Immediate Past President Barbara met Felicitas from S I Essen, one of our Friendship Link Clubs. Felicitas is a radiation oncologist and was attending the International World Congress for Proton Therapy. Some of our members are planning to visit Essen in October.
Our Annual General Meeting was held at the Pinewood Hotel, Handforth, on Thursday 11th April. Rosemary Steven was elected President and Rose Marginson President Elect. As part of her closing address President Barbara awarded Long Service Certificates to nine members whose length of service ranged from 25 to 40 years.
Several members, together with members of other clubs in the South Lancashire region, attended a conference entitled ‘Offending Women?’ which dealt with women’s journeys through the criminal justice system. As well as hearing first hand from women who had been in prison, speakers included Professor Azrini Wahidin, a renowned academic and researcher on women in prison, Hannah Morowa of WomenMATTA, Scott Cowap, Chair of Women’s Problem Solving Court and Harini Iyengar, a leading barrister and Women’s Equality Party spokesperson for equal representation.
We had a fun evening packing 100 mugs for the Women’s Refuges. Each woman who arrives at the Refuge after a very stressful time is given their own mug with sachets of tea, coffee, sugar , hot chocolate and a biscuit. This time we had some of our newer members and prospective member Soo helping . We all enjoyed the evening and loved doing something small that hopefully gives pleasure . Rose Marginson Thanks to Rose for hosting the evening
Fiona’s Pancake Party was again great fun with plenty of good food, a quiz and nice wine at the same raising money for our charities. Thank you Fiona for a lovely night and to the club members who helped her – and of course Gus our Soroptimister barman. Rose Marginson
Gemma Griffin from the Red Box Project, City of Salford, was the speaker at our March meeting. The project was founded in March 2017 to combat ‘period poverty’ – a lack of access to sanitary products due to financial constraints – which results in girls having to miss school. Red boxes, filled with tampons, pads, underwear and tights, have now been set up a locations all over the country. We were delighted to donate to this much needed project. Rose Marginson
On 3rd March President Barbara welcomed members and guests to our 93rd Charter event which, this year, was a Sunday lunch at Swinton Park Golf Club. 66 members and guests attended including members of S I Ashton under Lyne, S I Bolton, S I Leigh & District, S I Southport and S I Stockport & District. The Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor June Hitchen, attended and was accompanied by her sister, Julie Hampson. It was the second year she had joined us and she showed a great interest in our work with local initiatives. Gail Heath, Chief Executive Officer of the Pankhurst Trust, proposed the toast to Soroptimist International recognising the contribution our Club has made to the Women’s Words project. We were entertained by students from the Pendleton School of Theatre – three very talented young ladies, one of whom is this year’s
Julie Smith, from Cornerstone, pictured here with President Barbara, came to our February meeting to talk to us about the work done by the charity. People who are homeless or disadvantaged can attend the day centre for meals, eye checks, benefits advice and help with budgeting – now particularly needed with the change in benefit payments. Refugees are now attending needing baby clothes and equipment. A very inspiring talk. We are so glad we support Cornerstone. Rose Marginson
Anne-Dore Quack, from our Friendship Link Club S I Essen came to Manchester in December. She visited the Pankhurst Centre and attended a fundraising evening.
Olive was inducted as new member at our November meeting.Olive was born in County Meath and moved to Sale after her marriage. She had a challenging but rewarding career as a probation officer which enabled her to work and empower women caught up in the criminal justice system with issues of mental health, domestic violence and substance misuse. She has two children and two grandchildren and her interests include theatre, music, travel and crown green bowling.
