As Carole Holdcroft came to the end of her year as President of SI of Cannock she was delighted to be able to make a further donation to Pathway, in particular to the refuge they run for women victims of Domestic Violence. Members have been donating Easter Eggs which have now been taken to the Pathway Project and on Easter Day the children living in the refuge will all be given the chocolate eggs.
Making the decision to leave an abusive home is never easy, leaving with your children makes it even more of a huge decision. As well as caring for the women, Pathway takes care of the children, doing all that they can to make this traumatic time in their lives more bearable. Having little treats like receiving chocolate eggs at Easter is just one way of bringing normality and also some pleasure.
Carole – and indeed the whole Soroptimist Club – has long been a supporter of the Pathway Project and during her year as President Carole held a number of events to raise funds for them and for Staffordshire Women’s Aid. So far each organization has received £600.00 from Cannock Soroptimists though there will be a further £100.00 to each of them very soon as a result of the marshalling members did at the Staffordshire Ironman race last year.
As Carole ended her year she told members how much she had enjoyed it, even the times she had been ‘pushed outside of her comfort zone’ as this had shown her that we are never too old to learn or to try something new. She praised members for their work during the year helping the Buddy Bag Foundation; Meru Garden Project; Fistula Foundation UK; Staffordshire Down’s Syndrome Group; St Giles Hospice; Soroptimist International Emergency Fund; Books4Home; Cannock Soup Kitchen and Cannock Food bank – in fact, looking back on the year, she was amazed at how much they had actually achieved.
President Carole has now been a member of SI Cannock for 30 years, working to enable, educate and empower women in so many ways – it was a complete surprise to her when Past President Lynne Tuckley presented her with a certificate, signed by the President of SI Great Britain and Ireland, marking her 30 years of service.
Photo attached: President Carole Holdcroft with just some of the Easter Eggs being taken to Pathway.