Members of SI Lichfield and District were out in force on Bower Day to help count the proceeds from the Bower Procession collection.  9 Soroptimists plus 3 Soroptimisters were part of a team of 18 volunteers who counted over £3,000.00 of various coin denominations in just three hours.  This represented the fastest time in recent years and some of our members rounded off the afternoon with a well earned drink! The Bower is well known to Lichfield and is a festival held each spring on a bank holiday.  It is approx 800 years old and the origins of the Bower go back to the time of Henry II.  Most of the ancient features of the Bower still survive – the Court of Arraye is held in the Guildhall, when the Mayor inspects the “men-at-arms”. The procession, made up of a series of floats, is

On Friday evening 23 June, two of SI Lichfield and District Soroptimists, Dishi Attwood and Chris Corless were at the home of Michelle Frost to help her raise money for Eve’s Appeal, a charity (reg. no. 1091708) dedicated to striving for better detection and improved treatment of all five gynaecological cancers. Invited friends and colleagues each paid £15.00 to come to a supper evening.  The auction between the main meal and pudding raised a further £126.00 bringing the total for the evening close to £600.00. At the age of only 26 Michelle was diagnosed with cervical cancer and now at only 27 has been given a maximum of 6 months of life.  Her story led to a double page spread in the Sun Newspaper, where she is campaigning for women to be given a smear test earlier than the current policy of only at age

Kim Wilkins, Manager of Curborough Community Centre in Lichfield gave an interesting talk to club members at our Business Meeting on Wednesday 14th May 2014 about the Trussell Trust Foodbank in Lichfield. Trussell Trust was founded in 1997 by Paddy and Carol Henderson and named after Carol’s Mother, Betty Trussell, from whom they had received a legacy.  The Trussell Trust, a Christian charity, does not affiliate itself with any political party, receives no government funding and works through a network of churches & other outlets.  In Lichfield the three distribution sites are Curborough Community Centre, the Emmanuel Christian Centre and Wade Street Church. Food is donated by supermarkets, schools and other collection points, sorted and stored in a warehouse in Lichfield and distributed to recipients who qualify for help. Professionals from statutory and voluntary organisations such as doctors, health visitors, social workers, Citizens Advice Bureau

A group of Lichfield and District Soroptimists are taking part in the Live below the Line Challenge to raise awareness of the issues surrounding global hunger.  Nearly 2 million people live below the poverty line, surviving on less than £1.00 per day.  One of the most vulnerable groups is women and children which is why the club has chosen the charity Action Aid as their beneficiary. Action Aid work alongside communities to create positive long-term change for women & girls including the eradication of hunger. No strangers to this campaign, this is the second year SI Lichfield and District have participated in this challenge and they are supported by fellow club members who will be making donations to this appeal.  Club Member Bev Haywood provided a meal which comprised of pasta, chopped tomatoes and onions, together with half a small home-made loaf for the princely

  In their capacity as STEM Ambassadors, Lichfield and District Soroptimists provide “hand on” service to assist at a variety of STEM events in local schools throughout the Midlands region.   One such event was a “Rockets Away” Day at Bursley Academy on Wednesday 7th May, when 46 Year 4 pupils built a standard rocket by rolling a paper tube, fitting a soft plastic nose cone and adding cardboard fins. This rocket was tested by launching with compressed air. The flight data timings were recorded and analysed to include maths concepts/statistics. They then built another rocket incorporating one change to try to improve the rockets performance before testing it again. Club member Bev Billings was kept on her toes taking stopwatch timings and recording data for the pupils to analyse.  The sun shone and everyone enjoyed the day, especially club member Bev!

SI Lichfield and District are holiding a Fashion Show on Monday 2nd June 2014 at Beacon Park Village, Lower Sandford Street, Lichfield, WS13 6JN.  S,D. Fashions will provide clothes & accesories from High Street Brands at bargain prices.  Opportunity to try on before you buy.  Entrance by ticket – £5.00 each.  Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets available from Ellie Gormley 01889 801508 or Lesley Warfield 01543 300934.

Early morning shoppers at Morrison’s Supermarket in Lichfield were in for a surprise on Saturday 26th August at 8.00 am, when a group of girls from 5th Lichfield (St Chad’s) Brownies performed a Conga chain around the aisles of the store.  Brown Owl, Sylvia Smetham with Leaders Janine Hill and Faye Jenkins led the girls as they danced between the aisles whilst shoppers, perplexed at first, joined in waving and applauding them on their way.   The Management and staff at Morrison’s joined the chain which did two laps of the store. Brown Owl, Sylvia expressed her thanks to the Management & Staff for enabling 5th Lichfield Brownies to complete one of their Brownie Birthday Challenges, marking the 100th Anniversary of the Brownie Movement.  This will count towards the Units total of 100 challenges to celebrate this Anniversary. A second challenge was to have the

  One of President Lesley’s first duties was to present Past President Donna Cope with a gift from club members as thanks for her year in office. In addition to a beautiful orchid plant, the envy of many club members, including Lesley, there were gift vouchers for Obsession Salon & Spa.  Hopefully Donna will now have time to relax and be pampered, courtesy of SI Lichfield & District Soroptimists.

At the AGM on Wednesday 9th April, Donna Cope thanked her executive committee and club members for their support during her year as President before  handing over her chain of office to Lesley Warfield.  Lesley is no stranger to the role of Club President having already carried out these duties in 2009 and 2010. Lesley thanked Past President Donna and said what an honour it was to take on this role again.  Lesley went on to outline her plans for the year and how she would like to focus on newly recruited and prospective new members whilst supporting other aspects of club such as Programme Action and Fundraising. Lesley then presented Pat Wain, a founder member of SI Lichfield & District, with the Chain of Office for President Elect.  As President Elect, Pat will work closely with Lesley during the forthcoming year. 

President Donna Cope’s charity for 2013/14 has been the Uganda Childbirth Injuries Fund (UCIF) which was set up in 2001 Dr Brian Hancock and Dr Mhari Collie FRCS. Brenda Gray, a theatre nurse and Mr Glyn Constantine a gynaecologist became trustees of the charity in 2004.  Brenda is also a member of SI Lichfield & District and last July gave an enlightening talk to club members about her visits to the Kamuli Mission Hospital in Uganda and the poor conditions under which they perform operations on women with fistula injuries. Glyn Constantine gave a brief update to club members at their AGM and Meeting on 9th April 2014 about how he became involved with the charity. Glyn explained that during prolonged labour the pressure of the baby’s head against the pelvis wears a hole between the bladder and the vagina and sometimes the rectum.  This will