Cannock Soroptimists learned about life in the Back to Back Houses in Birmingham recently from their speaker Mac Joseph.  Mac was born and lived in one of the back to backs and he is now a guide with the National Trust properties in Birmingham. These houses were one room deep, built back to back around a courtyard. One side of the houses had their front doors on the street, the other had the door onto the courtyard.  They were built in the 1840’s to provide homes for the many families who moved to Birmingham to work – Birmingham was a thriving work place and many skills and trades were needed. There were usually 11 houses around a courtyard with one wash house and one toilet per 4 houses; 20,000 courtyards were provided and there were usually around 10 people living in each house.  People were

Members of Cannock Soroptimists attended Cannock College Freshers’ Week to talk to new students about Endometriosis, a condition suffered by many women and teenage girls. It often goes undiagnosed for years so it is essential that girls are given information about symptoms which should never be seen as ‘normal’. Should they then suffer from these symptoms they will be able to pursue a diagnosis and so get treatment. Signs and symptoms which could indicate Endometriosis are: Pain before and during periods; Pain with sex; Infertility; Fatigue; Painful urination during periods; Painful bowel movements during periods; Other Gastrointestinal upsets such as diarrhoea, constipation, nausea; Problems with the immune system such as asthma or allergies; and anyone suffering from these should see their Doctor. The event proved a great success and Soroptimists have been invited back to the College to make the information available to all students.

If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen was the title of the talk given by Cas Bailey, a former Staffordshire Police Officer.  Cas spoke to SI Cannock &District at their September speaker meeting about her life in the Police Force in the 1970s, when being a white male was really the only thing to be! She told of her time as a Police Cadet in Walsall when she wasn’t allowed to do the College course as she was already over qualified for the job and when being the only female Cadet made PT sessions something of a trial! When she became a Police Officer in Walsall she was the only woman on the shift, the same was almost true when she became Sergeant and was moved to Wolverhampton. Her tales of life at this time were akin to the TV programme

For the last few years a collection of tents, chairs, beds, sleeping bags, un-opened food etc has been organised by Rotary International at Weston Park in the two days following the V Festival.  This year, as in previous years, Soroptimist International of Cannock & District was involved. Festival attendees leave so much behind which, if it can be collected, can be used by people at home and overseas.  No matter how many volunteers go along they are never able to collect all of the items left behind. On Tuesday 19th August Soroptimists from SI Cannock & District were joined by local Councillor Hyra Sutton and parliamentary candidate Amanda Milling to help with the grand ‘clear-up’ at Weston Park following another very successful V Festival. Wearing wellies and other appropriate clothing members set to work dismantling and re-packing tents, rolling up air beds, collecting chairs, buckets,

‘Memories of a Corner Shop’ was the title of Margaret Smallman’s talk when she was the speaker at SI Cannock & District’s August meeting.  She was an accomplished and amusing speaker and many members could remember the things she spoke of; those who couldn’t found it a fascinating insight into the social history of the 50s and 60s. Margaret grew up in a corner shop in Wolverhampton, the shop sold almost everything – and she remembers her Mother telling them all never to tell a customer they didn’t have or sell any item, always to say that it wasn’t in at the moment but they could get it! It was a very happy evening, reminiscing about rationing, blocks of butter and cheese, liquorice and sherbert in a bag. Corner shops were a vital part of the community, a place where everyone went, where stories could

SI CANNOCK & DISTRICT Diamond Celebration Year 2014 – 15 PRESS RELEASE AUGUST 2014  Cannock Soroptimists are celebrating their Diamond Year – 60 years of working to improve the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and internationally.  As the local club celebrates reaching this milestone, the Soroptimist International UK Federation is celebrating reaching it’s 80th year. The first Soroptimist Club was formed in USA in 1921, 3 years later the first UK club was formed in London and in 1934 clubs within the UK formed their own Federation within the International organisation – Soroptimist International United Kingdom and Ireland – SIGBI.  SI is divided into four federations: SIGBI actually comprises 355 clubs in 29 countries, including many Commonwealth and former Commonwealth countries such as Barbados, India, Gambia, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Nepal and Sri Lanka. When the Soroptimists first formed as a club for women it was

At their July business meeting President Janis Lomas was delighted to welcome new member Val Burdon as a member of SI Cannock & District.  Val got in touch with the Club after reading articles about them in the local paper; she felt that she would like to join them in working to enable, empower and educate women and girls both locally and worldwide.  Val has already been involved with the club in some of the work they do to support Pathway and Women’s Aid and the BIG – Birthing in the Gambia – project, and told members that she is looking forward to working with them in the future as well as enjoying their friendship. This is Cannock Soroptimists’ Diamond year, the first meeting was held in 1954 at the Gas Showrooms in Cannock.  Throughout this year President Janis, an historian, is telling club members

We held a coffee morning at the home of one of our members, Shirley Brown.  Of course, we’d hoped for a sunny morning in the garden but the torrential rain put a stop to that!  Nevertheless, members, friends and guests came along to join us during the morning and there always seemed to be a house full.  Through ticket sales, a raffle, bring and buy and lots of fun and laughter we raised £200 for the BIG project. SI Cannock & District is delighted to have been able to join in with the Day of Action. Two photos are attached – one shows members and friends [President Dr Janis Lomas seated, front; Soroptimist Shirley Brown standing, left] drinking coffee and admiring the cakes, the other shows Soroptimists June Bould and Jenny Holmes hard at work!!  

A beautiful summer’s day and the gorgeous building and grounds of Ingestre Hall provided the setting for Cannock Soroptimists’ 60th Anniversary Year Summer Celebration. Members and guests enjoyed Kir Royale while they took in the gardens.  They then went into the Hall which was set for afternoon tea to be entertained by Notty Hornblower of the Costume Museum in Derby.  Five models – four ladies and one man – modelled clothes which would have been worn over the last 60 years, costumes ranged from evening dresses to swimwear, tennis dresses to the mini, and ended with a display of wedding dresses spanning the years. Everyone loved not just seeing the beautiful original clothes but also hearing Notty’s tales of where she obtained them and sometimes of the original owners. Soroptimist Jenny Holmes thanked Notty, her models and their dressers for providing such a lovely afternoon. 

Cannock Soroptimists heard about Black Country Murders from speaker Ian Bott at their last meeting. Ian used pictures of places and people to illustrate his talk of murders taking place between 1902 and 1954 in Tipton, Lye, Bilston and Walsall.  The murders were all domestic incidents and he didn’t spare any of the gory details! Throat cutting was often the mode of killing; the victims were women and children.  In all cases the murderer was caught, tried and sentenced within twelve months of the crime, sentence ranging from 12 years imprisonment to hanging at Winson Green Prison. President Janis Lomas thanked Ian for his talk – being an historian herself she had a particular interest. The Club’s next speaker meeting will be on August 19th when the speaker will be Margaret Smallman whose topic will be Memories of a Corner Shop. SI Cannock meet at