To all my sister Soroptimists in Northern England
As we head towards to end of the summer, I do hope that you have all begun to enjoy going out and about again even if cautiously when mixing with other people. Our gardens have certainly benefitted from recent rain, but not sure about the wind which has ruined my hollyhocks !
One of our major Federation Centennial projects has come to a close with the final few notable Soroptimists in the #whoisshe listings. As a region, I am sure that we were all thrilled to have 14 of our members show cased for their commitment to their professions
AMY KERRISON, 1927-2014
Amy Kerrison, a committed Soroptmist with 44 years’ service in South Shields, died in 2014 aged 87.
In 1955 Amy, as a QARANC army nurse, was serving in Hong Kong when she met her future husband, Roger. In 1958 they returned to England and were married. ANer having two children she returned to work, first as a Health Visitor, and then as a Lecturer in Child Health. Amy con3nued in that field throughout her working life, and in 1992 she was appointed Chairman of the local Community Health Council.
Amy joined S.I. South Shields in 1970, and throughout her 3me with the club she held various offices at Club, Region and Federa3on level.
Amy soon became our Friendship Link Co-ordinator, proceeding to Programme Acton Officer and then Club President in 1985/86. As Friendship Link Co-ordinator she made friends with Inglewood, California, and twice visited them. Whilst there she met our founder, Violet Richardson Ward. Amy also made a link with the Jaeran club in Norway, and joined them for their 25th anniversary in 1999.
At Regional level Amy held the office of Programme Acton Officer and was Regional President in 1985/86. In April 1995, as co-ordinator for Project Five O, ‘Women Co-operating Internationally in Development’, Amy organised a Conference in Durham entitled “For Women in Development”. Attending were members of S.I. Northern Region and representa3ves of the Mother’s Union, the Association of Women Graduates, the Voluntary Organisation for the Equal Opportunities Commission, and the Social Welfare Research Unit of Newcastle University. Amy had an article about “Five-O” in “Celebration Jubilee”, a booklet produced for the Fiftieth anniversary of the Northern Region. At National level Amy worked on the “Global Voice for Women” involving 124 countries worldwide. One of their projects was ‘Limbs for Life’ in Angola, Afghanistan and Georgia. In 1986 Amy represented SIGBI at a European Conference in Warsaw on “Child Care and Child Health, Peace to Children” and undertook exchange visits with the National Council of Women in Poland and Hungary. During the period 2003/07 Amy was the Federa3on Programme Advisor for Economic and Social Development. Over that period, she a/ended Interna3onal Conferences in Istanbul, Melbourne, Nohngham and Sheffield. In the publica3on ‘75 years of SIGBI – Memories of Members’ there are two photographs of Amy with our founder President Violet Richardson-Ward and an ar3cle, by Amy, of her 3me with Sorop3mists and how things have changed.
In later years, and when her health allowed, Amy still attended and contributed to the club and regional meetings. Amy will be remembered for her lifelong commitment to the ethos of Soroptimism, with respect and affection not only by her own club but by the wider Soroptimist community. Amy’s yellow and blue tie was heavy with her badges representing visits to, from the top, Hawthorne, California; Inglewood; Hawaii; Instanbul; Melbourne; Nottngham, the Yorkshire Rose; Club Past President and Northern Region Past President. and to Soroptimism.
Our last entry came on our screens in August and is Amy Kerrison from S.I. South Shields and District. Amy joined Soroptimists in 1970 and served in many roles including being Club President in 1985/86 and went on to be a Regional President and hold Federation posts. She was one of our members who loved to travel and had actually visited California and met with our Founder Violet Richardson-Ward in 1977. In the Federation publication “Soroptimist International GB – 75 Years of Memories of Members” (2009 ) Amy herself is quoted as saying : “Over the past 39 years I have seen many changes in the role of women which was reflected in the variety of categories of membership. Not just in Health and Education but more members in executive roles in business. There was a change in Protocol – more relaxing ! As Club and Regional President I remember having to wear formal evening dress with white gloves to shake hands with the Club Presidents . Many members wore hats at Conference.
Civic Action became Programme Action, which covered not only local issues but worldwide ones. This was the area that interested me the most and led me to becoming the Programme Action Representative for my club, the Northern Region and Programme adviser for SIGBI which involved me in P.A. workshops at both Federation and International Conferences. In the Northern Region we also organised Five-O workshops with four other women’s organisation “
S.I.South Shields & District members have sent me some personal memories of Amy.
Valerie Metcalf ( a member for 32 years ) :- “Amy was a formidable lady and I was nervous of her at first. She had done so much in Soroptimism and was involved with Five-0. It was through Five-0 that I got to know her better as I attended meetings with her. She corresponded regularly with our Norwegian Friendship Club, Jaeran, and I went with her to their 25th Anniversary Dinner where we had a lovely weekend. I also enjoyed our times at Conference with her as she knew so many people. We were also in the same art club and she did some fine portraits of her family. She was always good company and is a miss to our club and to Soroptimism to which she gave so much”.
Jean Cartner ( a member for 29 years ) :-
“Amy was a very enthusiastic Soroptimist, filling many roles. She was also a good story teller, in particular her friendship with a fellow Soroptimist in America whom she visited one or twice. She was a great source of information regarding Soroptimatters”.
