To all my sister Soroptimists in Northern England,
I hope that you all are feeling that Spring has arrived and that May will “bring forth the flowers “ and liven up our gardens. I have just heard the statistics on the weather for the past month and it tells us that in the UK there was a frost on each of the 30 days in April. Too cold for most of the little seedlings in my greenhouse to even think about going outside!
First, we celebrate the life of Miss Florence Kirkby MBE , a member of S.I.Newcastle upon Tyne for 47 years. She is featured in this May selection of prominent Soroptimists in #whoisshe on the SIGBI Centennial web site. She will be remembered by many members as she was our Regional President from 2010 to 2011.
I leave you to read of all her achievements in her professional life in the field of Education but I take a little of your time to say something about her early days in Manchester and Blackpool. When her father died, Florence was only 15 years old and had to think of ways to support not only herself but also her mother. She left school and took several office jobs while starting, and funding, her own professional pathway to becoming a teacher. She started out training to be a Teacher of Speech and Drama which gave her the skills of speaking clearly and concisely. This is one of the lasting memories of Florence – you could always hear what she said ! She also had that remarkable talent of being able to sum up a lengthy discussion in a few very appropriate words. After graduating at Manchester University, she held several teaching posts in the North West but the big change in her life came in 1963 when she moved to Newcastle upon Tyne as Headmistress of the Rutherford High School for Girls. In 1967 the Girls school amalgamated with the Boys Grammar School to become the City’s first co-educational comprehensive school, and Florence became headmistress of Rutherford School. This was in an era when many women were overlooked for professional posts. The positive impact that she had on her students is long lasting. I remember when Joyce Chesney and I visited the Tyne & Wear Archives to deposit the SINE regional records and the lady Archivist who received us saw Florence’s name on one of the files. “I was a Rutherford girl” she said – almost glowing with pride at having known Florence and acknowledging Florence’s role in her personal education.
In her retirement ( – if you can call it that as Florence never really ‘retired’ !) she took on a number of posts with local and national organisations. Particularly being a Lay Assessor for Public Appointments. I can just imagine many candidates at their interviews who saw a small and elderly lady on the Panel and wondering who she was and why she was there but who asked the most challenging questions and expecting appropriate replies promptly, much to their surprise. Florence’s last public appearance was when she stood in the local May elections in 2018. At the age of 96 years she could still argue political points with the other contestants and hit the national headlines as the oldest candidate ever to stand for election. She died in January 2019 at the age of 97 and is still much remembered by not only members of S.I. Newcastle upon Tyne but by sister Soroptimists and teachers throughout the U.K. I am thankful that she did not have to live through and endure the restrictions of the Pandemic.
Many of us tuned in to the virtual UKPAC Study Day on Saturday 17 April. Again, it was wonderful to sit in the comfort of your own home to listen to such speakers as Dame Sara Thornton, the Independent Commissioner for Modern Day Slavery. If you missed this event and would like to hear what she has to say, then the recordings and presentations are now available on line at: https://sigbi.org/ukpac/virtual-study-day-2021/
News from the #planttrees SIGBI Centennial project about a forthcoming recorded Webinar – available from Saturday 8th May 2021. Here you can watch John Tucker, Director of Woodland Creation & Outreach, Woodland Trust share his passion for all things trees and he will discus some of the most challenging questions about climate change and tree planting for the future. John is a Chartered Forester with 40 years forestry and arboriculture experience. He has worked for Woodland Trust since 1994 in a variety of forest management roles, with a strong focus on woodland creation since 2010. Listen to him and share his thoughts on :-
- the current UK tree and woodland cover and the scale of change required to meet Climate Change Committee/Government targets.
- reflect on the whole range f benefits of trees and woods and the importance of tree planting and maintenance, choice of species etc.
- and update us on the important role and focus of his work at the Woodland Trust.
Look for the viewing link on the SIGBI Centennial #planttrees web page after 8th May.
SINE Regional Coffee Gathering : This virtual meet-up and chat session will now take place on Saturday 8th May from 10.30am to 11.30am. We were waiting to hear if this would be a clash of dates with the Trees Webinar, but as this is now a recorded session and can be viewed over a period of time, we need not worry about missing out on hearing John Tucker from the Woodland Trust (see above item). If you would like to join our Coffee and natter group, then please do ask Margaret Ayton ( S.I.Newcastle upon Tyne ) for a link to the Zoom meeting margaretayton40@gmail.com I look forward to seeing you all again.
MAY IS MEMBERSHIP MONTH !
I wonder if any of our SINE members sent a very short selfie video to our Director of Membership Chevonne Agana ? She intends to release a few videos, week by week on the SIGBI website, and through Social Media, to raise awareness of who we are and why we are Soroptimists. S.I.Newcastle upon Tyne held a very successful Club Open Evening on Tuesday 13 April and a video was created for this which is now on the club’s YouTube channel Introduction to Newcastle Soroptimists . A shortened version of this, with the section of members quoting ‘Why I am a Soroptimist’ , was sent to Chevonne to use in her membership campaign. Please do let Anne Gunning, SINE Membership Officer, if you or your club also contributed to this appeal.
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF S.I.
We are now in the final stages of preparing the presentations for the celebratory event on Saturday 19 June 2021. I hope that you will have seen the programme and invitation to register which Secretary Joan Heckels sent out a few days ago.
Do you remember the days when we gathered together face to face ? When we were at Regional meetings, Conferences and Dinners, one of the talking points was always the admiration of the club President’s regalia. We would like to have an image of each and every club’s regalia to remind us about our history and past memories. I have approached some clubs before, but this is a reminder please, for every club to send me a photograph of the main part of the regalia’s design – often a picture or image of a local landmark. We can then insert this into the presentation.
There are many clubs that closed for various reasons and we are trying to track down where their club regalia was placed – for display or storage. Please, can anyone help track down the following ?
Alnwick – closed in 1975 – no records found
Ashington & Newbiggin – closed in 1973 – no records found
Bedlington & Blyth – closed in 1991 – their chain was incorporated into SI Morpeth’s.
Berwick – closed in 2003 – Regalia placed in Berwick Museum – photograph needed.
Gateshead – closed in 1999 – Regalia in Gateshead Civic Centre – photograph obtained.
Hartlepool – closed in 1991
Hexham – closed in 1974 – no records found
Morpeth – closed in 2017 – Regalia in Morpeth Town Hall – photograph being obtained.
Whitehaven – closed in 2017
I am looking forward to seeing the revised Club Contacts and Officers lists from Secretary Joan following all your AGM’s. Anne Gunning is also anxiously awaiting your updates on membership numbers. Please do share your plans for this year and send me your photographs and reports. This weekly Newsletter keeps us together and will continue as long as you want it to – so do share news please.
I do hope that you all enjoy the rest of this May Bank Holiday weekend. It certainly is not the usual circumstances of warm Spring weather when you can buy and plant out your summer bedding – but things are different this year – but definitely improving.
In friendship
Christine Lumsdon – your Regional President
Florence Kirkby MBE
