Happy Christmas Everyone! We had fun decorating our charity tree at St Mary’s Acton! This year we are supporting efforts to make Crewe and Nantwich more dementia friendly and our tree is covered in forget-me-nots – the dementia friendly flower symbol. We wish you all a peaceful Christmas and hope that 2020 brings joy and hope to everyone.

Nine of us went to Bournemouth for the Annual SIGBI Conference in October– it was stimulating and enjoyable! We heard from some inspirational speakers, and the theme of mental health and wellbeing was running through all the talks and activities. For more details of the conference itself here is a link to the conference site on the SIGBI Website. Here we are having some fun and getting the most out the event!

  World Mental Health Day, on 10 October, is a day for us to unite in our efforts to improve the mental health of people around the world. As a club, we have had a theme of promoting mental wellbeing this year through our speakers, charities and communications – it is an issue dear to our hearts. This also supports the Soroptimists International Great Britain and Northern Ireland (SIGBI) Federation theme – our Federation President Sue Williams said  “At the beginning of the Soroptimist year, I asked you to ‘Think On It.’ I asked you to join with me to raise awareness of our own wellbeing. I asked that we talked about mental health and the importance of advocating for the good mental health for others by speaking out and raising awareness. By doing so, we are educating, enabling and empowering ourselves and others. And

Two of our members, Caroline Marsh and Jacquie Weatherill, went to Kuala Lumpur for the International Convention. Over 1000 women from across the world gathered to consider issues such as sexual exploitation, women innovating in new technology, women’s health issues and the environment. It was super stimulating as well as chance to hear how Soroptimists are making a difference globally, nationally and locally.

Supporting Samaritans prevent suicide on Samaritans Awareness Day Good mental health is fundamental for thriving in life and it is the essence of who we are and how we experience the world. This is a theme for Soroptimists in GB and Ireland and at our club in Nantwich and District, President Helen has also developed a programme to address a range of mental health issues. Suicide is particularly devastating, and we have The Samaritans as one of the charities we are supporting this year. Their mission is to enable a world where fewer people die by suicide. Around 6,000 people die by suicide every year in the UK, with someone taking their own life every 90 minutes (ONS, 2018; Samaritans, 2018). These deaths are devastating and shatter lives. Suicide is more common in men than women – in the UK, men are three times as

On Saturday 28th members of Nantwich Soroptimists braved appalling weather to support their stall at the local Society Spectacular. We take part in this event to raise awareness of Soroptimism as well as to see if there are any local women who would like to join us. Despite the wind blowing the display boards off the table and repeated downpours that saturated unsuspecting passers by, it was generally felt that the day was a success. The event was organised by Nantwich Town Council who provide free gazebos and tables in the centre of Nantwich’s pedestrianised area for all the societies in Nantwich to show their wares and attract new members. From the local am-dram to tennis, from organisers of the town food festival to the volunteer gardeners who keep the flower beds looking so good, every local society you could possibly want to join were

A group of us went with some friends from Motherwell Women’s Charity to visit the Pankhurst Museum and hear from Manchester Women’s Aid which is also based there. Beforehand we had a lovely lunch at The Whitworth Art Gallery. The museum itself stands incongruously as a victorian house in the middle of the modern buildings of Central Manchester Hospital, and was where Emmeline Pankhurst lived and started the suffragette movement from her parlour there. We learned a lot about the birth of the suffragette movement and Emmeline’s role in this, which was very interesting. It was also very useful to hear about Manchester Women’s Aid, supporting 5 refuges and a range of outreach services for women subject to domestic abuse. we were pleased to hear that they are in contact with, and learning from our local service Cheshire Without Abuse, which is considered a model

Celebrating amazing women who inspire action and transform lives. Our club is 70 years old this year and we wanted to recognise this milestone with other women – celebrating our Soroptimist vision that women and girls can achieve their potential. So, on 1 June 2019 we held a conference at the Hunters Lodge Hotel in Crewe to celebrate how women are making an impact in our communities in so many ways. What a day we had! Over 90 women in the room, including our Regional President for Soroptimists in Cheshire, North Wales and The Wirral, Soroptimists from throughout the UK as well as from Szeged, Hungary and Berne Arcadia in Switzerland. We also welcomed delegates from other women’s organisations throughout South Cheshire, as well as our faithful band of friends who support us at all of our events. What was particularly pleasing was that many