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ILLUSTRATE POST
Visit to the Bullion chocolate making facility

Visit to the Bullion chocolate making facility

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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                        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

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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

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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.        

Twiddlemuffs and Teddy Bears

Twiddlemuffs and Teddy Bears

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This year SI Hallamshire have been supporting Sheffield Hospitals Charity Dementia Appeal. As well as raising money for our charity, our members have been knitting Twiddlemuffs and dementia teddy bears to help patients whilst they are in hospital. Research has shown that if a patient is given a twiddlemuffs to wear. This provides a source of visual, sensory and tactile stimulation and helps to keep patients calm. We asked our friendship club, SI Sutton Coldfield if they would like to help us with this project. The results are shown in the attached photos. Our outgoing President Sandra met incoming President of SI Sutton Coldfield Pam to collect the twiddlemuffs and teddy bears recently. In keeping with coronavirus restrictions we met in the car park of a well known fast food restaurant on the Derby ring road! We hope you will agree the results are fabulous.

New President

New President

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We recently held our AGM on Zoom. President Sandra completed her term of office, which has all been conducted virtually over Zoom due the Coronavirus pandemic. Although this has presented its challenges, we have derived many benefits from this way of working. It has enabled club members to stay in touch on a regular basis and we have been able to meet each other but not face to face except for a few small gatherings in members’ gardens last summer (observing the ‘rule of six’ of course!). It has also helped to improve our computer skills and confidence with IT, which will a great help as we move forward into different ways of working. President Sandra was unable to present incoming President Angela with the chain of office in person , so she presented it virtually and new President Angela presented Sandra with her past