President Joyce Message – Week Nineteen

Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters,

Thank you to everyone who sent messages and cards following my fall, reported last Sunday. You are all very kind and your concern is appreciated. I am much improved, bruises are fading and I am certainly watching where I put my feet!

I have lots to tell you from the week past when I joined two Clubs for their Zoom Meetings. We all seem to be getting familiar with our virtual meetings and it is good to know that clubs are continuing to work as normally as they can during these unusual times. Like SI South Shields who recently delivered 15 bags of food to Hospitality and Hope – a charity working across South Tyneside, supporting homeless and vulnerable people through Food Banks, soup kitchen, clothes bank etc. Their donations of dessert items would be going to families in need. When I joined their meeting on Tuesday, they told me that the club has been supporting this charity for 16 years. I also learned about their future plans : to do a beach clean in September, and, as they do every year, provide Christmas presents for children through the Salvation Army. They also hoped to have Afternoon Tea at Wynyard Hall.

Then on Thursday, I joined SI Carlisle for their Zoom meeting when they welcomed a former member, Julia Collinson, who is now living elsewhere but is an Associate member of SI Carlisle. Amongst their activities, I learned about their sponsorship of the education of a girl in Uganda – Push the girl forward – one girl has already been supported and they have funds in place to do the same for another.   

Jess Sinclair – a tireless worker for the Club – had been forward planning to winter and the plight of the homeless, and had embarked on knitting fingerless mitts, planning on producing 20 pairs with 12 pairs already completed. Jess displayed one and they looked excellent. She has promised to send me the pattern to share for next week.

Knitted woolly hats were also suggested. Members had been involved with their local Scrub Hub producing small gifts to go into the Scrub Bags, the lovely hearts and rainbows knitted by Jan Jeffery, sweeties etc.

We discussed the difficulties of raising money at present and the possibility that their annual fundraiser [always a brilliant occasion] may not be able to take place.

I really enjoyed both my visits and thank members for welcoming me.

I am also happy to update you on Brian Burnie’s progress on his 7000 mile walk for his Daft as a Brush Charity. His wife, Cheryl [of SI Sunderland] tells me that since the walk was curtailed by Lockdown and he had to return home, he has managed to walk almost 1000 miles locally! Now the last 50 miles will be completed from 12 September to 23 September 2020, starting from James Cook Hospital, Middlesbrough and ending at the Baltic Art Gallery in Gateshead.  The Poster gives you all the details of each day’s route with maps and timing, which can also be found on the website:

‘The last leg of Brian’s epic 7000 miles charity walk – back to the Baltic’    Link to Bluebell Bus – Home Page

Cheryl says any of us who wish to walk with Brian will be made most welcome. Walks are mostly flat, start at 10am and are near to 6 miles in length each day, beginning and ending at a car park. I am most certainly going to walk some part on one of the days because it is so close to home and Brian deserves our support in his journey which captured our imagination when he announced his intentions at our RC Meeting in September 2017.