Skip links

Candle lighting ceremony

Candle lighting ceremony

in Tags

      SI Hallamshire lit candles on 21st September as part of the campaign to light up the world in the name of a brilliant future for all women and girls. Past President Sandra lit four candles to represent Soroptimist International, SIGBI, our region (SI Yorkshire) and our club. We lit the candles to celebrate the 100th Birthday of SIGBI International and to represent our wish to ‘recover better for an equitable and sustainable world’. It was also 5oth anniversary of SI Hallamshire’s charter on 23rd September so President Angela light a 50th birthday candle on a cake, which members then enjoyed. The ceremony took place at the start of our social meeting , which featured Michael Hannon presenting a slide show and talking about Mrs Finlay’s Square Piano. This was a most interesting presentation about the history of this unique instrument and also

The Rosemary Skerritt Award

The Rosemary Skerritt Award

in Tags

  In 2019 SI Hallamshire agreed to make an annual award (The Rosemary Skerritt Award) to a catering Student at Sheffield College. The award was in memory of past member and former club president Rosemary Skerritt. When Rosemary passed away she left the club a bequest in her will. We decided to remember Rosemary through the establishment of an award to the College, where Rosemary was a former lecturer. The award is given by the college to a female student who has made good progress in her studies despite challenges.   The original award was delayed due to Covid but this year we have been able to make the award to Sophie Mills. Sophie is now employed by the Bullion chocolate making facility in Sheffield. She is using the award to fund a chocolate making workshop in York. We wish Sophie well in her future

ILLUSTRATE POST
Visit to the Bullion chocolate making facility

Visit to the Bullion chocolate making facility

in Tags

SI Hallamshire recently visited the Bullion chocolate making facility at the Cutlery Works, Kelham Island in Sheffield. The first recipient of the Rosemary Skerritt award, Sophie Mills, now works at the Bullion factory and invited members of the club for a tour of the chocolate making facility. After the tour of the facility, which included a talk from the owner, Max, we visited the cafe where we were able to enjoy chocolate made from only two ingredients – cocoa from individual areas and sugar.         The Wall Art at the Cutlery Works includes a mural which features The anti-slavery campaigner Mary Ann Rawson meeting former slave Frederick  Douglass. Mary Ann is buried in the Zion Graveyard at Attercliffe and SI Hallamshire recently donated to the restoration of the graveyard and sponsored an information panel about the life of Mary Ann.    

Comfort blankets
Comfort blankets for CAMS

Comfort blankets for CAMS

in Tags

Members of SI Hallamshire have been busy knitting comfort blankets for CAMS. CAMS is the Sheffield Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. This service treats children and young people with a range of difficulties which seriously impact their mental health and emotional well-being. The comfort blankets were donated to the Becton Centre, which is a residential centre for children and young adults up to the age of eighteen with serious and complex mental health issues. The centre also incorporates a school where the young people are able to continue their education. The young people are able to choose a blanket for their bed, which they then take home when they leave the centre. The blankets provide a welcome injection of colour and homeliness as some of the young people stay at the Becton centre for several months.  

Recycling for Alzheimers Society

Recycling for Alzheimers Society

in Tags

Our President’s Charity for this year is the Alzheimers Society. One of the ways in which our Club is supporting the Alzheimers Society is to donate unwanted items for recycling. Our members have been collecting foreign currency, jewellery, stamps and phones . All of theses items are no longer used by our members but can be converted into funds for the Alzheimers Society. At a recent coffee morning, which we held  at President Angela’s home, to raise money for the society we collectively donated 8.5 kilos of items  – An impressive effort by our members!    

Baby Clothes and Blankets

Baby Clothes and Blankets

in Tags

Members of SI Hallamshire have been busy during lockdown using their skill to knit and sew baby clothes and blankets. The individual items were recently collected together and taken to Sheffield children’s hospital by President Angela and Hallamshire member Bella. All the items will be used on the wards in the Children’s Hospital. Parents will be able to take home the items given to their child when they leave hospital. The materials used to make the items are all washable at 60 degrees to comply with the hospital’s guidelines. We are  sure that you will agree that the items are beautiful made, colourful and very attractive.  

Cheque Presentation

Cheque Presentation

in Tags

SI Hallamshire have been fundraising for the President’s Charity ‘Sheffield Hospital’s Charity Dementia Appeal’. Despite being in lockdown for much of the year and unable to run our usual events the Club have raise £3,720.58 for the Charity from social meeting payments, unspent room hire, sales of cakes, Christmas cakes and puddings, plants, bulbs, gooseberries and marmalade.  Other donations in lieu of petrol and Christmas card expenditure and an additional donation of £1,000 from The Rosemary Skerritt legacy have contributed to the final total. Our members have shown imagination and given willingly of their time and talents as well as making generous financial donations in this difficult year. The money will be used to purchase equipment which will enhance the experience of patients on the dementia wards at the Sheffield hospitals. The cheque was recently presented to a representative from the charity during an afternoon

Zion Graveyard Visit

Zion Graveyard Visit

in Tags

                        The Friends of Zion Graveyard in Attercliffe, Sheffield recently held an open afternoon for the launch of their new Interpretation Panels. The graveyard is all that remains of the burial grounds of the old Zion Congregational Chapel which was built in 1805 and demolished in 1862. The graveyard is the final resting place of important figures from the 1800’s and their stories provide a wonderful insight into the history of Sheffield in 1800. There are eight interpretation panels, seven of which were funded by the JG Graves Charitable Trust. The eighth panel was sponsored by SI Hallamshire in memory of Rosemary Skerritt, a past president of the club. Monies from the Rosemary Skerritt legacy were used to fund the panel which provides information about Mary Anne Rawson, an anti-slavery campaigner and founder of

Exchange of regalia

Exchange of regalia

in Tags

At our recent AGM, our new President Angela was installed for our 50th Anniversary year. The AGM took place on Zoom, so President Angela received the chain of office virtually. This week past president Sandra and Angela met outside to hand over the chain of office, whist observing social distancing. Sandra also received a past president’s badge. Following the exchange they enjoyed some refreshment in the garden. We look forward to when the whole club can meet together.

Mary Anne Rawson grave & interpretation board
Mary Anne Rawson

Mary Anne Rawson

in Tags

Members of SI Hallamshire attended the launch of the new Interpretation Boards at the Zion Graveyard on Sunday. The Friends of Zion Graveyard have been renovating the graveyard and uncovering the old graves. One of these is the grave of Mary Anne Rawson, an early anti – slavery activist in Sheffield in the 1800’s. Mary Anne also established the Wincobank School, one of the first free schools in Sheffield. SI Hallamshire has sponsored the interpretation board at the graveyard, close to her grave, which gives more information about her work. The club has also purchased some indigenous plants to aid the restoration of the graveyard. The interpretation board is a great new educational resource for adults and children alike and increase peoples’ knowledge about Sheffield’s role in opposing slavery, and particularly in the work of Mary Anne Rawson in the 1800’s.