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Club Meeting Tuesday February 20th

Club Meeting Tuesday February 20th

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We welcomed prospective new member, Kay W, to our meeting. One of the decisions to be made was quite a fun one. It was which charities to support with the £1,224.96 in the Programme Action Fund. A whopping £345 was added to it on Saturday, February 17th, when our Club Secretary hosted a coffee morning and lunch event. The delicious food and fun activities were greatly enjoyed by the attendees. There was also a large collection of clothing, shoes and mobile phones for the Great North Air Ambulance and this will all be collected next Wednesday by their van. In addition, we must thank Janet Heal (Past member and our 70th President) for her very generous donation of 10 SUITCASES full of coats and jackets which are also going to the GNAA.   We discussed possible alternative venues for our future club meetings if the

Update from September 28th meeting

Update from September 28th meeting

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Thursday September 28th, Umme, from the Angelou Centre in Newcastle, spoke on the subject of forced marriage. Umme is the Executive Director of the centre. She said that forced marriage is a culturally specific form of violence and is a way to control women’s behaviour and lives. It is a way to preserve cultural values from the country of origin. Girls rescued from forced marriages are often at risk of exploitation as they find it difficult living outside their family. Bounty hunters can be employed by the families to bring them home. With the changes to the law, girls are often reluctant to criminalise their families by reporting attempts to take them abroad for marriage, to the police. Further information about the centre’s work can be found on the Angelou Centre website: http://angelou-centre.org.uk/

New Start Bags, July 14th hand over…

New Start Bags, July 14th hand over…

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On Friday, July 14th, S.I. Newcastle upon Tyne were very pleased to receive from Intu Metro Centre Gateshead staff, a number of ‘grab’  bags to be handed over to Chief Inspector Claire Wheatley, of Northumbria Police’s Safeguarding Department. As previously mentioned, the collection was organised by the Intu Metro Centre’s Chaplain Lyn Jamieson after she was contacted by SI Newcastle upon Tyne member, Cris Young. Intu Metro Centre staff involved were Judith Scanlan (Senior Commercial Coordinator), Lisa Mcleman (Assistant Marketing Manager) and Helen Atkinson (Marketing Manager). Lyn is hoping to attend one of our meetings in the near future.              

Project Choice – final session

Project Choice – final session

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Friday June 23rd was the last session of mock interviews, members of SI Newcastle upon Tyne, carried out in this cycle at Gateshead College. Two other members (Christine and Cris) saw their candidates on Tuesday, June 20th.                           Over the year we have seen a tremendous improvement in the students’ confidence and presentation. We wish them every success in their chosen career paths.   Lee, who was a recipient of a piece of equipment called an Orcam, is pictured here with his mother, two teachers on the Project Choice course (Linda and Laura) and SI Newcastle member, Heather. Heather had been successful in applying to Killfrost Ltd for a grant of £2,200 for the purchase of an Orcam My Eye device for Lee.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           On Wednesday July 14th,

Spreading the word update…

Spreading the word update…

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  The Golden Guide has been published annually in Northumberland since 2006. There is a separate edition for Newcastle and North Tyneside available. Its aim has always been to help older people enjoy life by discovering the range of opportunities local to them. It is a way to find social activities, clubs and classes—but it is also means of finding practical support—with health issues, financial concerns, personal safety or simply how to get involved in your community. SI Newcastle upon Tyne and SI Tynemouth and Whitley Bay have an entry in it on page 9 of the current edition. An updated version will be available in July. Hard copies are available in local libraries. You can access the digital version at: www.goldenguide.org.uk  under the ‘Golden Guide’ tab.

Meru Garden Project

Meru Garden Project

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On Thursday, May25th, Rosemary Jenkinson who is the Regional Ambassador for the SIGBI Meru Garden Project in Kenya, visited our club to update us with the latest developments.  Rosemary, who is a member of SI Sunderland, reminded us of the project’s origins and of the need for Soroptimists International’s involvement. The purpose of this project is to: ·         To ensure women and girls who are leading households have food security ·         To improve environmental sustainability ·         To ensure economic, empowerment and employment for women ·         To enable girls to complete their education ·         To offer both formal and informal agricultural learning opportunities To reduce the possibility of child exploitation Meru County in Kenya has a largely rural population of 136,000. HIV/AIDs are prevalent in the region and many families are headed by women and children. Life is hard for women and children in Meru: 41%

Annual General Meeting 2017

Annual General Meeting 2017

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S.I. Newcastle’s 80th AGM Tuesday, April 11th                    After the reading of the Soroptimist Peace Pledge from the last Glasgow SI Convention  and the Roll Call, Joint President Kath’s first job was to induct Laura Steel as a most welcome new member.                      Next, Jean Ward (who was transferring from S.I. Nottingham) was welcomed to our club.  After the Officers’ reports, we voted for the Club Officers. Jill Smith was elected President, Vera Baird QC Vice President, Christine Lumsdon Secretary, Christine Lowthian Programme Action Officer, Margaret Ayton Membership Officer and  Vera Baird QC as Regional Council Representative. Chris Jones remained as Treasurer,  Lis Graham as Communications Officer, Gill Davison as Organisational and Development Manager and Margaret Ayton as Website Coordinator remained in post. The AGM concluded with President Jill’s address.              

Project Choice

Project Choice

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Project Choice This is the second year; Newcastle Soroptimists have been involved with Project Choice at Gateshead College. Our fellow Soroptimists from Sunderland work with the Sunderland cohort of students. Project Choice is a supported internship programme for people with learning disabilities, difficulties or autism (LDDA). Led by Gateshead College, internships take place in City Hospitals Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS FT, York NHS FT, Tees Esk and Wear Valley NHS FT. The focus is ‘work readiness’ and matching skills to employment. Soroptimists give the students interview experience. We participate in mock interviews three times in the academic year: October, March and in June. The aim is for each team of interviewers to see the same group of students each time and this enables us to give relevant feedback on their progression. Our work has been much appreciated by the course leaders. Next academic

New Start Bags (2)

New Start Bags (2)

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On Thursday October 27th, the New Start Bags Newcastle upon Tyne Soroptimists and other clubs in the Northern region had collected were presented to Detective Inspector Claire Wheatley of Northumbria Police. She spoke on the subject of her work with trafficked people. She described the problems the police have with gaining the trust of the trafficked people. She explained that the clothes they were wearing reminded them of the trauma they had experienced. The contents of the New Start bags were a very vital part in helping them settle into their new lives. Often there are tears when they see the bags as they realise that other people care for them. It was a ‘light bulb’  moment as they were beginning to feel  safe and valued. Eighteen bags were handed over and four other clubs were involved:  S.I. Durham, S.I. Darlington, S.I. Tynedale and S.I.