Club officers visited members to offer them a mini-cream tea of a scone with cream and jam, home baked from a local café. It was a way of keeping in touch and offering a little treat during lockdown. Here is what some of our members had to say. “What a lovely thoughtful gift from you all and much enjoyed by us both!  We do feel a little isolated during this lockdown, which we are going to endure for a spell longer I’m sure.  Without the fellowship of Sorop friends and fantastic neighbours life would have been harder for us both” “Please will you thank everyone for the delicious scone which I shared with Tony.  It was huge and absolutely scrumptious.  The card was touching and just what is needed now.  I think

Remembrance Sunday was very different this year. With lockdown restrictions meaning that the usual parade and ceremony could not take place, our wreathes were laid on our behalf at the war memorials in Nantwich and Crewe. One of our members was in Nantwich Market Square at 11.00 and noted that the 2 minute silence was very poignant. We will remember them.

Here is a link to an excellent blog by Rachel Weinhold, a member from SI Rossendale, setting just what we do and explaining how we go about it – definitely worth a read:   What Do Soroptimists Do? Our Position Statement  

Ten of us got together yesterday evening for our Zoom quiz and what a laugh we had!! There were such a huge variety of questions, some trickier than others of course, but everyone enjoyed themselves. Thank goodness we had multiple choice because at least we could make a guess and had a one in three chance of getting it right – which happened to me several times!!! Anne Thompson was our winner – well done Anne. Here  we  are  having  fun!

President Nancy was guest at the opening of the Nantwich Museum’s new Exhibition celebrating 100 years since some women were able to vote. The photo shows her with (L-R) David Morgan, Research Group, David Marren, Mayor of Nantwich, Laura Smith MP and Helen Cooke, Vice Chair of Museum The display focussed on three women with local connections: Helen Macfarlane (1818-1860), Ada Nield Chew (1870-1945) and Gwyneth Dunwoody (1930-2008). The exhibition also included material on Nantwich’s contribution to the struggle for women’s suffrage and the role of the First World War. The exhibition also had some interesting “Suffragette” Jewellery, that women had made for themselves with purple, green and white semi-precious stones – each piece was unique and was a sign to others of the cause she espoused. The opening evening, attended by our President and our local MP, amongst others, was a great way to

On 23 July 2019, the club had a moving and inspirational presentation from Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (Cheshire and Merseyside). Project manager Kirsty explained the setup of the charity and the way the Centre works for and with survivors of sexual abuse. She shared some shocking statistics which highlighted just how necessary their services are: at least 20% of women in this country experience some form of sexual abuse in their life time, and around 3% will have experienced sexual abuse in the last year. And these statistics include only those cases where women have disclosed the abuse. Undoubtedly the real figures are considerably higher! The Centre itself has been going in our region since 1995 and performs an absolutely vital service for the community in Crewe and surroundings which is funded by the Council and the local crime commissioner amongst others. Last

The main event of the evening  was hearing from Ben Selby about his work as a dementia champion in Nantwich and helping us understand more about dementia and what we can do to help the area become more dementia friendly. Ben is driven by his own personal experience of caring for his granddad and spoke from the heart about how dementia affects people, and very importantly, how we can help people living with dementia have a good quality of life.  We  did an exercise to step into the shoes of someone living with dementia, which was very interesting and illuminating.

After a very busy day at our Conference (Nantwich and District Soroptimists’ 70th Anniversary Conference: 1 June 2019. ) members and guests gathered for a celebratory dinner at the Hunters Lodge Hotel.                 After a lovely dinner we were entertained by Cathie Sabine, former President of the Lawn Tennis Association. Before the Conference…. Carole hosted a fish and chip supper for our visitors! On the morning after the dinner… members entertained our visitors at the Nantwich Bookshop before they left for home.      

The AGM is an occasion to reflect on the year past and plan for the forthcoming year.  An interesting part of the 2019 AGM were the reports from Club officers which revealed the wide range of activities the Club undertook during the past 12 months: support for the Anti- Slavery Campaign, Christmas gift boxes, support for International Women’s Day, lunch at the Clink, trip to see the Book of Mormon – to name but a few! Members also noted the revised and improved social media coverage for our club! However, the highlight of the evening was the Change of Insignia when President Nancy passed the Presidential ‘reins’ to incoming President Helen for the 2019/2020 year.   Helen addressed the meeting: “First of all I would like to thank Nancy for a very good year. the AGM reports were great and showed how much we’d achieved

At the first dinner meeting of her Presidential year Helen welcomed 5 prospective new members who joined us for the evening. Following the usual tasty dinner we heard from Helen Green and Ceri Garrett from Dementia UK. Mental Health is the core theme of Presidents Helen’s year in office and our speakers focussed on the care they provide for people suffering from a range of dementia related illnesses. Admiral Nurses provide the specialist dementia support that families need. When things get challenging or difficult, the nurses work alongside people with dementia, and their families: giving them one-to-one support, expert guidance and practical solutions. The unique dementia expertise and experience an Admiral Nurse brings is a lifeline–it helps families to live more positively with dementia in the present, and to face the challenges of tomorrow with more confidence and less fear. Most Admiral Nurses work in the community