Kenilworth Soroptimists celebrated International Women’s Day with a sing for your supper event where we were led in communal singing by Rebecca and Bruce Knight of Natural Voices. They began with warm up exercises, went on to simple songs and soon had us singing in harmony. Great fun! Meanwhile one of our members was busy painting our thumb nails purple in honour of the day (IWD’s colour). We were delighted to welcome friends and partners from SI Rugby, SI Cardiff and Kenilworth Lions, the Kenilworth Town Mayer Kate Dickson, former SIGBI President, Ann Hodgson, the President of Midland Arden Region, Jan Bowden, and the manager of the Waverley Centre, Ann Cross. After a fish and chips supper, we were entertained by more singing from Soroptimists, including our very own Soroptimist anthem (music by Soroptimister Alan, and words by Carole J and Alan). £300 was raised for Friends

Our February dinner meeting had the theme “Bring your daughter to dinner”. A number of daughters came, plus one granddaughter and one son – who was our speaker for the evening, Tom Hornbrook. After his mother had set the scene by saying a little bit about Peru, Tom told us about the charity he works for, HOOP (Helping Overcome Obstacles Peru) and the good work they are doing providing after school activities for children and at the same time helping to empower their mothers. More information about the charity can be found at http://www.hoopperu.org/   We had a lively and enjoyable time, and it was great to see so many young people joining us for the evening.

Kenilworth Community In Action Day was held on Saturday 10th February at the Methodist Church, Priory Road. Kenilworth Soroptimists took part in the displays by Kenilworth’s voluntary groups. The general public were admitted intothe afternoon session which also included a guest speaker and talks. One of our attendees commented: “The Soroptimist stand was eye catching, and a number of younger women stopped, and were interested to hear about the work which the club does locally, nationally, and internationally.  The hall was packed with stands from 29 other voluntary groups, so this was a good opportunity for positive publicity about our club”.    

Our club is supporting the Fawcett Society #OurTimeNow by tweeting a picture of a clock face on our twitter account on 6th February. The campaign aims to break down barriers to gender equality. To find out more about this gesture of support which is indeed supported by, among others, Helen Pankhurst the great grand daughter of Emmeline, see the website: https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/ourtimenow  

On the 25th January, club members and some soropmisters celebrated Burn’s Night. We had music (bagpipes of course) while the haggis was paraded around the diners before being addressed with great humour by the club secretary. After the traditional meal, there was more entertainment: poetry by Burns, some Scottish tales, and a Toast to the Lassies, when we discovered what a lad Robert Burns had been as far as his women were concerned. In the response to the Toast, we concluded that for all their faults, we would rather not do without the laddies. Two versions of Auld Lang Syne were recited: one in the vernacular, and the English translation, after which everyone sang it with great enthusiasm. A very enjoyable time was had by all, and the organisers are to be congratulated on a great evening.  

We took great delight in welcoming Vonn to our Club, introduced by the inimitable Georgie at our January business meeting!