On Saturday 26th March for one hour between 8:30 and 9:30pm members were invited to switch off non-essential electric lights for the WWF Earth Hour and unite with millions of people around the world in a global display of commitment to tackle urgent environmental issues and protect our planet. Earth Hour reminds us that even small actions can make a big difference. When we make changes in our own lives to reduce our footprint, we inspire those around us to do the same. And what could be nicer than a candlelit dinner, a candlelit hour of meditation or even reading a book on a Kindle? Earth Hour in Wales Beyond the Hour Cymru Street Art 2021
The idea of a walk whilst ‘picking up’ litter is credited to the Programme Action Group meeting back in October. It was agreed that it was too soon to meet up and arrange a walk and beach clean for all members but the benefits of being outdoors during this difficult period was clear to everybody so the suggestion was that smaller groups be arranged for walks whilst picking up litter for one month during January 2022. Steps/mileage would be recorded and would contribute to SIGBI ‘Beach Cleaning Programme Action.’ Marianne organised the loan of 15 sets of litter pickers, gloves, refuge bags with rings from Gemm at Anglesey Sea Zoo. Many thanks to the Sea Zoo for their generous support. The idea was that we would start small .. stepping outside our own front doors to do a bit of a tidy up; joining with
Saturday morning and the Bangor Soroptimists came together in the Park and Share car park at Llanfair PG to exchange toiletries for the Women’s Refuge; bedding and towels for Penrhyn House; bottle tops and can ring pulls (to make into plastic chairs and ring clutch bags); food for the Cathedral Foodbank. What a great turnout and fantastic donations on a bitterly cold December morning and wonderful seeing and catching up with friends again.
The speaker at our recent zoom meeting was Fiona Owens from the Abbey Road Centre, a Mental Health and Wellbeing Centre located in Bangor, Gwynedd. Their aim is to support the people in the local community to improve their mental and physical wellbeing through activities such as art, crafts, a reading group, gardening, games, quizzes etc. Fiona explained that the centre began in the early 80s, now operating a drop-in day-care service as well as room hire and tenancies. The centre is funded by the Health Board and Gwynedd Council. At present they only work with adults and within office hours due to funding issues. There is a team of five and they can support up to 70 individuals per week, referred through GPs or self-referred. Our club have helped paint rooms and provided hanging baskets to support them. New members are always welcome. Click
Some of our club members met at the Beach Road Car Park, Bangor on a May weekend in order to swap things that had been collected and donated for various charities:- Enormous amount of bottle tops collected to recycle to make furniture Can ring pulls for the Purple Community Fund http://www.purpleteardrop.org.uk/ Warm clothing, bedding and hand knitted children’s garments for CEFN refugee collection Clothes, towels and toys for North Wales Blind shop https://www.nwsb.org.uk/ Old Jewellery for Alzheimer’s Society https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/ Stamps for the Dog’s Trust https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/ Toiletries for the Women’s Refuge https://www.welshwomensaid.org.uk/ Maggie’s flower baskets for the Abbey Road Centre https://www.abbeyroadcentre.co.uk/
Two of our members, Sian and Andy, took part in the Virtual MoonWalk London challenge this May. Sian is an experienced London MoonWalker and Andy a MoonWalk newbie. ‘Virtual’ means that this year they were walking locally and in daylight! They did a Half Moon – or half-marathon – of 13.1 miles along the Menai Straits between Gwynedd and Anglesey in North Wales. They aimed for £250 but have raised over £600 so far. Well done both! If you would like to sponsor them you can at https://walkthewalk.enthuse.com/pf/andy-hawkins
Although covid regulations delayed some of our recycling and repurposing project we gave toiletries to the mothers in the local Women’s Refuge, we had a store cupboard clear-out of donations for the cathedral food-bank, we sent antique and vintage items to the Vintage Cash Cow which raised £421 for our president’s Fund and we sent 3 bags of costume jewellery to the Alzheimer’s Society (https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/make-donation/recycling)
Beach clean Centenary poppies for Bangor cathedral Festival number 6 Conference sandwiches provided to local homeless Plastic awareness day Love your liver Working at the North Wales Blind charity shop in Bangor Women’s Aid christmas bags Clothing for St Mary’s hostel for the homeless Child contact centre Winter soup for St Mary’s hostel Collection of plastic bottle tops for recycling Collection of ring pulls for purple community fund SOS day Tulip tea party at Y Glyn Sale of goods for purple community fund Table at Rotary fair raising funds for NW Blind association Prepared by Sian Kent Programme Action officer
