We had a Strawberries and Fizz Garden Party on Thursday 13th July in our Presidents garden. We had a Strawberry themed raffle and raised £200 for the Refugees in Northallerton Thanks to all who attended.

Northallerton Soroptimists met on the 8th June at The Living Rooms, Northallerton The speaker was Ian Wood , Mayor of Richmond and his talk was entitled “A Victorian Policeman” Ian gave an excellent talk dressed as A Victorian Policeman the reason for doing so became apparent at the end . He talked about the history of Richmond from 1066 until 1845 New members are always welcome, find us by searching Northallerton Soroptimists

We held our May meeting at the Living Rooms, Northallerton where the Guest Speaker was Aimee Harding from SASH (Safe and Sound Homes) This is a charitable organisation that provides emergency and long term care for 16 to 25 year olds (16 is the youngest age they can help as this is when the Care System stops) They have offices in both York and Scarborough and cover North Yorkshire. Aimee gave a very informative presentation on the work they do. We gave Aimee a donation.

We held our AGM on the 14th April at The Living Rooms We were delighted to be joined by our SI Yorkshire President Jane Glendinning CONFIRMATION OF CLUB OFFICERS: Ann confirmed the following members as Club officers for the forthcoming year: President – Pam and Donna President Elect – Vacant Secretary – Ann Whitewick Treasurer – Sue Franklin Programme Action – Ann Whitewick Membership/ Publicity – Ann Whitewick Regional Council Rep – Vacant Following the formal business we discussed what help we can give to the Refugees who are currently being housed at a hotel in Northallerron. This discussion is ongoing

SI Northallerton and District had an excellent night on the 9th March at Romanby Golf Club where we were entertained by 5 Loose Chippings, who gave their time for free We raised £600. This is to be sent to the Turkey/Syria Earthquake via the United Nations Population Fund which supports women and girls around the world and provides humanitarian aid for disasters. Thanks to all who supported us.

Talk 14th July Pam welcomed Andy Clarey from the Heritage Action Zone, he gave an excellent talk on how Northallerton was chosen as one of 34 towns of historical interest in the UK that needed help to lift them. The ethos behind the 3 year project is that town centres are failing and this project is trying to make them more than just retail so people will come and visit. There are three strands to the project Shop Front Project They are currently looking at a number of facades in town to see if they can make them more open so people will look at them it will also take them back to their historical history. Augmented Reality They are looking at the remains/outline of the Bishops Palace in the cemetery. They have teamed up with academics from York University who will assess what it

Our October meeting as every was to raise funds for Breast Cancer month. We had a Quiz and Pink Raffle and raised £110.

Rag Rug Workshop Helen explained that Rag Rugs are modern day recycling. It is a mainly North East tradition that began as people needed to keep warm but had very little money available so they used materials that they had to hand such as old clothes to make rugs to cover floors   Rag rugs are often known as Proggy Mats, Shaggy Rugs or Clippys. In Scotland thy are known as Hooky or Clooties. Nine people took part, we had a lovely night ,socialising as people crafted.   Helen kindly donated the £45 we raised on the night to club funds