Today SI Newcastle upon Tyne celebrated their 80th Anniversary in style at the Banqueting Centre in the Centre for Life. 93 people attended and the club was pleased to welcome SI Northern Regional President, Linda Johnson, sister soroptimists from 10 soroptimist clubs including Friendship Link club, Glasgow City, former soroptimists and guests. Our guest speaker was Freda Thompson, a Newcastle City guide who gave an entertaining and informative insight into life in Newcastle in the 1930s. In her talk entitled ‘1930’s Hopes, Dreams and Reality’ she examined the consuming and physically tiring nature of work for women in the 1930s’
As in other years, we were very well looked after by the Centre for Life staff and the catering was excellent.
Cris Young, a Newcastle Soroptimist, has been doing an eighty mile walk around the North East, snapping eighty images of the local area, in order to raise money for victims of the recent Caribbean Hurricanes and raise awareness of our 80th anniversary. Cris completed her 80 pictures, 80 tweets, 80 miles for 80 years today and the final pictures will be tweeted this evening. Everyone was impressed by the amazing table decorations made by Immediate Past President Christine Lowthian and these were sold at the end of the meal with all donations being added to Cris’s fundraising to support the victims of the Caribbean Hurricanes. In total, a sum of £587 has been raised to send to the SIGBI Emergency Relief Fund for the Caribbean Hurricane Appeal.
All in all, it was a lovely day sharing our 80th anniversary with friends old and new! Here’s to the next 80 years of helping to transform the lives of young girls and women in the local community and beyond.
