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Celebrating International Women’s Day 8th March #IWD2024

Celebrating International Women’s Day 8th March #IWD2024

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President Pat Shore welcomed our guests as Harrogate and District Soroptimist  celebrated International Women’s Day with a special event at the Wesley Centre in Harrogate with the theme, ‘Forging an Inclusive World for Women and Girls’. With over 160 people present on the night we were delighted to announce our Young Woman and Woman in the Community Awards. Women volunteers making a difference to others. It is always a hard job for the judges with such fantastic nominations.  Yorkshire President Susie Westwood and Club President Pat Shore presented the Winners and the Highly Commended certificates. Young Woman in the Community Award  – Grace Hughes. Grace has used her organisational and musical talent to support Dementia Forward , Saint Michael’s Hospice shops and is an ambassador for Orchestras for All. Highly Commended –  Emily Houghton Emily is a volunteer for Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity. She

Stop Gender-based Violence

Stop Gender-based Violence

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The Club is actively involved in raising awareness about the UN led 16 days of activism campaign to stop gender-based violence. The 16 days starts on the 25th November,  United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of  Violence Against Women until the 10th December, the celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are supporting Soroptimist International’s  campaign, Wired for Change. Online gender-based abuse is a growing problem and poorly regulated. We seek to harness technologies potential for good. We need to ensure women’s voices are heard not silenced. Follow our daily campaign on our Facebook page @soroptimist80 Dressing the tree at St John’s Church Knaresborough IMG_5527

Blog – Busy August and September

Blog – Busy August and September

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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.

Garden Party raises £250 for Local Food Banks

Garden Party raises £250 for Local Food Banks

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A little drop of rain! The inclement British summer  certainly impacted  on many  planned outdoor events. Club member Audrey’s ‘Garden Party’ ended up ‘Indoors’ when the rain came down. So, 15 Soroptimists and 2 Soroptimisters  had to squeeze into Audrey’s lounge. It was very sociable, and everyone took it in good humour and there was plenty of laughter. And, the grand sum of £250 raised for local food banks. Fantastic array of Food A fine selection of quiches, tuna, smoked salmon and salads and berries and cream with a Pimms cup and tea and coffee and small cakes provided an excellent lunch. Audrey’s great niece, Jennie, who loves baking, made cheese and sweet scones, quiche, and small cupcakes. Sue W, Lynne and Jan  gave wonderful help in preparing and setting everything up. And Audrey’s  lovely neighbour suddenly appeared with a delicious Pavlova which is in

A busy June and July for Harrogate and District Soroptimists

A busy June and July for Harrogate and District Soroptimists

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Come rain or shine – its a busy summer so far for Club members as we: raised over £750 for Young Carers; help clear Scarborough Beach of  24 Kg of litter; celebrated the success of Sharing our Skills with Rossett 6th Form College as well as enjoying our summer outing at Shepherds Purse and raising funds for Club charities with an Ascot themed garden party. Young Carers –  Flamingo Land Here We Come! The Club’s supported Young Carers with Christmas gift certificates for many years. This year, as we celebrate our 90th year, we wanted to do something special. So, on the Coronation Weekend, we held a Tombola in the Valley Garden as we raised awarenss about Voluntray Service and raised money for the Young Carers.  The weather wasn’t on our side as  the heaven’s opened all day. None the less we made £120. The

Quiz Night to raise funds for Young Carers Summer Outing

Quiz Night to raise funds for Young Carers Summer Outing

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Do you know how many young people are looking after a parent, sibling or both? It is estimated that there are about 800,000 Young Carers in the UK.  That is young people with an average age of 12, that are taking on caring duties usually done by a parent or adult! The Club has a long history of supporting Young Carers. And, in our 90th year what better way to raise funds to provide a fun day out for the Young Carers in the summer than a Fun Quiz Night. So, on a glorious sunny Friday evening in May,  together with family, friends and neighbours, we met up at the Masonic Hall to take part in a quiz to raise money for Young Carers.  Quiz Masters, Sue Williams and Sylvia Purser supported by husbands Ged and Ken set a quiz that challenged our knowledge across

We did it? Ninety five Toilets Twinned – Flushing away Poverty

We did it? Ninety five Toilets Twinned – Flushing away Poverty

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Club members celebrated the end of their Toilet Twinning project having twinned a total of 95 toilets in low-income countries across the world. A fantastic achievement as we also celebrate our 90th Charter Year.  95 Toilets Twinned. A fantastic result for our project. Why did we do it? Working with Toilet Twinning, part of the charity Tear Fund, we raised funds to build toilets in communities where there was no access to any form of toilet. This means that people have to poo in fields or in the bush. Lack of sanitation and poor hygiene is a major cause of illness and death in young children. And, women and girls are especially vulnerable to sexual assault when they go to the toilet in the open. They also risk being attacked or bitten by snakes, particularly if their culture dictates that they must only go out at night.
Wetherby Town Toilet Twinning Success

Wetherby Town Toilet Twinning Success

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President Val was delighted to present the Mayor of Wetherby, Cllr Neil O’Byrne with the #toilettwinning certificate for Wetherby Town. The event took place at the Council meeting at the Town Hall. Club members Elsie, Hilary and Heather, all from Wetherby as well as representatives from Wetherby Lions were also present . The Lions twinned 10 toilets. A total of 33 toilets have now been twinned in Wetherby including those in public toilets. Val said this is a fantastic achievement. It will really make a difference to the lives of families and give safe access to clean water and sanitation. She thanked the Mayor, the Town Council and the Lions for their support. @toilet_twinning @wetherbylions.

President’s Blog March

President’s Blog March

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President’s Report – March 2023 At last, the days are noticeably longer, and the spring flowers are bringing back colour to the hedgerows and gardens though we had a touch of winter on the 12th when snow fell but thankfully only made a brief appearance.  The crocuses made an appearance at our Memorial Tree at Stonefall. This will be my final Blog as my time as President draws to a close at the AGM.  We’ve certainly being  colourful  this last 18 months. I have dressed in blue and yellow in support of Ukraine, red, white and blue for the Queen’s Jubilee, orange to support our 16 Days of Activism, black for our Friendship Link in New Zealand, green for the Great Big Green Week and latterly in Purple for International Women’s Day. Thank you to all of you who have been able to follow my

Soroptimist’s Stride out to support Trussell Trust Race Against Hunger

Soroptimist’s Stride out to support Trussell Trust Race Against Hunger

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President Val and Club members are once against supporting the Trussell Trust Campaign to #StopUKHunger. Please follow the link above to support us. Why? 1 in 4 Children are living in poverty The Trussell Trust Food Banks handed out over 2.1 million Food Parcels in 2021-22 –  a 52% increase in year on year comparison The choice between eating and heating is real Food banks are now supporting ‘working families’ who are are struggling to put sufficent food on the table. The Trussell Trust’s is able to provide the  statistics that demonstrate what is happening across the UK We need to take ACTION, RAISE AWARENESS and MAKE A DIFFERENCE –  too many women and children’s lives are being affected by poverty right now in the UK