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A Letter to a Duchess

A Letter to a Duchess

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In Autumn 2015, the members of Soroptimist International of Manchester were interested to read an article in a newspaper about the Duchess of Cornwall visiting a rape crisis centre in London. She expressed the idea that giving a small gift of toiletries to survivors of such crimes could make a great difference to them, by bringing them the “human touch” after their trauma. Thisstuck a chord with members of SI Manchester who have been donating toiletries to St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) here in our city since it opened in 1986, and they asked Val Moss, their Programme Action Officer, to write to the Duchess about it. In the letter Val informed the Duchess that St Mary’s SARC would be marking their 30th Anniversary year in 2016 and expressed the hope that she would visit them if she were able. Sometimes Soroptimist dreams do come true, and on April 26th

Speaker Meeting March 2016

Speaker Meeting March 2016

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The speaker at our March meeting was the Rev. George Lane from the Manchester Airport Chaplaincy. This is a workplace chaplaincy for over 20,000 workers at the airport, and also offers pastoral and humanitarian aid to anyone who may be in trouble on the site. He and his colleagues work closely with the airport customer care team and the police, and offer non-denominational support to people of all faiths who are in need of help. With over 24 million people coming through the airport per year, they deal with a wide range of issues including human trafficking, forced marriage and homelessness. Their philosophy is that “it’s about people” who are considered as human beings (rather than passengers or customers) and help is given according to their individual needs.

S I Manchester 90th Charter Dinner, 27th February 2016

S I Manchester 90th Charter Dinner, 27th February 2016

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SI Manchester was chartered in 1926 and celebrated 90 years of service in the city at their Charter Dinner on 27th February, in the beautiful setting of The Monastery in Gorton. The evening was a great celebration of Soroptimism and a chance to meet old friends and make new ones, and to welcome our friends and families. President Sue welcomed members from sixteen other clubs, including the Presidents of four of our daughter clubs, Ashton-u-Lyne, Blackburn, Bolton and Stockport. Federation President Margaret Emsley kindly gave the response to the Toast to Soroptimist International, which was proposed by Martin Smedley, CEO of the charity Act4Africa. Sandie Taylor, President of SI South Lancashire, and Margaret Hammond, President of SI North West England and the Isle of Man were also present, to mark the fact that we have daughter clubs in both regions. The Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Paul Murphy and the Lady Mayoress, Mrs

Pancake Party February 2016

Pancake Party February 2016

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Again this year our Pancake Party was an evening of food, friendship and fun. Past President Fiona opened her house to us as she always does for this charity event, and was ably assisted by husband Paul and daughter Kiera. We enjoyed savoury and sweet pancakes, a fiendish quiz about pancakes (yes, they were invented in the 5th century BC!) games and a raffle. Thank you to Fiona and family – same time next year?

St Mary’s SARC 30th Anniversary Launch Event

St Mary’s SARC 30th Anniversary Launch Event

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2016 marks 30 years since the opening of St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre and 10 years since their specialised paediatricservices began. President Elect Molly and 6 members were pleased to attend their event at HOME Manchester on Thursday 28th January to launch this 30:10 Anniversary year. Speakers at the event were Councillor Paul Murphy OBE, Lord Mayor of Manchester, Dr Rainie Roberts, the founding Clinical Director, and Dr Catherine White OBE, the present Clinical Director. Roger Graef, the Documentary Producer, spoke about the impact of and showed excerpts from his documentary ‘A Complaint of Rape’ made in 1982, which marked a watershed in changing the way rape cases are handled by the police and other agencies. Sarah Hardy and Blue Ryan spoke about and showed excerpts from their documentary ‘The Unspeakable Crime Rape’ made at St Mary’s and broadcast in 2013. The event was attended by staff and many friends of

International Evening

International Evening

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We had a great evening in December celebrating International Evening with a Social Event combined with the Masons to try and raise a larger amount for our charity fund. The evening was arranged by two of our members and their husbands – Rosemary and Gus Stevens and Shena and Barry Cuttle. We had a buffet meal, an auction and raffle followed by singing by Gus and and a singer from Liverpool. Some of us enjoyed a dance too! A cheque for a thousand pounds raised at the evening was presented to the club by Shena and Rosemary. It was decided at our Januarymeeting that the money would go to the Heal project in Malawi.

Meeting Princess Anne at SIGBI Conference in Glasgow

Meeting Princess Anne at SIGBI Conference in Glasgow

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Val, our Programme Action Officer, was honoured to represent the club and be one of those who met HRH the Princess Royal at the recent SIGBI Conference in Glasgow. The Princess had asked to meet representatives of the three clubs with proposals that had made the short-list for the new Federation long term project. Val said ‘Federation President Jenny introduced me as representing SI Manchester and the Princess shook my hand. I had a short time to tell her about our HEAL Malawi project and how it aims to help young women find a way out of extreme poverty.’ Unfortunately, our project did not win when delegates voted later that afternoon, but Soroptimists do not give up when faced with a setback and the Princess will not be the last person to hear about HEAL Malawi.

Friendship Evening 2015

Friendship Evening 2015

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On Saturday 3rd October, President Sue, along with members and guests of SI Manchester celebrated our annual Friendship Evening. This evening commemorates the anniversary of the very first Soroptimist meeting in Oakland, CA on 3rd October 1921. Candles were lit for our friendship links in St Petersburg, Russia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Grosse Pointe and Wichita USA; and Mayuge, Uganda, and we hadseveral messages of good wishes from our friends in these clubs. We all enjoyed a lovely evening of cheese and wine with some Soroptimist friendship inspired games!

Red Roses in Glasgow!

Red Roses in Glasgow!

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Seven Manchester members attended the 81st Federation Conference of Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland in Glasgow in November 2015. The photograph shows our Honorary Members, Yvonne Mullen and Kathleen Beavis, getting ready to welcome incoming Federation President Margaret Emsley, who is a member of the Ashton-under-Lyne club. No ladies, you are supposed to wave your Lancashire red roses!

November Speaker Meeting

November Speaker Meeting

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President Sue welcomed Sam Baxendale as our speaker at the November meeting. Sam works for the Medaille Trust and manages two safe houses for the victims of human trafficking. She told us about the process that victims go through in the UK. When a person is identified, usually by the police, there is a National Referral Mechanism which comes into action. Eight days are allocated in which time the person is referred to the National Crime Agency to establish if there are ‘reasonable grounds’ to assume they are a victim of human trafficking. This being established, they are given a further 45 days respite in a safe house. The government has a contract with the Salvation Army who works with other charities such as the Medaille Trust to house victims. Sam told us many personal stories of the people she has helped in the north. Victims can be repatriated by