We were very pleased to have our FCC Joyce Chesney with us at our last meeting. Joyce brought us up-to-date with all things Soroptimist. We hope to have her again.

I am privileged to be asked to continue my role as Chair of the Middlesbrough Club, having enjoyed it last year. We go forward as a small club with distinct characteristics in that the club is run along less than traditional lines. Every member plays an active role in attending our monthly meetings. The executive has four anchor members: Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Programme Action, who prepare and record the club’s work. All issues and concerns are discussed at the executive and club levels. We uphold the Soroptimist Vision, Mission, Values, and Goals and share these at all platforms. Visitors and guests are advised that we are not a political or religious organisation and that Soroptimists are a world wide organisation. Presently we are planning our 80th Anniversary with interest. Throughout the year we will continue to support our Charities. Carol Singer, Chair of Soroptimist

We are hosting an open meeting at Middlesbrough Sports Village on Thursday, the 15th of June 2023 from 7:15 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. All are welcome; just contact cooperpageo21@aol.com to confirm attendance! It involves an update on Climate Action Middlesbrough project, with David Scriven as guest speaker!  

We want to open an honest discussion about our fears, concerns and hopes and we think it would be a good opportunity to bring people together across the generational divide to, hopefully, find common ground, and learn from one other’s knowledge and experience. Research shows there are typically four reasons people do not want to talk about climate change: • I do not know enough • I do not want to talk about scary things • I do not think I can make a difference • I do not want to cause an argument This is a safe, supportive forum in which to exchange views and explore our feelings. Here are some initial questions to get us thinking: • What do you see as the biggest threat facing us, as human beings? • When did you become aware of environmental issues? • What, if any,

We will have Ruth Mayes and David Hill from Stokesley Rotary Club as speakers for our October’s meeting. They will be giving a presentation about their 100-mile ‘Walk for Water’ event in 2019. They raised just over the targeted £5,000 for the Village Water charity to provide clean water access to a Zambian community. Flier – Walk for Water UPDATE (20/10/2022) Our speakers, David Hill and Ruth Mayes, explained that they had developed a special interest in supporting projects to provide clean water after reading an article in a Rotary magazine about a village in Zambia where water had to be collected (mostly by women and children). They would often walk for 20 minutes to source water that was unfit to drink, which resulted in many people becoming ill. Children were missing school in order to collect water for the family and women were exposed to

We were honoured to have the Chair of SI Foundation, Sue Williams, with us on the evening. It was a delightful event attended by our friends. The delicious buffet was prepared by our members which was enjoyed by all. Many thanks to all our members and our quiz master, Pam Cooper (Secretary), for the entertaining evening 🙂 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Give your brain a workout at our Quiz Night, an evening of fun, food and friendship. Our quiz nights are always enjoyable, relaxing and not too competitive – a chance to get together and enjoy some food for the body and food for the mind. Discover interesting facts like… * Which civilisation created Machu Picchu? * Who was England’s first female dentist? Tickets are of £10, to include buffet and tea / coffee. The tickets will be sent by e-mail; hence, the e-mail requiring a ticket can

SIM members took part in a litter pick in Stewart Park organised by Climate Action Middlesbrough earlier this month for Love Parks Week. Also, our members attended Middlesbrough Mela at Albert Park to make people realise the importance of keeping their surroundings clean. People were asked to throw rubbish in the biodegradable refuse bags carried by SIM members instead of throwing it on the ground.

Since our AGM, we have had wonderful speakers. In May, we had Val Lambert, talking about yoga and its benefits, and this month we had our new member Catherine Donovan, speaking about her work as an Educational Psychotherapist. We are thankful to both for enlightening us about the topics. For anyone who is interested, Val, kindly, offers free yoga classes on Mondays between 1 and 2 p.m. at the International Community Centre on Abingdon Road, Middlesbrough.