Empowerment Through Care: Highlights from the Hair & Wellbeing Event On Monday 18th May, Soroptimist International Manchester partnered with Naomi Brooks of Ascend Co Studio to host a truly uplifting Hair & Wellbeing Event for women supported by the domestic abuse charities that we work alongside. What unfolded was a day filled with warmth, confidence‑building, and genuine care, a reminder of the power of small acts delivered with great kindness. Twelve women attended across the day, each welcomed into the salon for a 90‑minute pampering session, some stayed much longer. Every guest received a professional cut and style, refreshments, and a beautifully curated goody bag to take home. These bags were filled with makeup, skincare, hair products, chocolate, scented candles, and other treats, all presented in a Soroptimist International Manchester tote bag. For some of the women, this was their first visit to a salon in many years, making the

Every day, women and girls across the UK experience abuse, but abusive behaviours can be hard to spot. They are often pretending to be something else. Control is camouflaging as care. Manipulation is mistaken for love. Sinister behaviours can slip by unnoticed. It’s time to see these behaviours for what they are. Abuse. Soroptimists say NO to Violence against Women and Girls!

As part of our Centenary Celebrations members of Soroptimist International Manchester were invited to afternoon tea with the Lord Mayor of Manchester Cllr Carmine Grimshaw. As the town hall is still undergoing refurbishment the civic and ceremonial team had relocated to the central library which was the venue for this very special afternoon. President Sophie and guests were warmly welcomed by the Lord Mayor and we were introduced to the Lord Mayor’s consort Cllr June Hitchen. They are colleagues in the Miles Platting and Newton Heath ward and it emerged that Cllr Hitchen had previously attended a Manchester dinner when she was Lord Mayor. Both the Lord Mayor and Consort were interested to know the history of our club and the many projects we support especially during our centenary year. We found some common interests in that they also support a girls football team and

Hilary, Pat and Elaine received a warm welcome from Didsbury Good Neighbours on Monday 27th April. Didsbury Good Neighbours is a community facility set in Didsbury Park. Its primary function is as a day centre for elderly people, with lots of activities run by staff and volunteers. They also have a cafe next door that’s open to the public. The centre manager Jamie organised a lunch so we could get to know their Monday Gardening group. It was a very pleasant afternoon, with a surprise birthday cake for the groups facilitator Jan. After lunch Hilary got stuck in with some dead-heading! Our associated charity Daisy Cross (Soroptimist) Trust has donated £3,500 and we’ve started discussions with Jamie as to how this will be used. Elaine Loader

Over the past 50 years Soroptimist International Manchester has celebrated significant anniversaries by raising funds for a variety of projects. To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Club in 1976 an annual prize was established at the Royal Northern College of Music to be awarded each year to the outstanding student of composition or conducting. The Diamond Jubilee project in 1986 was for the NSPCC Special Families unit in Fallowfield. To mark the 70th anniversary of the Club in 1996, £7,000 was raised to furnish and equip a multi-sensory room for children at a local assessment centre. The Club’s 80th anniversary was marked by donating £8,000 to St Mary’s Sexual Assault referral centre for a new paediatric room. Act4Africa, a charity the club still supports, was the recipient of £9,000 raised for the 90th anniversary in 2016. For the centenary in 2026 a committee met

Soroptimist International Manchester’s Annual General Meeting took place on 16th April. It was preceded by a dinner enjoyed by 16 members. Several more members joined for the meeting. Sophie Kennedy was installed as President and Cathrine Holland as President Elect.

Members have enjoyed two visits to the Lowry Theatre recently ‘Top Hat’ and ‘Inspector Morse – House of Ghosts’.  A visit  to  ‘Sylvia’  is planned  for  October.

  Saturday 28th March was the date chosen by Soroptimist International Manchester to formally celebrate our Centenary, marking 100 years of dedicated service from women improving the lives and status of women and girls and also celebrating friendships that stand the test of time both country and world-wide. Months of meticulous planning from our Centenary Committee and club members culminated in a superb evening of celebration and friendship at the Novotel Hotel, Manchester West. SI Presidents and members from 19 clubs, along with family and friends, were joined by Friendship Link sister Soroptimists from SI Essen Victoria in Germany and SI Fort de France Alizes – Sud, Martinique. Special guests included Yemisi Opanye, President of our mother club SI Greater London and Molly Byrne Robinson also from London, Helen Gazzard and Hannah Martin from the Contact Hostel in Chorlton and the Lord Lieutenant of Manchester

On the Saturday of the weekend celebrating Soroptimist International Manchester’s centenary our guests enjoyed (despite the cold weather!) a guided walking tour by www.jonathanschofieldtours.com on ‘Suffragettes, Significant Women and Manchester’. We heard about the Pankhurst family, Lydia Becker, Annie Kenney and many more heroines of the female suffrage movement in Manchester who are commemorated in this stroll around interiors, buildings and landmarks where women fought for representation. There are stories of reasoned argument, attacks on paintings, arrests and the raising of the Votes for Women banner on 13 October, 1905. We also learnt about some exceptional and eccentric women that have featured prominently in the Manchester story from Ann Lee ‘the bride of Christ’, through Ann Bland, Elizabeth Raffald, Mary Fildes, Elizabeth Gaskell, Shena Simon. We warmed and enjoyed a traditionally British lunch, fish & chips in the main, in Mr Thomas’s Chop House which

Thankfully the rain had stopped when the group of Soroptimists met for the first event of the Soroptimist International Manchester Centenary weekend celebrations – a visit to RHS Bridgewater in Worsley.  Members met Soroptimists from Essen in Germany, Martinique from the Caribbean and one stray member from SI Garforth Elmet, the other side of the Pennines.     They enjoyed a tour of the gardens, commenting on the abundance of spring flowers and showing particular interest in the community gardens and the original nineteenth century hot houses.  Following light refreshments in the RHS cafe the visitors returned to their hotel to prepare for the evening event.           Val Jenkins