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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

President’s Blog February/March

President’s Blog February/March

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It’s great that our regular meetings have started again. The first meeting in February focused on Programme Action.  It was an excellent meeting organised by Club Programme Action Officers’ Christine A and Paula. The PowerPoint presentation really encapsulated all that we do.  It is available on YouTube  https://youtu.be/YQhqoqdNr_M  It’s already had 54  views and is also on our Face Book  page @Soroptimist80.  I recommend you watch it if you haven’t seen it.  It’s also an excellent way of  sharing  ‘What do we do?’ Our current projects, Dementia Forward and Toilet Twinning will be finishing in September so  this was followed by an opportunity to think about what our future projects may be.  There was a great buzz to the evening. Lots of interaction and discussion. Turkey/Syrian Earthquake I am sure, like me, many of you were shocked of the scale and loss of life and

The Great Big Green Week

The Great Big Green Week

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  How do we address Climate Change and contribute to #CarbonZero? What is our Parliament doing? These are the questions we posed to Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough   Club members welcomed Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones to their February meeting. It is #GreatBigGreenWeek and Andrew was asked to speak about how Parliament is tackling #climatechange and #zerocarbon.  We celebrated the Great Big Green Week by wearing green and  giving Andrew a Green knitted heart. The Government aim is to reach zero carbon by 2050. Government departments have to demonstrate how this will be achieved. All parties are signed up to tackling Climate change and there is much cross party working. The country now produces 40% of our energy from renewable resources. But change will take time and money. For instance there are 40 million homes with gas boilers! Members raised concerns

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        

Visit to Wetherby Food Bank

Visit to Wetherby Food Bank

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So what happens at a Foodbank? President Val with Club members Hilary and Elsie found out when they went to give a cheque for £250 raised from the stall at Wetherby Christmas Market and met  with Trustee and Volunteer  Jim Tinsley and Manager Debbie Marriott. Wetherby District Foodbank covers a large rural area in North Yorkshire as well as parts of North Leeds and Wetherby. The food comes from individual food donations and supermarkets as well as money donations. There is a list of items to choose from to ensure a balanced diet as well as toiletries and pet food. The listed items are in English and Ukrainian. Who is using the Foodbanks? There is an increasing demand for Foodbank parcels with a 48 percentage increase in use over the year in some areas. The Wetherby District Foodbank is now opening on Saturday mornings as