Congratulations to Region Clubs This year our Region clubs again supported this campaign #OrangeTheWorld #16DaysOfActivism against gender based violence. Thanks to all our #Soroptimist Region clubs who have taken part in this campaign either by taking action, holding events or posting Social Media Campaigns. Congratulations #Soroptimists on a meaningful, poignant, innovative and interesting #16days Congratulations South Caernarfonshire For an excellent Social Media Campaign 'She Only..." posted each day from 25th November, the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10th December, Human Rights Day- to mark #16DaysOfActivism, #OrangeTheWorld. There has been much acclaim on Face book - Club, Region, Federation and world wide for this  innovative, interesting, sometimes poignant, and emotive campaign. The Region Communications team asked the club WHY and HOW they achieved this SI South Caernarfonshire members says: "Following our successful “orange stone campaign “ in 2021 a Programme Action  sub committee

Region Meeting Change of Insignia Congratulations and all the very best of wishes to new Region President Susan Haywood. At the Region Meeting on Saturday 19th November the Region welcomed Susan Haywood as our new President, and we were finally able to take some lovely photos of the change of Insignia. Huge thanks to Immediate Past Region President Yvonne Johns, who despite many difficulties enjoyed an excellent year as Region President Region President Susan Haywood's Address It is an overwhelming privilege to have been elected as the incoming Regional President.  There are some resplendent footsteps to fill from previous inspiring and diligent women who have preceded me.  I have a great team of Officers who are the stalwarts of Region; I am the one who is transient with only a year to wreak havoc or, better still, bring about unity! My tag line for this

CHAIR OF UKPAC We are very pleased to announce the new Chair of UKPAC (The United Kingdom Programme Action Committee) is Gillie O’Rourke of SI Bebington.  Gillie was formerly the Regional Programme Action Officer. We are very proud of her, and wish her well in her new role Gillie comments on her election to this prestigious position. “I am extremely honoured to have been elected by my peers to the role of Chair of UKPAC.  The role is challenging and wide-ranging covering, as it does, not only working with Regional Programme Action Reps, but also having regular meetings with national partners/organisations as well as the UN and Europe. We are now a completely new team leading United Kingdom Programme Action (starting with our new Programme Director, Lindsey Green). As a new team we are looking at our strategy and extending the work of the current

Region AGM & Speaker Meeting President Yvonne welcomed members and the meeting began with a 2 minute silence as a mark of respect to our late Queen Elizabeth 11. President Yvonne outlined the agenda for the day and thanked officers for completing and submitting their Regional Job Descriptions. She also advised that SIGBI is planning to update its Regional Job Descriptions in line with current requirements. Members were advised that the SIGBI Federation Conference will be held in London in October 2023 this being in addition to the Soroptimist International Convention which is being held in Dublin in July 2023 with the theme ‘Challenge the Future’. An update on E Clubs was given by Regional Membership Officer Penny Clarke who advised that a pilot scheme SI Libertas had attracted 18 members and that they were meeting virtually 3 times a month and becoming involved in

Region E-Club Do you live in Cheshire, North Wales or the Wirral? Are you interested in joining an International Women’s Organisation that works for the empowerment, education and health of Women and Children throughout the world? We have 14 active clubs in the region please click here for information but also know that attending face to face meetings can be difficult. We are offering the opportunity to join Soroptimist International virtually and at the same time keep in touch with what clubs in the region are doing and to join up occasionally for events. The membership and development regional officers have been working towards developing an E-club for the Region. Soroptimist Federation SIGBI has kindly sent out an e-mail (see below) to past members who have left our clubs in the past 2 years Dear Past Member of SI Cheshire North Wales and Wirral, we

Final Report from the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod Written by Chair of LIME Committee Pam Cheesley-Hollinshea Day 3 Saturday    Early start to ensure all is ready for another day of fun and visitors! It was lovely to meet more visiting Soroptimists from other Clubs as well as two daughters of a member of SI Llangollen club which sadly is now closed. We spent an informative  time learning more of that club’s involvement with the Llangollen Eisteddfod from the 1960s onwards. It was due to the commitment and encouragement of those members that we now have the privilege of hosting our hospitality tent where we can share information about the work of Soroptimist international. Watching our choir perform in the Royal Pavilion was a wonderful experience. The auditorium was filled with expectation and exhilaration as each choir arranged themselves ready to sing followed by the loud

Saturday at the Llangollen Eisteddfod Written by Region President Elect Susan Haywood There was an air of excitement and buzz in the Soroptimist International tent when the choir, sponsored by the LIME committee, awaited their results of the competition.  And whilst they waited, the E. Mikeladze Central Music School Choir from Georgia, descended on the tent and devoured the drinks and biscuits we had prepared for them, and chose gifts from a selection of bags, scarves and jewellery, with a great deal of delight. There was an SI Chester presence on Saturday – in the morning Penny Danczac and Debbie Hagan, then in the afternoon Susan Haywood and Wendy Thompson.  Also volunteering in the afternoon was Sandra Evans from Bebington as well as Pam Cheesley-Hollinshead, as the LIME in-charge. At 1.17pm the choir took to the main stage to perform.  Pam went to watch them

A Day at the Soroptimist Tent Written by Janet Murfin On arrival in the morning, the weather was misty and chilly.  Myself (Janet Murfin) and Eirwen Kenrick were the first to arrive and we began to set up (and get the kettle on)!  Reinforcements soon arrived and we were all busy making sure everything was ready for the day. The first day was children`s day and they soon began arriving and were drawn immediately to our activity table. Here they could colour wooden spoons like the Welsh love spoons or colour the paper template love spoons which had the Soroptimist logo on them. This activity was very popular and they took their spoons home to give to their families. The teachers liked this activity as they had a cup of coffee while the children were busy. We had many visitors to the tent for tea, coffee and

Day Two at the Llangollen Eisteddfod Report of the Day from Jenny Wilson The sun came out and we were very fortunate to meet our sponsored choir ‘The Choir of E.Mikeladze Central Music School’ from Georgia. This delightful group, performed a recital in St. Collen’s Church in the centre of Llangollen. Their perfect singing was complimented by the marvellous acoustics of this beautiful church. We welcomed this modest group of young people, to join us for refreshments in the Soroptimist Tent. With an inspiring philosophy of ‘Singing Makes Perfect’ they went on to give an impromptu performance to the delight of all. We had a good day at the Eisteddfod overall, but not as many visitors as Day One.  We welcomed a group of disabled children who loved colouring their own Welsh love spoons, and over the two days we had at least 200 children

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod Day One - Written by Pam Cheesley-Hollinshead Wow what an energetic start to the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod whose tag line is Wales welcomes the World !! Today was Children’s day when many, many school children are able to take part in various competitions in song and folk dance, or simply enjoy the atmosphere and meet different cultures face to face. (https://www.wcia.org.uk/global-learning/individuals/young-peacemakers-award/ ) Today saw the WCIA  Young Peace Makers Awards – recognising youngsters who have contributed to global citizenship and peace locally or globally. ****** sadly non of us were able to attend this as it was so full on in the Soroptimist tent!! We had many youngsters from Primary to Secondary age visit our tent learning about Welsh love spoons and then putting their own designs on to small spoons to take away ;  browsing through the preloved handbags, scarves,