“Soldiering On – Letters from War Widows” was the title of a talk given to Cannock Soroptimists recently by club member Dr Janis Lomas. Janis is an historian, specialising in the history of war widows in the UK. She gave a talk which was both insightful and emotional, using extracts from the letters of war widows to demonstrate not only the hardship faced by the majority of them from both World Wars but also the way in which they were treated. Pensions were dependant on rank and respectability and could be forfeited if any rules were broken. Amazingly, war widows from WW2 were actually worse off than those from WW1 for most of the war years and all war widows were impoverished after WW2. The women found themselves widowed at very young ages, often with small children – and could be left with no pension

Cannock Soroptimists were delighted to welcome a new member to their Club at their  September business meeting.  She is Elizabeth Frondigoun, whom many people know from her ministry in Cannock at St Luke’s Church.  Team President Lakhwinder Thompson inducted Elizabeth as a Soroptimist and Elizabeth thanked the Club for their warm welcome and told members that she was looking forward to working with them on their projects which support women and children. Members heard reports of many of the initiatives they support: a recent coffee morning raised £260 for the Oxfam bucket appeal: the 14-litre Oxfam Bucket was designed to provide a safe storage option to organisations working on water safety in the home or refugee camps; members were asked to bring cakes along to the next meeting – these will be taken to St Giles Hospice; and they watched a DVD produced by the

3 members of SI Cannock & District were recently presented with long service certificates.  At the AGM, out-going Team Presidents Carole Holdcroft and Eileen Cryer were pleased to acknowledge the 115 years of service to Soroptimist International – and the Cannock & District club – by three of their members. Maggie Shore received a certificate marking 30 years as a Soroptimist. Georgina Ward received a certificate for her 40 years as a member of the organisation and Dora Leighton’s 45 years as a Soroptimist was honoured. Georgina and Dora joined when times were very different to the way they are today, they have both served on many committees and have taken the role of club President. They both continue to take an active part in club life with Dora now 97 and Georgina now 90 years of age attending all of the club’s functions and

Many people enjoyed a very successful event on Saturday 2nd March, when Cannock Soroptimists held a free coffee and information morning at St Luke’s Church Centre, Cannock. The event was linked with International Women’s Day and was funded by a grant from Staffordshire Local Community Fund. Representatives from local organisations Women’s Aid; Pathway; Chase Voluntary Services; Oxfam; the Local Foodbank; Women’s Air cadets and Cannock Friends of St Giles Hospice attended and they all reported great interest in their organisations and services.  Soroptimists provided information on many issues they are currently involved with, such as health matters and child sexual exploitation and trafficking. Members of the public were very generous in their donations of goods for the foodbank and for Pathway, some have offered to volunteer with the foodbank.   Local business women – in particular caterer Janette Arrowsmith of Food with Finesse, Pam Smith

STOP THE TRAFFICKING!   To mark International Women’s Day Soroptimists from 13 clubs in the Midland Chase Region will be walking through Lichfield city centre to Lichfield Speakers Corner at the Minster Pool at 12 noon on Saturday March 9th. They will be continuing in their work to raise awareness of the whole issue of child sexual exploitation and the trafficking of women and girls as part of their focus on violence against women. Their walk will begin in Tamworth Street and all members will wear the colour purple – the colour associated with trafficking and violence against women.  They hope to arrive at Speakers Corner at 12.15pm when there will be a short address about how this issue affects us, how we can be more aware of it and what we can do to protect young people.  Members will distribute leaflets and cards which

Thanks to the generosity of a grant of £500 from Councillor Patrick Corfield through the Staffordshire Local Community Fund, Cannock Soroptimists are able to offer a free event in Cannock at St Luke’s Church Centre on Saturday March 2nd. Councillor Corfield has supported Soroptimists in their work to help local women and girls and in raising public awareness of many issues which affect them. Everyone is invited to the event on March 2nd which is linked with International Women’s Day.  It will provide information on many services provided locally to women and will promote local business women.  The event is open to the public, it will be completely free of charge, with tea, coffee and biscuits offered whilst visitors have the opportunity to obtain information, indulge in a free hand massage from local mobile nail technician Emma J, get ideas for gift wrapping and even

Cannock Soroptimists celebrated their 58 years as a Club at their Annual Dinner which was held at The Barns on February 8th. Team President Eileen Cryer took the chair and welcomed almost 90 Soroptimists and guests to the evening.  Mistress of Ceremonies was team President Carole Holdcroft. David Marklew, President of the Rotary Club of Cannock, proposed the toast to Soroptimist International, commending the organisation for their work giving help and hope to women and children all over the world but particularly to Cannock & District club for the work they continue to do with Pathway and also now for their support for the local Food Banks.  He spoke of his wish for service organisations to work together whenever appropriate. Dishi Attwood, President of Midland Chase Region responded and added her congratulations to the club for the work they do locally.  She mentioned particularly the

At the first meeting of 2013, current Team President Lakhwinder Thompson passed the chain of office to Soroptimists Eileen Cryer and Carole Holdcroft who will take on the role of Team President of Soroptimist International, Cannock and District until the AGM in April of this year. Carole and Eileen welcomed speakers Caroline Bradford and Jan Mathews, who gave an interesting and informative talk on the local work of Chase Community Voluntary Service. As well as a regular newsletter, CVS provide many local services such as volunteer drivers for hospital visits and run groups supporting people in need including those with physical disabilities as well as people with mental health issues. They also support other charities working in the Cannock chase area with issues such as payroll and health and safety advice. At the meeting members took along food items which will be donated to Cannock

Lakhwinder Thompson, Team President of Soroptimist International, Cannock and District welcomed members and guests to the Christmas Celebration at The Barns.  A traditional Christmas meal was served and entertainment was provided by guitarist and singer Chris Austin.  Everyone enjoyed either joining in with the singing or dancing to the music – or both! Soroptimists work to give help to women all over the world.  This year the club chose to continue their tradition of helping local women and their families at Christmas. On the evening of the Christmas Celebration they took along items for Cannock & District Food Bank donating food in tins and packets which was then delivered to the Food Bank on Pye Green Road.  Once collected, the food is sorted by volunteers who check it’s in date and pack it into boxes ready to be given to people in need. Care professionals

Cannock Soroptimist Georgina Ward celebrated her 90th birthday last week. Club members were delighted that the date fell on the occasion of their International Evening and that Georgina had chosen to spend the evening with them. She was invited to light the Friendship candle at the beginning of the evening. Georgina has been a member of SI Cannock and District for 39 years, having joined in 1973 and was the club’s President in their 25th year. Georgina looked as wonderful as ever and was delighted with the flower arrangement from club members presented to her by Team President Lakhwinder Thompson. There was an excellent chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ before Georgina blew out the candles and cut her birthday cake, also a gift from her fellow club members. She was quite overwhelmed by the cards, gifts and good wishes she had received and thanked all club