Cannock and District Soroptimists welcomed back local Historian Paul Bedford for their recent Speaker Meeting. The meeting was led by Team President Lynn Bedford; his talk this year was based on his book “Not Just Names” which pays tribute to the fallen soldiers of Cannock Chase. Paul explained how he had always been fascinated by the Great War 1914 – 1918 and had studied History at University. He became curious about the real people behind the names of the fallen soldiers and what their personal stories may be.  His research so far has taken over ten years and is made so much easier now that there are sites such as Ancestry and Find My Past. Paul gave a taste of some soldiers’ stories – many of course had been miners. Sapper Thomas Brough was born in Calf Heath and later lived in Chadsmoor with his

On Sunday morning, ten members of SI Cannock and District met at the bandstand in Cannock Town Centre as every year they mark the start of the Global 16 Days of Activism campaign that aims to end violence against women and girls across the world.  The campaign runs from 25th November until 10th December and calls for collective action to prevent and respond to gender based violence. During the 16 Days, Soroptimists encourage people across the globe to orange the world. As a bright and optimistic colour, orange represents a future free from violence against women and girls. This year the theme is ‘Wired For Change’ focusing on how technology can be used as a force of good or bad in gender based abuse. To highlight this, members of SI Cannock have decorated the Bandstand with orange ribbons and messages that support those women who are living

Three Soroptimists from the Cannock & District Club dedicated their time in collecting donations for Cannock Food Bank for World Food Day on 16th October 2023. For three weeks, Jill, Adrienne and June collected items generously donated by the general public.  Posters were made and placed outside their homes for donations to be made. The response was overwhelming: in total a huge amount of 535 items were donated. Included was: tinned vegetables, meat, soup, fish, baked beans, fruit and puddings; pasta, pasta sauce, cereal, milk, coffee and tea. These items were delivered to the Food Bank on Monday 16th October by our three Soroptimists. Vicky from Cannock Food Bank said, “This help from the Soroptimists is just wonderful”. The food bank hands out up to a ton of food every single week.  Pre-Covid, the food bank held approximately 12 tons of food at any one

This is how Sue Baumforth sees her role as a Forensic Investigation Manager. Sue was the guest speaker at this month’s speaker meeting presided over by Team President Jill Gooch. As well as a career in Forensics, Sue is also a Soroptimist and member of SI Wolverhampton Club. The talk given to her fellow Soroptimists was fascinating and demonstrated the passion she has for this important work in West Midlands Police. Sue was born and grew up in Cheshire but studied for a degree in Religion and Ethics in Birmingham. Her first job, surprisingly, was in a remote part of Shetland on a salmon farm. She was responsible for exploring the ethics of salmon farming in a humane and sustainable way. Later Sue returned to the Midlands as a Scene of Crime Officer. SOCO’s are called in to examine and collect forensic material which could

On 7th September, one of the hottest days of the year, 3 members of SI Cannock & District joined members of SI Stafford for a visit to Wedgewood Pottery. The visit started at the home of a Stafford member, with morning coffee and then went onto Wedgewood Pottery for a factory tour. When the factory was opened in 1759 by Josiah Wedgewood approximately 1600 worked there, they even had their own railway stop. Today there are just 74 potters and artists. The larger vases are made in pieces and then put together with the potter putting their initials on the bottom of the piece. These are only made to order and can cost upwards of £10,000. Some of the decorations are transferred onto the items but the gilding is hand painted by the amazing artists. Numerous generations of local families still work at the factory.  

SI Cannock & District have decided to organise more social get-togethers where members can meet in a less formal setting and socialise more. Our first get-together was at the Great War Hut at Marquis Drive on Cannock Chase. The hut shows how soldiers that fought in the First World War lived whilst billeted in the training camps on Cannock Chase. Cannock Soroptimist Lynne Tuckley, one of the volunteers at the hut kindly arranged the visit. Built in Autumn 1915, at its height it was the largest training camp in the British Empire; housing 40,000 men at a time who were brought to Cannock for three months to learn how to fight. At that time the population of Rugeley was 7,000 so that gives some idea of the amount of infrastructure that needed to be put in place. Power was tapped from the nearby colliery power

Bishton Hall and Gardens was the venue for this year’s SI Cannock & District Summer Celebration.  Soroptimist Jackie Prince organised a fabulous morning in the Orangery when club members and friends enjoyed a morning cream tea and the company of auctioneer and TV personality Charles Hanson. Charles and his staff were so welcoming and friendly and many club members took along items for Charles to value. As he did this, he demonstrated his amazing knowledge of what seemed to be all areas of antique and vintage items – though he told us that he has many specialists working with him who he will refer to for confirmation or additional information.  He told the story of a Chinese vase he was asked to auction many years ago.  He correctly told the owner the date and the artist and valued it at £25,000.  His specialist examined it