Sharon – friend of our Treasurer Sue – has raised over £700 (far exceeding her target) for our centenary charity fund by walking the Camino Ingles – 115 km from Ferrol in northern Galicia to Santiago de Compostela. Also known as the English Way because medieval pilgrims from Britain would sail to Ferrol then complete their journey overland to Santiago. We are so grateful to Sharon. From our club to Sharon on Facebook – Sharon, all Soroptimist International of Manchester members send our grateful thanks for choosing to donate your sponsorship to our Centenary Charities Fund  Thank you for sharing your photos and insights during your incredible journey. You are an inspiration to us all  Comments from some of of our members on our Social WhatsApp – Carole – Terrific achievement. You are amazing. Rosemary – We are so glad you chose our charities to

When SIGBI made Climate Change a priority for 2020 we undertook several initiatives, one of which was to reduce waste by recycling.  We discovered that every year in the UK up to 45 million printer cartridges end up in landfill. It can take a thousand years for a cartridge to decompose.  We were delighted to find that we could raise funds for Act4Africa, one of our partner charities, by collecting printer cartridges and sending them to Recycle4Charity.

We marked the day in three ways – donating to four of the charities we support, at our club meeting earlier in the week and attending the Regional Programme Action Meeting on the day. We donated to  two local and two international charities – WomenMatta, The River Manchester, Act4Africa, and New Hope Rural Trust. At our club meeting members spoke about inspirational women – Esther Ghey – mother of murdered teenager Brianna, she now campaigns for social media reform, is the founder of Peace and Mind UK and has written a book, ‘Under a Pink Sky’. Hilary. Gisele Pelicot who faced her husband and multiple rapists in court, charting a new course for victims of sexual abuse. Fiona. Clara Zetkin, a German Marxist theorist, activist and advocate for women’s rights, her efforts led to the first International Women’s Day being celebrated in 1911. Sue U. Melanie

President Elect Fiona once again hosted a pancake party to raise funds for our charities. Members, family and friends enjoyed savoury pancakes stuffed with chicken and mushroom, spinach and ricotta or roasted vegetables, followed by dessert crepes.  Again there was a bar and raffle – which helped to raise an amazing £500 – and challenging games.     Some of the comments on our Social WhatsApp group – Sue S. – Thanks Fiona and Paul for a lovely evening. Great food and company and mind challenges. Val – A great pancake party. Thank you so much for the food, the company and the challenges. Catherine N. – Always a pleasure to have fun and good food around you and your warm family. Fii – Great evening thanks Fiona and Paul. We did our best with the challenges.

S I Manchester will be celebrating its centenary in 1926. We are planning events – to celebrate, to raise funds for our projects and to raise awareness of the work that Soroptimists do. There will be a Centenary Charter dinner in March 1926 with Helen Pankhurst as the speaker. To raise funds for this event, members have been hosting suppers in their homes for other members and husbands/partners. The most recent was hosted by Sue S. on Valentine’s Day.     Some of the comments on WhatsApp – Val said –  ‘The food was very tasty, the atmosphere very welcoming and the conversation very stimulating’. Rosemary said – ‘A wonderful evening … thank you Sue and Mike for your generous hospitality’. Lorraine said – ‘I loved the shortbread and chocolate heart – such a nice touch on Valentine’s Day!’.

We are supporting Ashton on Mersey Chiefs under 11 – a girls’ football team in the South Manchester League – by providing home and away kits.  It’s a new team and we were pleased to hear from their coach, Peter, that they are making steady progress. They certainly look as if they are enjoying themselves!  

Helen, the charity’s fundraising and income partner, spoke at our February meeting. Accommodation and practical support is provided for homeless teenage girls from Manchester who may have experienced relationship breakdowns, domestic violence, forced marriage, threatened abduction as well as physical and emotional abuse. Since it was established in a family home in Whalley Range in 1970 over 1000 girls have been helped – not only by the provision of accommodation, but also to return to education, start a job, or explore training opportunities. Each girl has her own bedroom and is provided with new bedding, toiletries and other essentials on arrival. They share a large kitchen – each girl having her own fridge and storage – living room and learning hub. Contact Hostel is our latest project and we are delighted to be able to continue supporting them.