And the winner is....   Janice Wilson, SI Crieff, Programme Action Officer set a challenge to members of SI Crieff and their friendship link clubs to write something about our Environment or Climate Change.  It was called "Climate Conversations".  The winner was Corrie McNeill of SI Crieff who has received a bunch of flowers for taking the time to write.  The Runner up, Esther Roberts, comes from our Friendship Link in Rhyl, who receives a small cheque for a charity. Here are the winning entries: CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT Corrie McNeil SI Crieff Over the four and a half billion years since the creation of the beautiful little planet we call ‘Earth’ there have been many climate changes: five ice ages each lasting for hundreds of thousands of years interspersed with warmer periods, the last ice age being around 10,000 years ago. These changes were probably caused by shifts

SI Crieff Picnic in the Park Crieff Soroptimists held a Picnic In MacRosty Park on 24 June to mark the unveiling of the plaque on the flowerbed they have adopted to mark the club's 60th anniversary in 2018.  Many hours of hard work by members have gone into the clearing, replanting and maintenance of the garden which has already been much admired by a number of people passing by and we hope many more will enjoy it. On the evening, the bandstand provided shelter from the rain for the induction of three new members as well as the fun picnic along with the cake specially decorated with the Soroptimist International logo to mark this year's Centenary. In September regular club meetings will resume and you can view our syllabus here https://sigbi.org/crieff/programme-2021-22/.  As yet it is uncertain whether these will be in person or virtual.  For

The Strathearn Herald covered our International Women's Day event in a recent edition of the newspaper.  Lynn Duke wrote an excellent article and quoted our Programme Action Chair Janice Wilson. #strathearnherald  #ukpac  #sigbi #unwomen

The celebration for International Women’s Day was quite different this year.  Due to the pandemic restrictions the event was held virtually.  Although we would have preferred a face to face event, there was an up side, as many more guests were able to join with SI Crieff. Guest speakers were Johanna Raffan, MBE SIGBI President 2020/21. Estelle Nicol (SI Crieff Member) and Julia Vieyres Women for Women International. Entertainment was provided by Earnsong Choir and The Maryhill Integration Network (MIN) Joyous Choir. It was a wonderful evening that was enjoyed by all.  

SI Crieff is very proud of its relationship with the Maryhill Integration Network (MIN). MIN brings refugee, migrant and local communities together through, art, social, cultural and educational groups and projects, offering people a chance to learn new skills, meet new people, share experiences and take part in worthwhile activities to improve their lives and the life of their communities. The organisation hosted a special virtual event to celebrate Robert Burns.  The event was an opportunity for people to share poems, music, songs and haggis recipes from their home countries. SI Crieff President Iris King said "what a multi-cultural event it turned out to be.  We were treated to music, words, and recipes for haggis from different nations, but what enchanted me was the friendship and respect shown by everyone throughout the evening.   I was delighted to see the small children joining in the dancing

At their recent virtual club meeting,  SI Crieff took the opportunity to celebrate the life of Robert Burns.  An excellent event was held, with member Estelle Nicol addressing the Haggis. Knowledge of Robert Burns was tested with a quiz, and the evening ended with the singing of Auld Lang Syne.  

Santa Saves the Day SI Crieff members collected and filled around 25 (sizeable) handbags with Christmas goodies for refugees who have virtually nothing, in Glasgow. The project was called 'Helping Handbags' which felt particularly appropriate at this time of year. The plan was for some members to drive to Glasgow to hand these over to The Maryhill Integration Network for the refugee families but present restrictions due to Covid19 prevented this from happening. However, Wild Hearth Bakery of Comrie saved the day by offering to transport/deliver the Christmas goodies on our behalf via their (permitted!) business delivery trip to Glasgow on Monday 21 December. Sourdough John of Wild Hearth Bakery also donated some bread and pastries to the refugees. Pictured below is Hamish Thomson from Wild Hearth Bakery who very kindly helped to load the van and drop off the Christmas goodies to the refugees

SI Crieff members donated a craft hamper to Richmond House Care Home in Crieff. This is an annual gift to the care home and SI Crieff member Alice MacDonald arranges this for the club.

2020 will always be know as the year the world changed.  Like most organisations SI Crieff members were unable to hold any face-to-face meetings due to the Covid19 pandemic, and instead had to rely on technology to continue with club meetings. It was a steep learning curve for all, and although not perfect most members were able to join club meetings via Zoom. Undaunted, the annual Christmas Party went ahead virtually this year, with a lot of fun and laughter.

A recent edition of the Strathearn Herald highlighted the use of the White Church in Comrie to highlight important causes by illumination. November saw the Church illuminated in purple to raise awareness of Pancreatic Cancer, and in December the lights will be changed to orange in support of a campaign to improve laws to end gender based violence. Len Schofield of SI Crieff explained: "25th November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and is followed by the 16 Days of Action until 10th December which is Human Rights Day.  The 2020 global theme is Orange the World and for this reason members of SI Crieff have arranged for The White Church in Comrie to be 'oranged' for the first week of December. "During the 16 Days of Action, the aim is to raise awareness about gender based violence, challenge discriminatory