A kind and gentle lady who will be sadly missed by all her Soroptimist sisters, Sian passed away on 21st March. Her leadership as President and Programme Action Officer was an inspiration to us all at SIGBI – a true Soroptimist.  Sian worked tirelessly for the Itala Project in Zambia raising awareness of the importance of friendship links and international education culminating in SI Bangor winning the 2016 International Best Practice Award – Learning Opportunities. Sian became a Soroptimist in 2001, was Club President in 2014/15 and also served many terms as Club Regional representative and Programme Action Officer inspiring and supporting many different activities eg walks, awareness raising and support for the homeless and women. She was Region Programme Action Officer for a number of years and was very well respected by all the clubs. Sian had recently been made a club honorary member and was

President Marianne welcomed Lesley Hall as a new member to the club having been introduced by Mavis who would continue to mentor Lesley as a member. President Marianne shared with club members: “I set out this time last year that my key theme for the year would be how to support our existing members – friendship, kindness, inclusion – the membership & wellbeing committee led by Julie would be central to this – and my did she deliver! Cards, telephone calls, little chats…..I have certainly felt the warmth and support at our meetings and its true to say I’ve had many a hug! I hope you’ve enjoyed our programme of speakers this year – again we tried something different – reducing to one business meeting has given us an opportunity to slot in extra contacts – orange café every month – although a serious message

At the February Orange Cafe planning for the club’s 75th club celebration, members were joined by pupils and staff from Hirael School President Marianne presented a cheque of £1,500 on behalf of the club to provide some furnishings and items for their wellbeing room ( Y Nyth ).

President Marianne and Past President Gudrun chose International Women’s Day to meet with Osian Ellis CEO of Gorwel (Women’s Refuges) to donate a cheque for £1622.00 through activities during Gudrun’s presidency (including walking the Slate Trail in all weathers!) The refuge is a long standing charity supported by the club in many ways, especially at Christmas time with gifts, food and toiletries.

President Marianne welcomed club members to SI Bangor and District’s 75th Anniversary Celebration Afternoon Tea which was held at Storiel Bangor on 5th March, 2024.  A warm welcome was also extended to Regional President Janet Murfin, President Sandra Snow and members from SI Llandudno,  Mary Rickards and Jane Williams from SI South Caernarfonshire and our Honorary Club members Enid Griffith (101 years young!) and Mair Jones OBE. Cllr Elin Walker Jones, Mayor of the City of Bangor spoke kindly of the work and service of club members to the community over many years. The Club was chartered in 1948 under the presidency of Mrs Gladys Emyr Hughes and a very interesting exhibition about our Club remains on show at the Storiel Museum, Bangor until the end of April.  Special thanks were extended to Helen Gwefryl and Dion Hamer at Storiel who provided invaluable help in

President Marianne received the award on behalf of the club for the most increase in membership numbers across the Cheshire and north Wales region at the recent Soroptimist International Regional meeting.     A tombola of chocolate prizes was well supported at the meeting, proceeds were added to President Marianne’s Ukrainian charity.

Member Maggie Hughes provided an entertaining evening of food exploration with a quiz on food around the world followed by a blind comparison tasting of 4 different foods from 3 supermarkets and their comparative pricing. Many of us were surprised at the differences between our preferences and the pricing of the items. A great light hearted evening on a cold winter evening!

Ste Krafft a volunteer and Gem Simmonds of NWSRO  provided a fascinatingly informative presentation of the work of the seal population of north wales – their habitat, sightings, species, environmental and health challenges, as well as the best behaviour to adopt when anywhere near their presence. Gem also touched on other cetacean visitors to our shores and how to report any sightings. She was pleased to share the links below with members for further information on welsh marine conservation work British Divers Marine Life Rescue (bdmlr.org.uk) North Wales Seal Research Organisation (nwsro.org) Marine Environmental Monitoring (strandings.com)