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Call My Bluff raises £330 for Club Charities

Call My Bluff raises £330 for Club Charities

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The summer social for Harrogate and District Soroptimists, their partners and friends took place on Friday, July 20th at Darley Christ Church Community Centre. 6 teams competed in a cheese and wine “Call My Bluff”. 4 different wines and 4 different types of cheese were variously described by a panel and the competing teams had to decide which descriptions they believed. The choice between Champagne, Cava and Prosecco caught out many teams and virtually nobody guessed the Orkney Cheddar. Amazingly the real winner was one Soroptimist who does not drink but who guessed the wines from their bouquet (or scent).  However, her team chose to ignore her answers! As the evening wore on the noise levels and laughter grew as people threw themselves into the competition. The evening was rounded off with a foodie quiz, raffle and a light supper. President Hilary thanked the panel

Meru Supper evening raises over £420 for the Meru Women’s Garden Project

Meru Supper evening raises over £420 for the Meru Women’s Garden Project

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Harrogate & District Soroptimists raised a further £421.25 at their latest Meru Women’s Garden Project fundraising evening supporting women and children in Kenya to start their own market gardens, thereby empowering  the women to feed their families, create security and aid financial independence . In total Harrogate and District Soroptimists have now raised over £3000 since they started the project at the Autumn Flower Show in 2016 when they gained a Silver medal for their innovative garden. Club Members and guests alongside Yorkshire Regional President Chris Clark and Yorkshire Regional President Elect Pat Kilbane enjoyed a wonderful summers evening at the Hub in Knaresborough. Belebele an African Drumming and Singing group really set the mood before an excellent African supper after which Di Flemming and Jen Berry had everyone on their  feet singing a couple of Kenyan songs ably translated by Eunice Kwallah a guest

Meeting the challenges of Online abuse – Prof. Tink Palmer MBE

Meeting the challenges of Online abuse – Prof. Tink Palmer MBE

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President, Nicola Harding and member Judith Webb, welcomed members and guests to their March meeting, to hear speaker Professor Tink Palmer MBE, Chief Executive and Founder Member of the Marie Collins Foundation. Among members and guests present was Chris Clark, President of Soroptimist International of Yorkshire. Professor Tink explained that The Marie Collins Foundation (MCF), a registered charity since 2011, has been created to offer a cohesive approach to addressing the recovery needs of children, and their families, who suffer harm online. Their vision is to ensure that all children who suffer abuse via the internet and mobile technology are able to recover and live safe and fulfilling lives. She emphasised that both within the UK and the international environment, the service response is ad hoc, ill informed and sparse. The MCF is the only known organisation within the UK, Europe and further afield that

Hand made quilt raffle raises £700 for Meru Women Project

Hand made quilt raffle raises £700 for Meru Women Project

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Harrogate & District Soroptimists have raised over £700 towards the Meru Women’s Garden Project in Kenya, from a raffle of three magnificent hand made patchwork quilts. The Club is now well on target to raise the £3000 by the end 2018 to enable, empower and educate women and girls in Meru, Kenya. The Meru Women’s Garden project is a 3 year Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI)  project, launched on International Women’s Day on the 8 March 2016 in partnership with Child.org. The project  aims to develop the well being and status of women living in Meru by helping them to develop the land (garden) around their houses, so that they can both feed themselves better and have additional vegetables, fruit and herbs to sell to provide an income. . This is combined with an education programme for girls to reduce the rate of

Wetherby Charity Shop Windows Results announced

Wetherby Charity Shop Windows Results announced

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Members of Soroptimist International of Harrogate and District who live in Wetherby and a member of Welcome to Wetherby spent the morning of the 7th “December looking at and judging the charity shop windows in Wetherby. The judging criteria were Innovation, Impact and the Spirit of Christmas. There are ten charity shops in Wetherby. The judges were impressed with how some shops had interpreted this. The winner is Oxfam, whose eye-catching windows – a sumptuous dining table from another era and a Night before Christmas caught the judges imagination. Leonard Cheshire Disability’s window was full of the Spirit of Christmas and highly commended by the judges. This year the Club is delighted to present the Gill Smith Memorial Cup to the Winning shop. Gill Smith gave great service to the Club over many years raising money for the Club charities and supporting Gurka Widows. Gill

