New member Soo was presented with her badge by President Rosemary at our May meeting. She was introduced to our organisation by a Soroptimist she met on a train journey returning from the Liverpool Conference. Soo works in Food Safety and Quality as a consultant. She has two teenage children and play the cornet in a brass brand.
Fabiola Bayavuge from the charity Africans Unite against Child Abuse (Afruca) spoke at our meeting on 7th May. The charity was established in 2001 to advocate the rights and welfare of African children in the UK following the deaths of children like Victoria Climbite and Damilola Taylor. The main focus of their work is prevention and early intervention and their stance is that culture and religion should never be a reason to abuse children.
Vanessa Flanders, Manchester Women’s Aid (MWA) Mental Health Lead, spoke on Domestic Abuse in later Life. Many people are unaware of the abuse older people may have endured for many years. Vanessa is a Project Manager for Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) – a programme which trains those working in GP surgeries to identify possible victims and gives them the opportunity to obtain help.
Several members – dressed as suffragettes and carrying Soroptimist banners – took part in the Manchester Day Parade on 23rd June. The parade is the centrepiece of Manchester Day – a celebration of Manchester held in the city centre which has been held every June since 2010.
Our Club held a very successful Charity Lunch and Fashion Show on 12th May. President Rosemary acted as MC and clothes by Shuff’s Separates were modelled by members, friends and ladies from Shuff’s. £1800 was raised for our charities.
Immediate Past President Barbara presented two prizes recently – the Helen Latto Soroptimist Prize for Singing to Anna at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music and the Soroptimist Manchester Arena Memorial Award to Maria and Imogen at Pendleton College. Helen Latto was a pharmacist and President of S I Manchester in 1980-81. During her Presidency she organised a charity event at a music school in Whalley Range; this led to her involvement with the Junior Royal Northern College of Music. She left a bequest to the college for a prize for singing. Message received from Anna – I was delighted to be awarded the Helen Latto Soroptimist Prize for Singing in my final year at the Junior RNCM. It was so lovely to meet you at the recent prizegiving ceremony and a wonderful way to mark the end of my time there. For 2019
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
