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

The second event of the weekend celebrating our centenary was a buffet supper kindly hosted by Soroptimist International Manchester member Rose and her husband, John.  Visitors from our Friendship Link clubs ( S I Essen Victoria and S I Fort de France Alizes Sud) were transported from their hotel and club members arrived laden with delicious home made food. President Fiona welcomed everybody and gifts were exchanged.  Members and visitors had the opportunity to mingle, chat and relax over a glass of wine before food was served. It was a delightful evening where friendships were developed and experiences exchanged.  Everybody went home looking forward to meeting again for the further weekend celebrations. Val Jenkins

Manchester Women’s Aid (MWA) organised Steps to Safety  – a 15 km walk from Manchester City Centre to Altrincham to reflect on the one woman killed by an abusive partner or ex every five days. Our club has supported MWA for many years and chose to sponsor this event to mark International Women’s Day. Rose completed the walk (27,000 steps!) and took the opportunity to speak about the work we do. £610 was raised.  

Dr Fiona Reid, consultant urogynaecologist, spoke at our February meeting. Fiona and colleagues established Birth Aid in Uganda 15 years ago. The charity aims to improve the health and well-being of women by repairing injuries sustained during childbirth.  Initially teams went to Uganda to carry out the procedures – now they provide training to local healthcare professionals. We were pleased to be able to give a donation to this very worthwhile charity.