On the 2nd March we announced that we would be marking International Women’s Day by hosting three events to support the Oxfam Mother Appeal.  The first event a Supper Evening was held at the home of Lichfield Soroptimist Chris Corless and her husband Adrian on Friday 14th March  2014.  30 guests were welcomed with a glass of wine followed by a delicious two course meal, rounded off with tea or coffee. During the evening guests took part in the Oxfam Mother Appeal Sweepstake and the evening was rounded off with an auction where the main item, a water colour of snowdrops painted and donated by Julia Ross, one of the guests, was eventually sold for £150.  Chris gave a brief talk about the Oxfam Mother Appeal before announcing to guests that the evening had raised over £500.00. The 2nd event was a stall in the school

Lichfield Soroptimists were out in force on Thursday 27th March helping twenty four 7th District Lichfield brownies weave & sew purses and assemble Mother’s Day cards in the shape of a tulip.This is an example of the “hands on service” Lichfield & District Soroptimists provide during the year. 2014 is the 100th Birthday of the Brownies Section of Girlguiding and a number of events are planned throughout the country. 7th District Lichfield brownies are planning a conga chain around Morrison’s Supermarket on Saturday 26th April 2014 at 8.00am in the morning and you can be sure SI Lichfield & District Soroptimists will be there to support them.

The general knowledge quiz held on 22nd March 2014 at Curborough Community Hall raised £538.53p for the Uganda Childbirth Injuries Fund (Reg. Charity 1099135) (see club news 31 Jan 2014).  Quiz master & compiler Angela Reynolds kept over 70 teams in check and a ploughman’s buffet at the interval ensured that brains were ‘fed’ for the second half of the proceedings.  Our customary raffle accounted for £137.00of the evenings total. The winning team were known as “The Team with No Name” simply because the five players were made up of a 3 and a 2 who only met on the evening of the Quiz and did not have time to think of a name.  The winners were each presented with a bottle of wine whilst the team with the lowest score each had a wooden spoon.

  The group of Lichfield Soroptimists who formed their own Sewing Bee last year have been busy bees again, making 100 dresses for the girls in the orphanage, Orphelinat Sainte Therese de Lumbila, in Oubritenga, Burkina Faso.  Founded in 1995 the centre is home to over 100 children and supports a further 200 in the community, Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world.  The dresses, which will clothe girls from infants to teens, were taken out there by Gillie Nicholls, founder of the charity Les Amis (Reg. No 1120772).  The charity was set up in 2007 to serve the poor and needy of Burkina Faso. Accompanying the dresses, Gillie also took with her 50 hand knitted teddy bears which, it is hoped, will bring a smile to these children. Gillie will give a talk about the work undertaken by Les Amis at

To mark International Women’s Day SI Lichfield & District will be hosting three events to support the Oxfam Mother Appeal.  The ethos behind the appeal is that when we lift a mother she will not only lift herself but also her family and her community, generation after generation.   Every pound raised by this appeal will be match funded by the UK Government.   The first event will be a coffee and cake sale morning, followed by a supper evening with raffle.  Both of these events will be hosted by a member of SI Lichfield & District in their respective homes. The third event is a stall at a local school, (Norton Canes High School) where goods handmade or donated by club members will be on sale during the lunch break for pupils to purchase as Mothers Day presents at pocket money prices (50p – £2.00). 

A General Knowledge Quiz in aid of Uganda Childbirth Injuries Fund (Reg. Charity 1099135) will be held on Saturday March 22nd at Curborough Community Centre, Bloomfield Crescent, LichfieldWS13 7JL. Teams may be up to 6 people and the cost of a ticket is £7.50 per person which includes a buffet served during the interval.  Participants may bring their own drinks. All the profits will go to the Uganda Childbirth Injuries Fund which President Donna Cope of SI Lichfield & District has adopted as her charity for 2013-14.  Brenda Gray, a club member and theatre nurse, is a trustee of the charity, set up in 2001 by Dr Brian Hancock and Dr. Mhari Collie FRCS.  Brenda and the team make 3 visits per year to the KamuliMissionHospital where they carry out over 25 operations a year on women who have been injured in childbirth.  The costs

The club welcomed a new member at its friendship meeting on 8th January 2014.  Tracey Hardie who works for SARAC in Burton on Trent heard about Soroptimists from a work colleague and after attending a few meetings decided to become a member of our club. The Club holds a friendship evening every year when friends and prospective new members have an opportunity to see the activities we undertake and to chat to existing members over a light buffet and hot drink.  Welcoming a new member to our group added an extra dimension to the evening. Tracey received her badge and membership pack from President Donna who extended a warm welcome on behalf of SI Lichfield & District.

    A tree containing 22 photo-baubles showing projects undertaken by SI Lichfield & District Soroptimists during 2013, went on display at both St Luke’s Church, Cannock and Lichfield Cathedral Christmas Tree Festivals in November and December 2013.  Every bauble was numbered and an accompanying brochure detailed the various projects, amount raised or work undertaken for each of them.   The baubles will also be on display at our friendship meeting on Wednesday 8th January 2014 when visitors are welcome to come along to Lichfield Methodist Community Centre,Backcester Lane, Lichfield WS 13 6JH from 7.30pm – 9.00pm to see at first hand the work we undertake at club level and chat to our members about the various projects.  

SI Lichfield & District held their annual Xmas Fayre at the Guildhall in Lichfield on Saturday 14th December and despite a lower attendance than in previous years still raised £1,000.00 for the Salvation Army Women’s Refuge  Stalls included Homemade Produce, Jewellery, Stocking Fillers, Beauty Products and Giftware as well as Teddy Tombola, Guess the Value of the Hamper, What’s my Name? and a model railway.  Visitors could also relax with a hot drink and homemade cake or soup and a roll.  A cheque was presented to Carole Richardson and Major Samuel Edgar at the Salvation Army Concert the following day.  

Four of SI Lichfield & District club members had their work cut out at a craft evening when they helped a full compliment of 26 Brownies from 7th Lichfield & District to sew & decorate Xmas Stockings. The girls made either, Santa, Rudolph or a Snowman which they then personalised by adding names of their choice with self-adhesive felt letters.  The stockings were further embellished with snowflakes and finished off with the inclusion of sweets and a chocolate bar.  It was lovely to see the girls sewing away whilst recalling other gifts they had made during the year including Mothers & Fathers Day presents.  Who knows these girls may be the next generation of Sewing Bees!