Become a member
Become a member

About our club

Sea, lakes and hills: we make rural matters matter, wherever they are

 

Grange-over-Sands is in the North West of England where a wide river estuary meets the Irish Sea, where rural meets tourism and where old industry hopes to meet new. The challenges and benefits of living here are all reflected in the our Soroptimist Branch.

 

We currently have thirty-odd members and we are welcoming new Grange-over-Sands Soroptimists  all the time. Forward facing in our interests, we are also proud of our long history of service for local and international causes. This branch of the Soroptimists was founded in by local business and professional women in 1954, and it’s great to think what our predecessors were up to then — supporting leprosy sufferers, providing holidays for exhausted workers and gathering goods for our now-famous Christmas Hampers for people whose Festive Season looked anything but merry.

 

Seventy plus years on, our spirit hasn’t changed, though how we express it has varied with the times. Our Christmas Hampers now go to women and children in the local refuge, along with year round support. We are regional pioneers for women’s safety when travelling, and printed advice for those in abusive relationships. We promote vital projects which vitally underline the need for feminine hygiene products. And we continue to tend the sensory garden we created for the visually impaired many years ago.

 

The secret of our success down the years might be matching work with play. As well as trying to change our little bit of the world for the better, we have a rich social life. Special screenings of films in gorgeous almost-secret cinemas in the fells, feasts of Pies, Peas and Pudding ;  tapas, and good old cake are not unusual. In short, we create friendships with each other. After all, when work needs to be done, or you need a shoulder to lean on or a glass to chink with, real reality can’t be beaten.

 

Club information

When and where we meet

There are over thirty of us Grange-over-Sands Soroptimist, with our membership growing all the time. Though fun, and we have a lot of fun, is part of our remit, much more important is our project work. Actually, getting things done to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide and locally is what most of us enjoy most about the club. We don’t have a hierarchy as such and therefore no president, but we do have a Secretary and Treasurer to ensure things run smoothly. To facilitate our project work, we each belong to a Programme Action (PA) group. There are three PA groups: Women’s Matters Worldwide, Health & Food security or Environment. Each group chooses projects that move and inspire them and use their skills and time appropriately. Of course, when there is a big project — for example when we held a Mental Health Awareness day or launched our booklet to help women trapped by domestic violence, it’s all hands on deck. Each PA group runs the Club for 5 months at a time including choice of speakers, chair for our monthly meetings and organising some social events, including the odd outing to places of interest, the Christmas party and of course Burns Night. We do some fundraising, but we prefer to get stuck in, collecting bedding and hampers for the Women’s Centre or working in our Sensory Garden. Being hands on is so rewarding and actually, as mentioned above, great crack. We meet every month at Cartmel Village Hall if you’d like to join us, you’d be very welcome. To find out more details just click the link.

Club programme

Whatever the project Grange-over-Sands Soroptimists like to get stuck in. From greeting travellers at stations to raise awareness for safe travel on public transport for women, to maintaining sensory gardens, to providing regular support for local womens’ centres, to creating knicker trees for excellent causes, we’re there. We also support each other, sometimes just to hang out and have fun.

A short history of great times

Founded in by local business and professional women in 1954, our first president summed up what we were about then, and what we’re about now.  ‘Service, she said, is needed more than large gifts of money for charity… We must try to be workers more than givers.’ Our focus varies with the times. Reflecting the difficulties of our times, we recently ran a whole day conference on mental health, which was open to all. We’ve collected bras for those who need them and hung knickers on trees, to illustrate the needs of women whose slender means mean that their very dignity is compromised. There’s always something to do, which is why we’d be delighted if you’d like to learn more about why we roll our sleeves up today.