At their recent AGM, held using Zoom, Cannock Soroptimists welcomed their new President, Jackie Prince. Jackie has been a member of the club for almost 4 years and during that time she has been totally involved in the work of the club, for the last two years as joint Programme Action Officer and joint Press Officer. Jackie is fairly recently retired from her job as a trainer with West Midlands Police, a role which gave her an insight into many of the issues affecting our society today; this insight has enabled her to be proactive concerning projects the club could initiate.
When accepting the insignia from out-going President Trish Smith, Jackie thanked Trish for all that she had done to keep the club together during the pandemic and indeed, to move projects forward.
President Jackie said: “I became a Soroptimist because I wanted to make a difference to the lives of women and girls in my community and around the world. In the last four years I have lost count of the number of times we have been faced with an issue and the question ‘so what can we do about it’ has been asked. As Soroptimists we look at how we can change things, improve things, make things happen and I love that. To show that this has always been the case, and to celebrate the centenary of Soroptimism I have ‘borrowed’ my theme for this year from Violet Richardson, the founder President of Soroptimist’s first club in Alameda County, USA, in 1921, ‘It’s what you do that counts’.
Jackie went on to outline some of her plans and aims for the coming Soroptimist year, to focus not only on how as Soroptimists we can enable the lives of others to improve, but also to focus on looking after ourselves, particularly as the way we have all had to live over the last year has often affected our mental health and wellbeing. It is often said in order to help others you first have to help yourself and with that in mind, her charity for this year is Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles. They are a charity working with Cannock Chase Council to provide ways of improving our health and wellbeing. Jackie has invited Lisa Shephard from Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles to speak at the meeting on June 8th.
President Jackie and all club members are looking forward to a happy, energizing year and would be pleased to welcome to their meetings anyone interested in the organisation.
Photos attached: l to r: Immediate Past President Trish Smith with Jackie Prince, President SI Cannock & District 2021-22 – meeting together in a garden to actually pass on the insignia
2: SI May logo – Mental health awareness