrop City’ next spring to mark the Centenary of World War 1. The National Trust aims to plant 100,000 snowdrops this September at various sites throughout the city at drop-in sessions, and the planting took place in Parsonage Gardens on the day we went. The Trust has bought in selected bulbs from Holland that are expected to flower on the first year of planting. All were given reflective jackets to wear and spent a few hours on their knees planting the bulbs in holes cut out of the turf (by the stronger volunteers) and replacing the divots. The weather was kind (no Manchester

Club members joined together on Sunday 27th July in Usha’s garden, along with her friends and neighbours to enjoy the summer sunshine, good food, good fun and good friendship. A total of £300 was raised for President Yvonne’s charity.