Cannock Soroptimists have been lucky to be led by their President Trish Smith for two years.  She took office at the AGM in April 2019 – but by April 2020 the pandemic had altered everything for us all.  President Trish set up the first Zoom meeting for the club, it happened to be the AGM and, as the situation was so unsure, all Officers agreed to stay in post for a further year.  In her address in April 2020, President Trish said:  “Let’s hope that it won’t be long before we are able to resume our work and meetings.”  Little did we know that 12 months later we would still be finding it necessary to hold our meetings by zoom – though outdoor meetings in small groups are now possible. In her report at the 2021 AGM, President Trish was able to remind members of

As her final task as President of SI Cannock & District, Trish Smith was delighted to visit two members of the club to present them with their long service awards. Lilian Hyde has been a Soroptimist for 30 years and has always been an active supporter of the club’s work to educate, enable and empower women and girls.  For many years she was minute secretary; she has regularly organised fund raising raffles and for many years she has sewn comfort bags to be given to women who enter a refuge for women escaping domestic abuse.  Over the years Lilian has made thousands of these bags and filled them with essential toiletries so that the women have something of their own to enable them to maintain some dignity when they arrive at the Pathway or Women’s Aid Refuges. Dr. Janis Lomas received her certificate marking 20

It is said that every cloud has a silver lining – and lockdown has proved that for SI Cannock & District as they have gained two new members. Once outdoor meetings were permissible, President Trish Smith arranged to induct Adrienne Hewitt and Jill Mason.  They met, keeping to the rule of six, on a sunny but cold morning – and reveled in the opportunity to meet together once more. Membership secretary June Bould and President Elect Jackie Prince were on hand to witness them becoming members of Soroptimist International as was Trish Mellor who was their sponsor. President Trish Smith welcomed them to the club, telling them that they were joining the women worldwide who are bound together in service and friendship. Both Adrienne, a local Councillor, and Jill, a teaching assistant,  have been involved with the club’s projects over the past year, collecting and

SI Cannock & District marked International Women’s Day 2021 by featuring 12 local women on their social media, their website and by inviting them to a special evening conducted on Zoom. The theme this year is #ChooseToChallenge – gender equality. These women have chosen to challenge stereotypes by going into careers traditionally thought of as male roles. Cannock Soroptimists approached a firefighter, prison officer, a Sky technician, a local Councillor, an MP, and CEOs of local organisations to ask them to share their experiences, positive and negative, of having a successful career in what might be seen as mainly a man’s world. They also wanted to highlight how working mothers have coped during the pandemic, juggling working from home with home schooling alongside running a home and all that entails. Seven of the women were able to accept the invitation to join the meeting to

For ten months NHS, care home and domiciliary care staff  have been continuing their work to look after the ill, the elderly and the vulnerable – and all whilst wearing PPE, which is certainly not the most comfortable way to work.  In the first lockdown, Cannock Soroptimists collected almost 1,200 items of hand cream, face cream and other toiletries to deliver to hospitals and care homes so that staff could ease the burden on their skin.  Many families locally are struggling because of the many aspects of the pandemic, including redundancy.  Soroptimists were able to help some of these families by donating collections of food to Cannock and Rugeley Food Banks. SI Cannock & District felt it was important to show all of these people that they are still being thought of and so another collection has begun; members, friends and neighbours have again been

As part of the celebration of the first centenary of Soroptimist International in 2021, local member Carole Holdcroft of SI Cannock & District has been selected as one of more than 100 Soroptimists to be commemorated as part of the #Whoisshe? Campaign.  Carole has been a dedicated Soroptimist at SI Cannock & District since November 1986 and has undertaken many roles in the club including President and her current role as Treasurer. She is a great mentor to the newer members of the club, always available to give advice, have a friendly chat at our meetings or on the other end of the phone when needed. But it is in giving practical help where Carole excels! She looks for useful ways to help those in need and has been supporting the women who seek help from The Pathway Project– Action Against Domestic Abuse in Lichfield for

Cannock Soroptimists, like many others, are involved in collecting and distributing laptops and tablets to schools to ensure that all children have access to a digital device so that they can take part in on-line lessons and complete pieces of work for school. The Coronovirus pandemic has highlighted the fact that there is a ‘digital divide’; – some families have plenty of access to a device and the internet, others have none and this can widen the gap in terms of education and so much more. Some families are trying to share a mobile phone, or one other type of device: this is obviously nowhere near ideal. Over the last few months the club carried out research, being especially mindful that devices must be cleaned of data before they are delivered to a school.  Members were informed of an approved programme that wipes data from

Cannock Soroptimists are usually very busy during December – as are so many others – doing things to help others.  Some of the things they normally do – like cooking a Christmas lunch for those who otherwise wouldn’t have one – have not been possible this year.  But, true to their strap line “Women inspiring action, transforming lives” they have continued to support women and families both locally and globally. Members have donated gifts for the women who will spend Christmas in a refuge this year, at those run by Pathway and Staffordshire Women’s Aid.  All of the women will have gifts to open, letting them know that others care for them and about them. Members and friends have donated clothes and toys to the Dawn Allport Movement – a wonderful group who ensure that local families in need get some of the things they

Meetings by zoom are becoming ‘the norm’ for Cannock Soroptimists!  And being joined by Soroptimists from their Friendship Link Clubs in Melbourne Australia and Harrisburg USA as well as friends and guests in the UK is also becoming the norm – and it’s wonderful! 28 Soroptimists and guests joined zoom this week to listen to speakers Alan Hudson and Sheree, founders of the Dawn Allport Family and Community Movement.  Dawn was Sheree’s Mom and Alan’s partner, she sadly passed away in February of this year.  Family was the most important thing to Dawn – as well as her own children and grandchildren, she and Alan fostered for Staffordshire County Council for the last 20 years – and Alan still fosters.  In fact, he has recently been presented with a National Award for his excellent work as a foster parent and the work he does to

Cannock Soroptimists are again marking World Food Day [12 th October] by giving extra support to Cannock Food Bank, part of the Trussell Trust. Members support them throughout the year – they did so throughout lockdown earlier this year by donating cleaning and toiletry items as well as children’s clothing. They have again collected from members, neighbours and friends, this time for tinned and dried foods – utilising ‘the box’ at the end of driveways of some members and the response has been fantastic! One of the Food Bank organisers told Soroptimists that the demand for their food boxes – enough to feed a family for 3 days – has risen by 55% in the last few weeks alone! This is a tremendous rise and obviously means additional resources are needed. They are expecting the demand to rise even more when furlough ends at the