Ruth Richardson ( a member for 30 years ) tells a little story ! :-
“We had a Friendship link with SI Gosport & Fareham and as a member from SI South
Shields had moved to Fareham and one of my daughters-in-law became a member there, Amy and I were invited to their Charter Dinner and weekend celebrations. I was asked to reply to the toast to the guests, however one lady said to me that they were so pleased to meet Amy as Gillian Harris was always quoting Amy and they really thought that perhaps they should have a cutout of her at their meetings ! Amy took this in good part. Whenever Amy attended Federation Conferences, she would disappear to meet up with members she knew at Federation level. She always had the latest gossip to impart back at the hotel ! A very feisty lady “.
Thank you to members of S.I.South Shields & District for honouring such a wonderful member in Amy Kerrison.
S.I.Newcastle upon Tyne have sent in an introductory report on their “Schools Outdoor Projects” .
“ S.I. Newcastle wanted to support outdoor education projects as part of our commitment to climate change and working with communities to support young people. We see this as an ongoing project.We started by working with a Middle School who wanted to develop a Gardening Club. Their aim was to grow vegetables which could be used in the food technology lessons and any surplus would be sent to community projects. In doing so the students would learn about ‘food to fork’ and it would be an opportunity to learn about gardening methods, to work and plan collaboratively.
The Assistant Head and students asked if we could provide them with funds for good quality tools, spades, forks and hand tools. The students did the research for the ‘best buys’ , value for money and quality. The teacher approached the PFI company who agreed to provide a greenhouse and two raised beds. Club members donated some of their surplus gardening items. We visited a session of the Club at the end of term. So many of the students were interested that they have had to work in rotation. We were met by some very enthusiastic students and staff who showed us the vegetables, tomato plants, herbs they had been growing. It’s been a learning curve for all of them. We will continue to support the school. The teacher is going to offer support to our next school so possibly some collaborative work will be possible. His ambition is to develop an orchard over the next year. We have identified another school in a different part of Newcastle with different needs and aims and are excited about that. So – watch this space for the next chapter.”
Pictured are the two large raised beds and the greenhouse at the site of the first School Gardening Club.
Newcastle upon Tyne recently lost a much loved and long time member in Dorothy Sisterson. Dorothy worked in Education all her working life and had strong links to the schools in Newcastle City. She asked that part of the collection taken at her funeral be used to support this “Schools Outdoor Projects” and club members are very grateful for this generosity, both from Dorothy for remembering us and for those who donated. At Dorothy’s funeral on 10th August, a poem was read that epitomises not only Dorothy’s life but also perhaps our Soroptimist ideals :
“ At the close of life the question is – Not how much you have got, But how much you have given. Not how much you have won, But how much you have done. Not how much you have saved, But how much you have sacrificed. Not how much you were honoured, But how much you have loved and served. “
S.I. Penrith & District have sent in news of their progress on the Coronation Garden in central Penrith which is an on going project. They were asked to do as much work as possible in readiness for the judging of the Penrith in Cumbria in Bloom. There were two separate judging days for the “In Bloom” competition, first for “Your Neighbourhood” section and secondly in the town of Penrith as a whole. The judges in the “Your Neighbourhood” section asked a lot of questions and they appeared to be very impressed with our message about what Soroptimists do. You can see from these photographs with the 
Cairn, Centre post with its top emblem and finger posts, it gets our message across to the public very clearly. Very well done Penrith members and we look forward to hearing the results of the judges decisions. May you continue “Blooming” !!
Associate member Carol Rudd organised a coffee morning, the proceeds of which were for Shirley Hallam’s chosen wedding charity “Streetwise”. Four members of S.I.Penrith & District joined the event with three of our Associate members and their Soroptimisters. They all thoroughly enjoyed the homemade cakes, scones and biscuits ….. and of course the chat ! They all say how lovely it was to meet up with people face to face for a change and a total of £80 was raised for :”Streetwise”.
Thank you Penrith Associate and Club members for this much needed support.
S.I.Durham have been involved in environmental activities recently , two of which are linked to their 100 for 100 Challenges with the aim to collect 100 kilograms of rubbish. Coastal Cleanup in partnership with Surfers Against Sewage has been a success with both individual members and in small groups. The weight and quantity of items found has been logged on to the Surfers Against Sewage website. Countryside Clean-up is a project that also is involving members who are collecting rubbish that litters their local environment, weighing it and adding the amount to a rolling total. They plan that both of
these projects will run until next April.
I do hope that you have enjoyed reading about these club projects , particularly those which involve exercise and activity in the open air. Let us hope that the rest of the summer will provide more good weather for such good environmental work. Do send me some more photographs of what you have been doing over the summer.
The next NEWSLETTER will be on the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend on 29 August – and then we shall start to think about the Autumn season and renewed activity up until the festive Christmas period. We have two celebratory Conferences and events in early and late October so I hope that a few of you are registered to join me at S.I. 100 Celebrations 1 – 3 October and the SIGBI Llandudno Conference 28 to 30 October.
Our next planned Regional Coffee Gathering will be on Saturday 4 September at 10.30am. As usual if you wish to attend on Zoom then Margaret Ayton will send you the link nearer the time.
Keep safe and well…….. and keep in touch
With all best wishes – Christine Lumsdon – your Regional President