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Spring is in the Air – Making a difference across the World

Spring is in the Air – Making a difference across the World

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Spring is coming at last after a very wet and chilly few months.  The weather hasn’t deterred us from getting on  with our objective of improving the lives of women and girls. So what have we done? January is a bit of a sleepy time –  we meet on Zoom as the weather is unpredictable and some of our members travel on country roads from Nidderdale, Ripon, Wetherby and Boroughbridge. Zoom meetings are ideal as we can all stay safe and sound in our own homes – yet still get on with the business. So what is our business – How do we improve the lives of women and girls? January In January, we took part in a Kindness Event to showcase how we support the local community.  This included raising awarness about Food Banks, who uses them, the stigma attached and what a food

Garden Party raises £420 for Salvation Army Food Bank in Ripon.

Garden Party raises £420 for Salvation Army Food Bank in Ripon.

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Garden Party A wonderful Garden Party in Ripon in August raised a fantastic £420 for Harrogate and District Soroptimist’s Stop Food Poverty Project.  Club member Denise Newby, who organised the event along with Sandra Jowett and Tricia Chapman provided an array of wonderful cakes and sandwiches. Denise’s garden proved the perfect venue and thankfully the sun shone too. Why we need Food Banks! It is a sad fact that almost 1 in 3 children (4.5 million) in the UK are now living in relative poverty. The continuing rise in the cost of living regarding food and fuel is putting pressure on many households. The income and essential expenditure gap identified by Trussell, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is increasing. Whist food banks are not a long-term solution they provide a stop gap to help families and individuals through hardship. The average cost of a food

High Sheriff of North Yorkshire Awards Ceremony – 26th March 2025

High Sheriff of North Yorkshire Awards Ceremony – 26th March 2025

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President Christine and 5 club members were honoured to attend the High Sheriff of North Yorkshire Awards ceremony on 26th March 2025 at Allerton Castle. The award winners echoed the High Sheriff, Dr Ruth Smith‘s,  theme for her year,” a focus on supporting vulnerable children particularly those impacted by domestic abuse”. We were extremely proud to jointly sponsor this year’s resilience award. President Christine was part of Dr Ruth Smith’s judging panel, It was an extremely difficult job for the panel to come up with the final 7 award winners. There are so many hardworking and dedicated community organisations across North Yorkshire who support vulnerable children, a huge thank you goes to everyone involved. After discussing the various organisations, the panel agreed with the 7 finalists, who truly deserved their awards. A representative from each of the community organisation winners gave inspirational and heartfelt accounts

An Evening with Caroline Hawley – Auctioneer and TV Personality 16th May, Crown Hotel, Harrogate

An Evening with Caroline Hawley – Auctioneer and TV Personality 16th May, Crown Hotel, Harrogate

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The Club is delighted to welcome Caroline Hawley, well known BBC personality and Auctioneer as our Guest on the 16th May at the Crown Hotel, Harrogate.  The evening starts at 7pm.  Caroline will talk about her life as an Auctioneer and as one of the main experts on BBC’s Bargain Hunt and Flog It. Bring along the items you want to know more about –  Caroline will talk about and value some of these items.  The cost is £25 and includes a glass of Prosecco or non alcoholic drink. Tickets are available from Eventbrite our Facebook Event page The event is to support Just B provide emotional support to young people in Harrogate.

Supporting our Local Food Banks

Supporting our Local Food Banks

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Our current two year project to Stop Food Poverty continues as we enter the New Year. A Christmas Quiz and Sing-a-long raised £120 on the night with a further £50 donated later. All for Harrogate and District Food Bank. We contacted Dawn at the food bank to find out what was needed.  A trip to Aldi for tins of meat, fish, vegetables, rice pudding and fruit plus UHT milk,  washing up liquid and laundry pods filled a boot. The total weight of nearly 50kg. Delivered to Stuart at Starbeck on 16th January We also support St Cuthbert’s church Food Bank in Pateley Bridge.  The Christmas demand left them short of supplies. Liz, our Club contact with St Cuthbert, went shopping.  She spent £50 (29kg). And, it’s not only people who go hungry when the money is tight –  so do their pets.