Alzheimer’s UK and Dementia Friends

Alzheimer’s UK and Dementia Friends

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ALZHEIMER’S UK AND DEMENTIA FRIENDS   At their September meeting, Harrogate and District Soroptimists welcomed Alison Wrigglesworth, Services Manager for the Alzheimer’s Society, for Ripon, Harrogate & Craven,York and Selby. Alison explained that alzheimers disease is the most common cause of dementia. She then guided us through a few practical tasks, which really got us thinking about what it means to be a person living with the disease. She told us about some of the services which are run locally including Singing for the Brain and Dementia Cafes, which provide people with dementia and carers a platform to talk openly about living with dementia, in a relaxed and informal environment. Alison explained that she is a Champion of Dementia Friends, which is an Alzheimer’s Society initiative, working to change the way that people think, act and talk about dementia. In thanking Alison for her talk,

Club receives prestigious Mary Hillary Award for the Meru Show Garden

Club receives prestigious Mary Hillary Award for the Meru Show Garden

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HARROGATE & DISTRICT SOROPTIMISTS RECEIVE REGIONAL GOOD PRACTICE AWARD   The Harrogate & District Soroptimist Club were delighted to receive the Mary Hillary Award for the Yorkshire Region. The award is the Soroptimist International Good Practice Award, which the Club received for their ongoing contribution to the Meru Women’s Garden Project and their innovative methods of raising awareness of Soroptimist projects at last year’s Harrogate Autumn Flower Show. Their Kenyan Garden told the story of how women and families in Meru are getting the opportunity to be educated, enabled and empowered to be self sufficient and earn money through the sale of their cash crops. This is possible through learning good agricultural practices, getting the tools they require and being given on going support. President Nicola said ‘It is a great honour to receive the Mary Hillary Award. A big thank you to all the

A chance to win a beautiful handmade and embellished art quilt to raise funds for Meru

A chance to win a beautiful handmade and embellished art quilt to raise funds for Meru

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Harrogate and District Soroptimists are raffling this beautiful handmade and embellished quilt (8’7″x 7’7″). It is hard to capture the beauty of this piece of work and the detail of the stitching and embellishment (see photos below) also in the raffle are two further quilts donated by the quilting group at Menwith Hil  (5’7″x4’6″ & 4’7″x4′)l. All profits will go to the Meru Womens Garden Project that aims to enable, educate and empower women in Meru, Kenya – for more information visit SIGBI Meru Women The raffle will be held on the 13 December –  for more information on how to purchase tickets email sihandd@hotmail.co.uk  

Meru Day of Service – a washout but good cheer

Meru Day of Service – a washout but good cheer

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Harrogate and District Soroptimists were keen to raise awareness of the Meru Women’s Garden Project and join in with our Federation Meru Day of Action.  We secured the charity stall at the popular Ripon Market –  held every Thursday and Saturday. There is high demand for the charity stall that Harrogate Borough Council offer. The stall was already booked up on the 15th July (the day of Action) so we opted for the Thursday 20th July. –  Thor chose to make that a day to remember as the heavens opened and the rains came down. There was little respite from the rain, nevertheless we managed to sell some of the delicious Meru jams and pasta sauces along with raffle tickets for the amazing quilts that have been given to us. We also had a collection for the Alzheimer Society. We certainly promoted the Club as

Charity Shop Christmas Shop Window Competition brings Christmas Cheer

Charity Shop Christmas Shop Window Competition brings Christmas Cheer

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It must be Christmas when the annual Christmas shop window competition takes place. Harrogate and District Soroptimists are once again delighted to organise the  Charity Shop Window Competition; it was great to see so many shops getting involved. There were some super displays that really demonstrated innovation, impact and the spirit of Christmas. The judges were impressed in the time, effort and thoughtfulness that had gone into many of the windows. The winners were invited to the Harrogate Borough Mayor’s parlour in Harrogate on the 29th November to receive their certificates. The overall winner, Saint Michael’s Starbeck also received the Soroptimist International Shop Window Cup from President Pat Shore and the Cllr Nick Brown, the Mayor of Harrogate. The charity shops are one of the main sources of income for the charities they represent. They rely on volunteers. Kim, the manager of St Michael’s Hospice