Cannock Soroptimists held a successful day in Cannock Town Centre recently when many members of the public paid them a visit to donate items of sanitary wear and also toiletries. They had responded to articles in the press and to posters in both Cannock and Hednesford. Amongst those to donate was Tesco store in Hednesford – they had displayed a poster and were very keen to help those women and girls who are unable to afford sanitary wear on a month by month basis. Research has shown there are a large number of families who struggle financially with mothers often having to make choices which are unreasonable – whether to buy food or whether to buy sanitary wear for themselves or their daughters. The items donated will be distributed via Pathway and Staffordshire Women’s Aid to women in Cannock who are in need of this

President of SI Cannock June Bould welcomed members and guests, including region President Jan Gray, to their September speaker meeting and introduced speaker Detective Sergeant Sharon Smith of the West Midlands Police.   Sharon is Safeguarding Lead and specialises in the area of Domestic Abuse, in particular Forced Marriage and Honour Abuse and these last two subjects were the topic of her presentation. She ensured that everyone understood the difference between a forced marriage and an arranged marriage: those involved in an arranged marriage have the opportunity to choose not to marry the chosen partner, those involved in a forced marriage have no choice and are often threatened that awful things will happen if the marriage does not occur; violence can often be a part of this.  Forced marriage is a criminal offence and has been so since 2014. She based her presentation on two stories

Cannock Soroptimists together with family and friends – 80 in total – enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at Mitton Manor, Penkridge, for their annual Summer Celebration. President June Bould wanted somewhere quintessentially English where people could walk, chat, enjoy their surroundings and have a delicious afternoon tea; she was delighted when Elizabeth Gooch MBE, owner of Mitton Manor, agreed that the event could be held there. The gardens are within a 7-acre country garden that was started in 2001 and has been developed from an overgrown wilderness. They are now absolutely beautiful and contain a range of different styles, with formal box and topiary, natural woodland bordered by a stream and wonderful flower gardens with a number of water features and sculptures. The day of the Summer Celebration began with rain – the first we have had for weeks – but the day slowly cleared and

Cannock Soroptimists are helping local schools to address the issue of sexting: the sending and receiving of nude pictures and sexually explicit text messages, something which is increasingly becoming normal among teenagers. Often, the youngsters don’t realise they may be acting illegally and that they could face police action. Soroptimists have provided training for pupils and staff of 5 High schools – Cardinal Griffin Catholic College, Staffordshire University Academy, Cannock Chase High School, Kingsmead School and Chase Terrace Technology College – on the risks, both legal and emotional, of sending naked or near naked images. The male and female students, who will be Y12 and Y13 from September, will take on the role of Ambassador within their schools for the project known as ‘Your Body, Your Rules’. Soroptimist Jackie Prince who organised & facilitated the training said “Media reports regarding the increase in young people

Cannock Soroptimists have become aware of a growing problem in this country – families who cannot afford to buy sanitary wear needed each month. A survey found that more than 137,700 girls have missed school in the last year because they couldn’t afford sanitary products. 6 per cent of parents admit they have been so desperate to equip their daughters with sanitary protection they have resorted to stealing on the occasions they couldn’t afford to buy them, whilst more than a fifth of parents said they had gone without something themselves so they had enough money to meet their daughter’s needs. Women’s Aid is aware of the issue as are food banks throughout the country. Many food banks distribute sanitary products and there are some specialist distribution centres already set up. Cannock Soroptimists made an initial collection of products to give to Staffordshire Women’s Aid

Cannock Soroptimists supported the Meru Women’s Garden Project by holding an Open Garden weekend on one of the sunniest, warmest weekends we’ve had this year. Around 40 people went along to each of the events, hosted by June Bould, President of SI Cannock and Soroptimist Maggie Shore. Everyone admired their beautiful gardens whilst enjoying tea, cakes, boules and croquet. There was a lot of fun and laughter, everyone enjoying each other’s company. Meru Women’s Garden Project is supported by all clubs in the Federation of Great Britain and Ireland and is in its third and final year. In Partnership with Child.org, women of Meru County, Kenya, will be educated, empowered and enabled to create their own employment through growing and selling their crops or to take on training and mentoring roles within their communities. Additionally, girls and boys will receive training opportunities to promote staying

Cannock Soroptimists again volunteered at the annual Staffordshire Ironman 70.3 race and this year were involved in packing the bags given to all competitors and to those who marshal on the day. Club President June Bould and Soroptimist Carole Holdcroft spent a day bag packing; they worked hard but had a fun day and learned a lot about some of the work that goes on behind the scenes to prepare for an international event such as this. Early on Sunday morning, 10th June, 4 members of Cannock Soroptimists – Carole Holdcroft, Jill Gooch, Maggie Shore and Olivia Lyons – were in position near to Chasewater to marshal the first part of the bike ride section of the race. The start was delayed slightly because of fog at Chasewater! Eventually the fog lifted and they were able to complete the 1.2 mile swim. The sun shone

At the meeting on the 5th June SI Cannock was delighted to welcome Nikki Archer Supportive Care Director & lead for Bereavement Service at St Giles Hospice to the meeting. Nikki gave an extremely interesting and informative presentation on the Phoenix Project which was formally launched in February 2015. Phoenix is an innovative project, organised within St Giles Hospice. It is an initiative specifically designed to provide support to children and young people under 18 years who have lost their parents or a close family member. Support is given in a variety of ways tailored to the age of the child or young person and may take the form of one to one sessions, peer support and group activities depending on what child and their parent feels is most appropriate. The project also aims to provide practical advice to the bereaved adult and emotional support

Cannock Soroptimists were entertained by their after dinner speaker Geoff Brookes, who provided them with an amusing account of his life in the Staffordshire Ambulance Service which spanned 25 years. Geoff began his career as an ambulance driver at a time when the role of the ambulance technician did not exist, however he soon grabbed the opportunity of this further development in emergency work to undertake the training at Pelsall Ambulance Training Centre. He enjoyed the role so much he became a senior training instructor, later using his skills and expertise to provide lifesaving training in schools around Staffordshire. During his long service Geoff saw many changes, not all of which he approved, for example the increase in violence against emergency staff which he attributes to drugs and alcohol misuse. Jeff shared some of the “highs and lows” of his 25 years in the service,