Good morning to all my sister Soroptimists:-
This lovely warm and sunny weekend brings happier thoughts of the summer to come and our, hopefully, increasing freedom of movement. It is saddened by the news of Federation President Johanna’s admission to hospital with a severe stroke. We are told that she is being well cared for and that she is pain free and serene. Johanna has a deep religious faith and I am sure that even if she is unable to communicate with those around her that her family will be comforted by her beliefs.
The preparations for my Regional President’s event on Saturday 19 June is on track and we had a successful and enjoyable ‘dress rehearsal’ last Monday evening. I have been in conversation with a number of members about the second half of the programme when President Johanna was due to join us and speak. Yesterday I received confirmation that SIGBI President Elect Cathy Cottridge will be joining us. She will speak about the current position of SIGBI and what the future might hold. Meanwhile, I do hope that you are returning your Raffle tickets and funds to Hilary Clavering, and booked in members who wish to attend with Joan Heckles – remember the closing date for this is Saturday 14 June at the latest please.
Clubs continue to send me their news and our support of Food Banks and their work is constant throughout our region. Some of the reports that I have received are demonstrating how necessary this support is to those who have need of them.
S.I. Stockton-on-Tees are alternating their monthly gifts of food and toiletries between their ‘Rainbow Room’ Centenary Project at North Tees Hospital and their local Food Bank. This photograph ( see attached No: 2) is their May gift to their Food Bank.
S.I. Durham have been collecting tins and long life food for the Wear Valley Women’s Refuge in Bishop Auckland. They are collecting and delivering in multiples of 100 as part of their commitment to this year’s Centenary theme. ( see photo 3 attached )
S.I. Newcastle upon Tyne report that ‘ after reading that past member and Club President Janel Heal had produced a microwave handbook for
people experiencing homelessness, Newcastle Club were inspired to look at how they could support her work. They have been working with their local Food Banks over the past year and were horrified recently to learn that many people are unable to afford gas and electricity to cook the food they are provided with. So, inspired by Janet’s book, they contacted the West End Food Bank to see if they could use and distribute microwaves to address this problem. Their response was overwhelmingly positive. Carole, their Pathways Out of Hunger Manager, told them that only the day before a client, who is mentally and physically vulnerable, had asked for a microwave but at that time they had no way of providing them with one. So Newcastle Club have provided the West End Food Bank with 5microwaves and 20 copies of the books. Carol told us how excited they were to receive this donation and how it would change the lives of the clients who received them. The day after we delivered the microwaves one of them was on its way, together with a bag full of microwaveable food provided by the Club, to the client they had been told about. ‘ The photograph shows President Christine Tomkins( on right) and Programme Action Officer Christine Lowthian (on left ) delivering the microwaves to Gemma at the West End Food Bank.’
#whoisshe for the month of June is up on your screens now and yet another of our Northern England wonderful members is profiled. Alwyn Kraus of S.I.Middlesbrough has a well deserved entry having been a Soroptimist for 48 years and who has served her club so well in many officer roles and activities. Alwyn is a regular attender at Regional Meetings and is well known to many of us.
Thank you to S.I.Middlesbrough for submitting Alwyn for this special Centennial project and many congratulations to Alwyn for the recognition which she richly deserves. I hope to have more
about this in next week’s Newsletter. Please do take a moment to read about her contribution to Soroptimism and to her community. ( attached entry on #whoisshe ).
Tuesday will be the first day of June. I hope that it is a very different one to last year’s when we were all wondering what was coming next in our unsettled world. I hope that we all have a greater understanding of how to keep ourselves safe and to plan ahead for a comfortable return to a different type of social mixing. Look after yourselves –
In friendship
Christine Lumsdon – your Regional President
christinemlumsdon@gmailcom