Once again Cool Heswall enjoyed a warm sunny day to showcase local organisations and their care for the environment. This was the third year that Heswall Rotary clubs have hosted the event and it was the biggest yet with the Farmers’ Market and Craft Fair running alongside in Hillhouse Gardens. Members of SI Heswall enjoyed meeting members of the public to talk about their involvement in the recent Big Plastic Count and Soroptimism.      

  Presidents Jill and Helen have recently completed their year in office and have handed over to President Iris who will hold office for the club’s 75th anniversary year. During the coming year members will work with President Iris to support a local charity, the Neo Community The Neo Community was founded in 2013 and achieved charity status in 2019. It works to support and develop strong communities and is active in reducing food waste and food insecurity.  

  As spring gets underway members of SI Heswall have resumed visiting Hoylake Cottage  to start planting early colour in the  flower beds and pots in the residents’ garden. After some general weeding and tidying the flower beds and pots are ready for adding summer bedding plants as the days warm up. Eko, the activities coordinator, is hoping that some of the residents will join us during future visits.

    At the recent AGM five Heswall Soroptimists were presented with certificates to mark their long service. In total Janet, Hilary, Sheila, Marjorie and Marion have given 195 years of service to Soroptimism. Amazing! Congratulations ladies.    

  Presidents Jill and Helen hosted the annual Charities’ Evening and welcomed representatives of the three charities supported by the club in the past year. The club has long connections with all three charities. The guests gave a brief update on their projects.   Jackie from Barnardo’s Action With Young Carers Wirral outlined the support for young carers and in particular the benefit for them from the social events funded by the club.         Bees for Development’s Bob Spencer spoke of the charity’s growth over its 30 years of working in the development field. The charity works globally in its approach to making life better with bees by encouraging sustainable beekeeping to overcome poverty, build livelihoods and benefit biodiversity. Branches of Bees for Development have been established in Ethiopia, Ghana and Uganda. Successful training programmes in these areas are running in conjunction

Obituary of Brenda Elphick (nee Lauze)  Brenda Elphick sadly passed away on 14th February 2024, at the age of 87. She leaves a son, daughter, stepson and 5 grand-children, as well as a sister, Jen, who was also a Soroptimist for many years.  She will be greatly missed by members of SI Heswall and District. Brenda was a primary school teacher throughout her working life, and became head teacher at Woodfall Infants School, Neston, before her retirement. During her career she led national initiatives in early years education and worked with the University of Chester supporting their PGCE programme. Brenda was a committed Soroptimist, having become a member in 1983, and serving as club president 1991-2. Over the years she was particularly involved in social and fundraising events, often to be found persuading people to buy raffle tickets. Right to the end she kept a

Heswall club members continue to highlight violence against women by giving out leaflets in local supermarkets. Several supermarket chains have been supportive of this  initiative and a team of members manned tables in ASDA in Woodchurch and Bromborough to mark International Women’s Day on 8th March.         International Women’s Day was also celebrated at the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead with staff from the Lighthouse Centre which has recently gained charitable status.    

The 16 Days of Action Against Domestic Violence is an international campaign that seeks to address and combat domestic violence, which disproportionately affects women and marginalized communities. The campaign which runs from 25th November (International day for the elimination of violence against women), until 10th December (Human Rights day). The International campaign utilises the colour orange to represent a brighter future, free from ‘gender -based violence’. A team of Heswall members arranged with local branches of Tesco, Asda and Total Fitness to have a space in their premises during the campaign to display posters and leaflets. Soroptimists were on hand to answer questions from the public. All those who took part found the experience thought provoking, emotional, and very rewarding. We felt that not only were we giving out leaflets but we provided an opportunity for ladies to tell us their stories.

  Several of our members decided to ‘tread the boards’ and joined a tour of the Floral Pavilion theatre in New Brighton. After meeting for coffee the group met by Richard, Front of House manager, who acted as tour guide. The theatre looked rich and warm when empty and the group spent over an hour touring it and listening to its history. Dave, the stage manager was on hand to give details of stage lighting, pulleys & weights and something of the many visiting theatre productions. The theatre is also a conference centre. Following the tour, lunch in the Panoramic Lounge gave fabulous views across the River Mersey and Liverpool Bay. This brochure has a taste of the history of the theatre from 1920’s to 2007.  

WirrOrleans, a local jazz band, recently featured in an evening of light entertainment organised by club member Sue  to raise funds for Mary’s Meals The band is known for its Dixieland/traditional style and played a variety of tunes providing a mix of music to suit everyone. Several club members attended and supported Sue, by helping run the bar, selling tickets on the door and raffle tickets. A good time was had by all and the evening raised over £1, 900 for Mary’s Meals. Well done Sue, a wonderful result.