Food Poverty Action Project

Food Poverty Action Project

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Food Poverty Action Project – Project Update We are half way through our 2 year project to help eliminate hunger by working with other organisations to ensure families have sufficient food to eat a healthy diet every day. Fund Raising  So far we’ve raised over £4000. Some directly to Trussell Race Against Hunger and a Concert for Resurrected Bites . And the rest distributed to our local food banks in Wetherby and District Foodbank, Harrogate District Foodbank , Salvation Army Ripon & St Cuthbert’s in Nidderdale & Resurrected Bites Community Shop. Bring a Tin More than half a tonne (500kgs) from our ‘Bring A Tin’ to meetings  been distributed to Food Banks. Giving Service We’ve given nearly a thousand hours of service in various capacities, from volunteering at Resurrected Bites Pay as you Can cafes, manning stalls at Christmas Markets and Car Boot Sale, garden

President’s Blog – August

President’s Blog – August

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Welcome back, I hope you all had good break. Where did August go? I thought I had plenty of time to do lots of chores and jobs at home but guess what … hardly anything has been ticked off my “to do” list! But I have had spent this month enjoying some new experiences, which I thought I would share with you. Yorkshire Day Yorkshire  new experience this month was On 1st August, Yorkshire Day, Heather and I joined members from 10 other Yorkshire Clubs for a fantastic and fun packed evening at Yorkshire President Susie’s fundraising event. We experienced a wine / beer / food pairing evening to support Breast Cancer Awareness. The choice of 6 wines came from France, Argentina and Puglia and included Hospices de Beaujeu Bourgogne Gamay, which is made and sold to support the local hospice, this was one of

President’s Blog – September

President’s Blog – September

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Where did September go? I feel Autumn is truly upon us now and I have actually got the quilted long coat out! Rangoli Radio I started September by going, as a guest of my friend’s Pamela Clare (PC) to the 3rd anniversary event of Rangoli Radio station. Rangoli Radio CIC was established in October 2020 with the aim of creating a community radio to serve the Hindu community in Yorkshire. The radio station reaches out to different communities to entertain, educate and enable the Hindu community to reduce social isolation for the elderly provide information on community events and the support available be a source of learning and a sense of attachment to Hindu culture for the younger generation and to help them find their full potential.   I was very inspired by their values which I felt are very close to our own, the community

President’s Blog – July

President’s Blog – July

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President’s BLOG – JULY 2024 What glorious weather we experienced at the end of July and especially for the Club’s summer recess period.  I hope you  all joined me in getting out an about enjoying the warmth and sunshine.. So what have I been up to? At the end of June, it was a privilege to be at the Wesley Chapel with Heather and Sandra J.  for the ordination of our fellow member Sarah, who is now the Revd. Sarah Caddell. Sarah, many congratulations from all of us and we wish you all the very best with the move to your new home and as you begin your role as presbyter in the Ripon and Lower Dales Methodist Circuit.  I am sure you are going to be kept very busy.           Clothes Swap I so enjoyed going to my 1st clothes

The Big Shop – Local Food Banks & Resurrected Bites

The Big Shop – Local Food Banks & Resurrected Bites

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Photo: Top Left, Resurrected Bites; Top Centre, Wetherby Food Bank; Top Right, St Cuthbert’s Food Bank;  Middle Right & and Middle left, Ripon Salvation Army Food Bank; Bottom Left, Centre and Right Harrogate District Food Bank.  The Club’s Food Poverty Action Group had a busy few days shopping. Summer holidays put pressure on food banks. So we asked our local food banks what was needed and went shopping. Resurrected Bites Community Shop in Knaresborough needed Laundry Detergent. ‘It flies of the shelf’. The Salvation Army Food Bank in Ripon wanted a range of items Wetherby Trussell Trust Food Bank also wanted a range of items Harrogate District Trussell Trust needed coffee, dried milk and potato powder as well as a range of toiletries and washing up liquid. The Nidderdale Food Bank at St Cuthberts in Pateley Bridge needed tinned meats, especially ‘child friendly’ ones (hotdogs