Friday evening saw us setting off on a fabulous planned walk at Elford Farm that has been in the Wain family for 77 years.  David had prepared a marked route, interesting historical facts and a series of questions for us to answer.  It’ll be no surprise to you that the web master achieved zero on the questions due to constant chatting.  Fortunately for the group, she moved between people so no-one had the whole lot!! A super addition to the walk was the family dog Tilly and Ellie’s dog Alex.  You can see Alex in Ellie’s arms in the photo.  What a game pooch!!  Tilly the brown lab and he soon became great pals and walked the whole way with us.  The only tricky bit was when Alex decided to negotiate the cattle grid and how he didn’t fall down the gaps is a mystery

SI Lichfield and District, UK, Dresses, Shorts and Stationary for the Children at Orisa School in Esu, Cameroon. Primary education in Cameroon is free, however families still need to cover other costs such as uniforms and stationary. Finding the money for this is often impossible, meaning some children are not able to attend school. To make sure these costs do not prevent children accessing education, SI Lichfield, UK and SI Kaarst, Germany utilised their friendship link to support pupils at the Orisa School in Esu, Cameroon. Through their ‘Sewing Bee’ group, SI Lichfield made 100 dresses and 50 pairs of shorts. These Soroptimist-made clothes were safely delivered to the Orisa School by a member of SI Kaarst. This SI friendship link has already supported the school in Esu by collecting stationary donations and filling 120 pencil cases for the pupils. At a presentation ceremony held

Well, despite our anxiety, a great turnout for the annual bargain filled fashion show last night.  The items for sale did not disappoint ranging from T shirts for the chaps for £3 and a Jaeger trench coat for us ladies for a mere £60!  There was a complete wardrobe to be had and all for a fraction of the full price.  The bar at The Village did a roaring trade and this relaxed evening raised funds for SI Lichfield charities. President Pat was pleased to welcome family, friends and prospective Soroptimists to this evening event.

This has become a tradition for SI Lichfield when we go to the Guildhall to count the street collection from the Bower parade.  President Pat led the team on this occasion.  This money is distributed amongst the charities that support the event. The money comes in from 1pm and we finished at 4.30pm, overran last year’s time by 30 minutes!  There was a slight glitch when the money bags went awol but Mark Warfield stepped into the breach and went round the shops to see if he could scrounge some!!  Very successful he was too with Marks and Spencer providing the largest number!  There were 13 of us Soroptimists and Soroptimisters and many of us went for a well deserved drink afterwards.  We wait to hear the final total.

Friday 22nd May saw us gathered at St Johns House Lichfield to celebrate the start of President Pat’s year in office.  After a warm welcome from President Pat to sister Soroptimists from Burton (special mention to Muriel Gould) Newcastle, Tamworth, Cannock, Stafford, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sutton Coldfield alongside the Mayor and Sherriff of Lichfield, the meal was served.  It was an excellent menu and the room buzzed with conversations between new friends and those of long standing. The toast to Soroptimist International was proposed by Cllr Andy Smith, Mayor of Lichfield for whom it was the first official engagement.  The response from Region President Carol praised SI Lichfield for its passion for programme action leading to the Federation award.  She praised the website that was ‘bang up to date’ and said that for a small club, we certainly get a  lot done!  President Pat proposed the toast to our guests

At the club meeting on Wednesday, Tracy came to receive a cheque for £500 from Immediate Past President Lesley.  The charity supports people aged 13 and over who have been affected by rape, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and domestic abuse.  In the current economic climate, charities such as these face funding cuts and the support that Soroptimists can give is appreciated.  The number of cases that come to SARAC continue to rise.  Club member Carolyn, hospital consultant, had referred a case to Tracy only this week.  Club member Bev continues to support the charity as a trustee. SARAC helpline: 01283 517185  

Chris presented the work of SI Lichfield in using our ‘sewing bee’ project to make international links with destinations in Africa and the Caribbean.  International President Ann Garvie in her address said that it demonstrated how friendship links can actively engage the whole club and work for the good of others.  SI Lichfield receives secure evidence that the dresses, knitted teddies and dolls go exactly to the children for whom they are lovingly made.  The trust that we have in our Soroptimists around the globe is well founded and as we move forward into a debate about the inequality of life chances across the globe, Soroptimists are well placed to have a ‘global ear to the ground’. At the regional conference titled ‘gender equality’ we heard from speakers who are passionate about the causes they presented – look out for the report on the Midland

At the AGM last night, members said a ‘thank you and job well done’ to outgoing President Lesley and welcomed President Pat. She in turn, passed the chain of office of President Elect to Mary. President Pat said she was delighted to take up the post and looked forward to working with us in the coming year. In her opening speech, President Pat said that she had heard the Mayor’s Lady of Shrewsbury recently say that she was intending to have a new outfit for each event in the year – but she would make sure that each outfit came from a ‘previously loved’ outlet.  Linked to this, President Pat said she would like us to start each meeting with a piece of news as, despite our best efforts at business meetings, we did leave at the end of the night without having had the chance to

Our Annual Friendship Meeting this year was attended by Region President Carol.  The main business of the meeting was the induction of our new member, Beryl.  Introduced by founder member Julia, we have had numerous opportunities to get to know Beryl before the precious badge and membership pack were presented.

On Thursday, we joined the brownie group in a very cold hall to make a Christmas bracelet.  A number of us were available to help with the fiddly knots and as always, the girls were wonderfully enthusiastic.  They then sang some carols for President Lesley who will be returning next week to give them their Christmas gift – another craft item but we won’t spoil it by telling you what it is just yet!!!