{"id":4571,"date":"2021-04-21T12:39:09","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T11:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/liverpool\/?p=4571"},"modified":"2021-04-21T12:39:09","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T11:39:09","slug":"whoisshe-accolade-for-club-member-dorcas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/liverpool\/2021\/04\/21\/whoisshe-accolade-for-club-member-dorcas\/","title":{"rendered":"#WhoisShe accolade for Club member Dorcas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">We are delighted that one of our present club members has been recognised as one of the 100 Soroptimists who have made a significant difference not only to Soroptimism but also in the wider community. What a difference Dorcas has made! Born in Nigeria, Dorcas Akeju OBE has lived in <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Liverpool since 1974,\u00a0 and after training as a <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">midwife at the Liverpool Maternity Hospital, <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">she practised in both hospital and <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">community settings for 35 years.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">In 1999 she was instrumental in the <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">establishment of a special clinic &#8211; &#8220;The Link&#8221; &#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">to provide antenatal care for mothers whose <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">first language is not English. This clinic <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">continues to have an important impact on <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">the care of these mothers. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Since 1990 Dorcas has been an active <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">campaigner against Female Genital <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Mutilation (FGM), both at local and national <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">level. She contributed to the establishment <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">of the Liverpool Multi-Cultural Women&#8217;s<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Advisory and FGM Group, which aimed to <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">raise awareness of health issues like breast and cervical screening amongst Black and Ethnic Minority women, <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">and signposting and supporting victims of FGM. She chaired the Liverpool FGM Group for several years, and <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">has addressed audiences, both nationally and locally, about this issue. She continued to be involved when the <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Group was merged with the Forced Marriage Group, and when a new Harmful Traditional Practices Group <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">was set up. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">She served on the Council of the Royal College of Midwives for seven years, and in 2000 co-founded the <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">African Elders Association, which worked to reduce isolation and depression. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">When her children began attending schools in Liverpool, Dorcas became involved in many school activities,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">serving for many years as a School Governor. After taking a degree in Clinical Management at the age of 55, <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">she led a team at Liverpool Women&#8217;s Hospital concerned with equality and diversity, and developed policies <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">addressing bullying, harassment and racism. In 2015 she became an Advanced Practitioner after taking a <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Master&#8217;s degree. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Among her awards, Dorcas was named the Liverpool Black Female Achiever of 2009; she received the Royal<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">College of Midwives Life Time Achievement award; and was awarded the Order of the British Empire by H.M. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">The Queen in 2003.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">In 2009, Dorcas&#8217;s daughter sadly died from asthma, and in 2014 Dorcas and her husband set up the Breathe <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Easy Foundation in her memory. The Foundation supports parents with chronic asthma in the United <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Kingdom and Nigeria. As its Chair, Dorcas is responsible for strategic planning, training and fund-raising. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">She served as a Shadow Governor for the Royal Liverpool and Broad Green Teaching Hospitals Trust for seven <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">years, and is now a full Governor. Since 2010 she has been the Equality Advisor on Liverpool&#8217;s Health and <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Local Council&#8217;s Social Care Scrutiny Panel, and is a Trustee of Liverpool Community Voluntary Services. She is <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">an active member of her local church. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Dorcas is currently Chair of the Merseyside Yoruba Community Association (her tribal organisation), and set <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">up the Yoruba Descendants&#8217; Network in 2005, connecting Yorubas from the North-West and Midlands. She <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">was given the Omoluwabi Award in recognition of outstanding commitment and leadership in community <\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">services for this pioneering initiative.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Joining Soroptimist International of Liverpool in 2013, Dorcas served as\u00a0 our club President in 2018. She is currently<\/span><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"> S.I. South Lancashire Regional President-Elect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">We are very proud of her wonderful achievements!<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/liverpool\/files\/2021\/04\/Dorcas-Akeju-OBE.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-4572 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/liverpool\/files\/2021\/04\/Dorcas-Akeju-OBE-300x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"360\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/liverpool\/files\/2021\/04\/Dorcas-Akeju-OBE-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/liverpool\/files\/2021\/04\/Dorcas-Akeju-OBE.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are delighted that one of our present club members has been recognised as one&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":446,"featured_media":4573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-club-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>#WhoisShe accolade for Club member Dorcas | News | Blog | Events | SI Liverpool<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SI Liverpool : Blog &amp; News : #WhoisShe accolade for Club member Dorcas : Keep up to date with the latest news, articles and events from the Soroptimists of SI Liverpool . 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