{"id":683,"date":"2012-11-21T20:04:43","date_gmt":"2012-11-21T19:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/darlington\/?page_id=683"},"modified":"2020-05-14T20:51:04","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T19:51:04","slug":"programme-action","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/darlington\/programme-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Programme Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Programme Action is the core of our work.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Our overall aim is to Educate, Empower and Enable girls and women in our local community, nationally\u00a0and worldwide. The work may come in the form of action, awareness-raising or advocacy.<\/p>\n

Summer<\/span> 2020<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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How our materials were put to use, making scrubs bags<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We didn’t realise at our last club meeting in early March that we wouldn’t be gathering together again in the foreseeable future. \u00a0However, we are keeping our eyes peeled for work to be done, mainly in our community.<\/p>\n

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Some of the bedding donated by members<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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On learning that bedding was wanted by volunteers sewing for the NHS in Darlington, members donated sheets, duvet covers and pillow cases. \u00a0Later on a collection of sewing threads and buttons was made and these were used to make head bands to protect the ears of face-mask-wearers from the elastic bands.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Facebook, we heard that the Women’s Refuge was in desperate need of disposable gloves and other PPE. \u00a0Members responded quickly and gave what they had available: gloves, masks, and cleaning equipment. \u00a0One member-to-be is making masks, aided by donations of elastic by club members.<\/p>\n

We have also been supporting Family Help by nominating them – both as a club and as individuals – for a donation of \u00a31,000. The money would come from Movement for Good, and would make a real difference, helping the Refuge to continue providing its full service during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Red Box Project<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_media_grid element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1589485803956-08d076c5-39b4-0″ include=”2703,2704″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Maureen was on duty for two hours and Barbara put in 90 minutes at the Red Box information\/collection point on Saturday 6th April. We also handed over another collection of donations from club members. Had some interesting conversations with customers and received generous donations of cash and products. Now Carol Marchant has sent the club this Thank You certificate!<\/p>\n

AFRIpads<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elspeth Robinson left Darlington for Kumi, Uganda at the beginning of March for one month. She took with her our good wishes and a donation of \u00a350 to purchase AFRIpads. \u00a0She kept all her Facebook followers well-informed about her work with her daily diary and wonderful photos.<\/p>\n

(www.afripads.com)[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_media_grid element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1589485803956-426faabc-4abb-6″ include=”2682,2681″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Support for local projects<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the February 26th meeting it was good to be able to hand our donations directly \u00a0to the organisers and hear how useful they will be.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Buddy Bookmarks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some time ago we received a generous legacy from our dear, much-missed club member Eva Schumacher-Reid. We gave a great deal of thought about how best to use it, and finally decided to update the primary school version of our Loves Me, Loves Me Not Bookmarks. We thought we would tweak the wording a bit, change the colours, that sort of thing. Then Carole Sobkowiak, our rep at Healthwatch Darlington meetings, discussed the matter with the YMCA. To cut a long story short, the young people involved in the Co-Production Network studied our LMLMN bookmarks and decided to bring them into the digital age.<\/p>\n

On February 18th an invited audience saw the mayor reveal the new design and heard speakers from Darlington Brough Council, the YMCA and Darlington Safeguarding Boards.<\/p>\n

Buddy Bookmarks will be used to start conversations about friendship and positive relationships. The YMCA are already using the materials and have given good reports. One girl used her bookmark to make a Valentine\u2019s Day card.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_media_grid grid_id=”vc_gid:1589485803958-f3726bfb-6308-0″ include=”2637,2639,2638,2640,2641,2642″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

More Food for Thought<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2628″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Tinned and dried food, toiletries and a couple of garments: donations brought to the club meeting for Food for Thought Darlington\u2019s next event on February 16th.<\/p>\n

President\u2019s Charity<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_media_grid element_width=”12″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1589485803959-9e265d55-7389-4″ include=”2615,2613″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Dorothy travelled to Pakistan in early January and is seen making presentations to Pervase, the principal of St Gabriel\u2019s School, which is supported by her chosen charity: Hope Through Education. The charity\u2019s mission is to help children and young people to obtain an education regardless of their financial background. The club donated \u00a31500, and many members gave Dorothy pencils to deliver to the school.<\/p>\n

Food for Thought \u2013 December 2018<\/p>\n

There were two events during the month: on December 15th a \u201cpre-Xmas Extravaganza\u201d at which Barbara helped run the tombola, (about a third of the approximately 100 prizes had been donated by our club members), and on December 28th a \u201cPost-Xmas Blues Buster, where she sorted donated clothes and then put on her pinny to wait on table. Great fun had by all! We look forward to welcoming Louise Graham, one of the founders of FFTD, at our February 26th meeting, when she and Carol Marchant from the Red Box Project will speak.<\/p>\n

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Humanity & Inclusion \u2013 Forgotten 10 Challenge 2018<\/p>\n

Following H.I.\u2019s guidelines, we sent a letter to our M.P. about the Stop Bombing Civilians Campaign. The campaign is calling on the UK and states all over the world to improve the protection of civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. We asked Jenny Chapman to raise the matter in Parliament either with a written or oral question. We also told her about our involvement with H.I. over many years. Within a week we received a reply in which she paid tribute to our efforts, and those of H.I., on such important issues. She undertook to write to the Secretary of State for Defence on our behalf and will let us know when she receives a response. John McGeachy of H.I. tweeted thanks to Jenny, who was the first M.P. to respond to a letter in this year\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

