A presentation on The challenges in Education was given by Sue Moppett, a retired Headteacher from Oxbridge Primary School, Stockton-on-Tees. Also, present was Pepsi from SI Nigeria, who is also a member of the St Vincent de Paul Society in Nigeria.

Pauline Reed gave a talk on the Prison Reform Trust Report   [Excerpt from Soroptimist UK Programme Action Committee web-site] Soroptimists have called for a UK-wide drive to reform women’s justice. Too many women in the UK are still being sent to prison instead of receiving community sanctions and targeted support to address the causes of their offending, says a leading women’s voluntary organisation.The women’s prison population doubled between 1995 and 2010. Most women in prison serve short prison sentences for non-violent offences and many have themselves been victims of domestic violence and abuse. In 2011 the Soroptimist UK Programme Action Committee resolved to work with the Prison Reform Trust to reduce women’s imprisonment.Now a wealth of information gathered by 139 Soroptimists clubs across the UK has been distilled into a report that is intended to spur national and local governments into action. The report

For membership month, SI Middlesbrough promoted Soroptimism by manning a stall at Middlesbrough Centre Square where the Tour de Yorkshire (the bike race) commenced on Sunday the 1st of May 2016. Uzma Kazmi, Kath Sainsbury and Pam Cooper set up a good display of information and distributed leaflets. Well done ladies!  

At our February’s club meeting, we were honoured to have Jenny Medhurst who is heavily involved with the Fairtrade Movement. She spoke about the Fairtrade Foundation that aims to improve the lives of some of the world’s poorest farmers by pressuring suppliers to give them a price for their goods closer to that which we pay in the shops. Also, Jenny brought some tempting Fairtrade goods which were popular amongst the members as they bought them.  

In November 2015, at club’s monthly meeting, Soroptimist International Middlesbrough had a speaker, Heather Black, who gave an insight into the people suffering from hunger in the United Kingdom due to various reasons. We learnt about Middlesbrough Foodbank that offers short term support for individuals and families in crisis. A minimum of three days of food is provided, to bridge the gap between the time of crisis and when the statutory agencies, or other charities are able to continue support. At the end of fantastic presentation by Heather Black, members of SI Middlesbrough club generously donated food items to the Middlesbrough Foodbank.