On Tuesday, July 9th,  as one of our social outings, we met for lunch at Eslington Villa in Low Fell, Gateshead.   After a lovely lunch, Past President Christine handed over the Chain of Office to President Pam.

Over the last year, we operated without a president and members took turns to chair meetings and with the use of WhatsApp we were able to communicate efficiently and effectively in terms of decision making.   However, last week at our Annual General Meeting we were delighted to welcome President Pam who was installed as the Club President for 2024 -25. There was a slight delay in handing over the chain of office, but former Presidents Chris and Christine formerly handed it over to President Pam a couple of days later.

    Our £50 cheque for Felling Food Network  (FFN) was very much appreciated by Councillor Sonya Dickie.  Cris, one of our members, and her mother  took some Easter Eggs  there and  her mother also  made a cash  donation.  Two of the local  volunteers welcomed Cris and her mother with  a cuppa and they had a good chat . FFN is  undertaking  a lot of work with  local schools as well as clients in need.

Today, on International Women’s  Day, two club members went to  Canning Street School for what has become an annual International Women’s Day Awards event.   All the children in Year 6  received a certificate and Celebration chocolate and the winners received book prizes.   The children were challenged to depict either in words or images, a woman who has inspired them.  They researched on the internet and in their books and the  school was pleased with the the children’s enthusiasm and the effort they had put into their projects.  Very well done, Canning Street!!!!!  

Club members braved the stormy weather to have a lovely afternoon at The Falcon’s Nest, This is usually the venue for club meetings but over the winter we have moved onto Zoom for a couple of months, so not wishing to miss out on The Falcon’s Nest hospitality, we are pleased to meet there socially.

  Yesterday , we had a wonderful lunch, the food was delicious and the service was excellent as always at The Falcon’s Nest.  We had a fun Christmas Quiz and had a good laugh and chat,, catching up .   As part of the 16 days of activism, it was suggested that you make a present for a friend.  Catherine kindly knit us each a hat, several of which were orange for Orange the World.  A lovely surprise and many thanks to Catherine!

On Tuesday, members of SI Newcastle upon Tyne and SI Tynemouth, Whitley Bay and  District met for coffee at Dobbies’ and all were wearing orange to raise awareness  about the Orange the World campaign organised by Unite to end violence against women.  

Saturday, 25 November 2023 will mark the first day of this year’s 16 Days of Activism against violence against women and girls.   Soroptimists throughout the world will be taking part in a range of activities and events to raise awareness of gender-based violence, challenge attitudes of discrimination and call for improved laws and services to end violence against women and girls. The UNiTE to End Violence against Women initiative was launched in 2008 under the leadership of UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.  This initiative is a multi-year effort to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls around the world.  It was created to support the civil society campaign ‘16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence’ around the world.   UNiTE, which is managed by UN Women, calls on governments, civil society, women’s organisations, young people, the private sector, media, and the UN system to

In December, we posted the delivery of Christmas bags to the Joseph Cowan Health Centre. (Please see below)    We have since received a thank you note from the centre and a photograph of a very happy visitor collecting one of our  parcels. The lady in question is happy for us to post her photograph to show how much she appreciated her present. For more than 25 years,  every year, Newcastle Soroptimists have collected toiletries, sweets and clothing to be packed into 25 Christmas bags for homeless women supported by the Joseph Cowan Health Centre.  As you will see below, this year has been no exception.  This morning,several  members  got  together  to  pack  bags  and  deliver  them  to  the  Centre,  where they were very warmly received.