Red Box Project<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2590″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]We were contacted by Carol Marchant, leader of the project newly set up in Darlington. It is hoped that members will bring items of sanitary protection to club meetings and these will be passed on to Carol to be placed into the red boxes provided to schools. Barbara helped with a trolley collection and awareness-raising exercise in a Darlington supermarket.<\/p>\n

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P.A. committee meeting<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2584″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]On day 13 of the 16 days of activism following the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women we had a meeting at Carole\u2019s. Orange had been the order of the day since November 25th. Each day we tweeted statements about VAW in all its forms together with photos of orange things. Chrisy posted photos of herself wearing orange in different locations and reported that her initiative had \u00a0inspired her friends to visit the United Nations website. The club\u2019s tweets and Facebook postings were widely shared.<\/p>\n

More Food for Thought<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2574″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]It was a very pleasant surprise when our club won the Reach for the Skies award at the September Regional Meeting. It was given for our work supporting Food for Thought, and Barbara received the award on behalf of the club after giving an account of our involvement. Since September we have continued to collect items and Barbara has helped with sorting and laundering clothes.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2575″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Food for thought \u2013 March\/April\/May 2018<\/h3>\n

Members donated dried and tinned food, toiletries, towels and clothing to the pop-up shops organised by Food for Thought Darlington, and held on Easter Monday and May 5th. The shops, together with pop-up restaurants, (using food which would otherwise have been thrown out by supermarkets), are a community initiative to help those struggling to make ends meet. The first event was held at the end of December 2017, and they are going from strength to strength, operating on a not-for-profit, pay-as-you-feel basis. Darlington Sorops will continue to support Food for Thought.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2455″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Day of Service \u2013 10 March 2018<\/h3>\n

Maureen led the planning of this year\u2019s Day of Service, when we organised an afternoon tea for the current residents of the Women\u2019s Refuge in Darlington. Seven mums and what felt like two thousand children had a wonderful time. Thanks are due to Sue and Brian for providing the musical games. Club members provided sandwiches, cakes, trifle, biscuits and sweets. Each child received a sweetie bag to take home \u2013 though most of the bags didn\u2019t make it that far! The six Sorops who helped on the day enjoyed meeting the ladies and being amused by the children. The event was a great success.<\/p>\n

Spreading the word \u2013 1 February 2018<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_media_grid element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1589485803960-58ea0710-028b-7″ include=”2341,2342″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]On February 1st (see the News page) we had the opportunity to do a lot of awareness-raising, advocacy, and even action! We gave out flyers on the subject of how to spot the signs of human trafficking + the phone numbers to ring. We distributed Loves Me, Loves Me Not posters and bookmarks. (One lady came over to ask for a bookmark, as her cat had chewed the one she\u2019d had for years.) \u00a0Visitors to the stand were interested to learn about Toilet Twinning, took away Shine\u2019s leaflets about Folic Acid and Elspeth\u2019s leaflets about her Kumi Community Fund. We actively gathered more signatures on HI\u2019s petition; Elspeth was instrumental in obtaining many of these. We talked about Soroptimism to a goodly number and felt the whole exercise had been very worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Handicap International \u2013 Forgotten Ten Challenge<\/h2>\n

We collected signatures on the Stop Bombing Civilians petition and took part in the STOP selfies project. The latter got good coverage on Facebook![\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2337″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

As of January 25th, Handicap International is renamed Humanity and Inclusion \u2013 with a new logo, but the same purpose.<\/p>\n

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AFRIpads<\/strong><\/p>\n

By selling books, plants and garden produce at club meetings, bit by bit we have raised \u00a350 to give to Elspeth to buy a pack of AFRIpads on her visit to Kumi in November. www.afripads.com<\/p>\n

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1st to 7th October 2017<\/p>\n

From 1st to 7th October we encouraged everyone to take part in a survey to establish the extent of public knowledge about human trafficking and modern slavery. The survey was undertaken by the Soroptimists\u2019 UK Programme Action Committee, working with the Modern Slavery Training Development Group, which is part of the Government\u2019s strategy to combat trafficking\/slavery. The results of the survey will help them to plan and target their future training. We used Facebook and Twitter to advertise the existence of the online survey. We also used the paper version, and these results will be entered on a spreadsheet and submitted to UKPAC.<\/p>\n

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Water Aid<\/strong><\/p>\n

Club members collected \u00a3119.60 (see below) to mark World Water Day.<\/p>\n

Big Spring Clean \u2013 Darlington \u2013 27 February 2017<\/p>\n

Four club members, highly visible in our yellow waistcoats, again took part in the launch of the annual event to combat litter in the area. We met in Darlington\u2019s South Park, and, after a photograph for the press and a brief interview, we were off to pick up the leavings of the thoughtless! The usual items were found, but Sylvia won the prize for the most interesting litter when she picked up part of a copy of\u00a0Of Mice and Men.<\/em><\/p>\n

Focus Group \u2013 23 February 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our club was approached by Andrea Goldie, the Communication and Engagement Officer of Healthwatch*, to help provide feedback about the new Blueprint for Health that has been developed in Darlington. We were asked because Andrea had found a positive response when she came to speak to us as part of our programme. We are therefore one of a small group of organisations who were invited to be a Focus Group within the town.<\/p>\n

The Programme Action Committee met with Andrea and her colleague Jodi Craggs, the Information and Signposting Officer, on 23rd February. The main remit was centred on discharge management, care homes and community hospitals.<\/p>\n

In summary some of the main points discussed were:<\/p>\n