Club Blog August/September
August
August is the only month we don’t meet formally but that didn’t stop lots of activity taking place. Two of our members, Judith and Janet, joined a coach load of Yorkshire Soroptimist who wended their way across the Irish Sea to the Soroptimist International Convention in Dublin. Follow the link for more information about Our Voice at the United Nations
The Convention takes place every 4 years and brings together all five Federations. It is also a great opportunity to meet up with our Friendship Links from all over the world.
Judith and Janet met up with our Friendship Link Joan from SI Willamantic in the USA and Helen and Maddie from SI Wellington in New Zealand. Judith, Janet along with Nicola met up with Joan and her husband again for a wonderful Afternoon Tea back in England at Goldsborough Hall.
Afternoon Garden Party to raise funds for the Food Banks
An indoor afternoon garden party (thanks to the weather!! ) raised £250 for our local Food Banks. Audrey and her team of helpers provided and excellent spread.
. Orange the World
UniTe for the 25th of every month – Orange the World. We support the United Nation’s Campaign to stop violence and abuse of women and girls.
How do we do this? By wearing orange and meeting in a café with the aim of increasing awareness about violence against women. Every week three women are killed by their partner, former partner, or family member. Most women (over 60%) are murdered by someone they know.
On the 25th of August, thirteen of us met for a photo shoot on Montpelier Hill next door to the Betty’s café. Then went down to the Palm Court Café at the Crown Roundabout for our refreshments – And dressed in orange. A great site and certainly stirred up some interest in who we are and what we do. The big plus is that our photo was recognised by Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland as Club photo of the month for August.
Welcoming New Members and Celebrating 35 years of Service
It was great to meet up again in September. We welcomed new members, Gail and Julia and celebrated Pam Johnson’s 35 yrs as a Soroptimist. At our speaker meeting we found out more about ‘Decluttering’ our houses, garages and sheds – Some very useful hints.
Bring a Tin – Stopping UK Hunger
So, when we are not doing things collectively, we are still busy giving service. Val and Jan continue to support Resurrected Bites by serving at the ‘Pay What you can’ café. We also donated tins of tomatoes, fruit, beans, and sauces etc. from our ‘Bring a tin’ campaign to Harrogate District and Wetherby Food Banks as well as Resurrected Bites. Ninety Kilos of Food and toiletries donate in September as well as some fantastic woolly hats knitted by Maureen to help stave off the cold as the weather changes.
Great North Run and Skyscrapper challenge
Well done Maureen, she completed her 9th Great North Run (half marathon) in 3hrs 3 mins in September raising over £600 for Henshaw’s School. And, President Elect Chris Anderson, who abseiled down the Cheese Grater Skyscraper from the 49th Floor raising over £2500 for Dementia UK. Fantastic Achievements.
Regional Council Meeting
Twelve members attended the Yorkshire Region Council and Annual General Meeting on 23rd September. The focus, our Programme Action work, highlighted the range of projects that Clubs are involved in across Yorkshire. This included our own Club for our Dementia Forward Project. We heard from SI Bingley, SI Selby, and SI Hallamshire projects. SI Bingley won with its community project and partnership to reduce hunger in one of the most deprived areas of Bingley. We were highly commended for the work we did with Dementia Forward and the PowerPoint will be posted here soon. We were also recognised for our work with Tiolet Twinning having twinned Harrogate Borough and Wetherby Town.
Christabel brought some fantastic cards and booklets with her and £200 for SI Blantyre, our friendship link Club in Malawi.
It was a very interesting meeting and our lunch at the Bridge Hotel was very good. We all came away knowing more about great projects, the incoming Yorkshire President’s Programme. And Immediate Past President Val won £25 as part of the Regional 250 Club draw.
Looking Forward to October
A very busy and productive 2 months. The 23rd also marked the Equinox so, as the nights draw in, we look forward to celebrating 90 years since our Club received it’s charter in 1933. Including a range of special events. This includes the Premier of a commissioned film about our Club, a 60’s night disco and a wonderful charter lunch. Soroptimists from throughout Yorkshire, our Friendship Links and the Presidents’ of Soroptimist International , Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland and Yorkshire will be joining us too. A great honour.