Greeting to all my sister Soroptimists in Northern England.
Life is certainly getting busier now that members are beginning to move around the region and meet up face-to-face. My diary for September is booked with opportunities to visit clubs in their own localities and on their special occasions. I hope to include some reports on these in later Newsletter editions. First I would like to share two happy meetings with you when donations from members in SINE were presented to two local charities – thank you to everyone for their support to achieve this.
On the 2nd September, Immediate Past President Joyce Chesney was able to visit the Butterwick Hospice Care in Stockton and present a cheque for £600 to them. This came from the proceeds of the Regional Raffle which was drawn on 19 June 2021 at the Regional Centennial Celebratory Event. Joyce had planned to make the Hospice the recipient of fund raising at her own June 2020 President’s Event but due to COVID restrictions this had to be cancelled. So Joyce and I agreed to divide the total of this year’s Regional Raffle between the Hospice and the Diamond Education Grant – each receiving £600 each. Joyce has been a volunteer at the Butterwick Hospice Care since 2009 and was delighted that this donation will be used to purchase mattresses for the new beds in the In Patient Unit.
On the 9th September, I joined Shirley Hallam on a visit to “Streetwise” in Newcastle city centre. You may remember that when Past Regional President Shirley Hallam ( SI Tynemouth & Whitley Bay and District ) married Peter Gould on 24 July 2021, they agreed that there were to be no gifts ! However, they also identified two charities that were close to their hearts – “Streetwise Young Peoples Project” and the RNLI, and suggested that guests and friends could make a donation if they wished. Soroptimist friends decided to mark the occasion and Shirley received a generous £335 that she presented to Mandy Coppin who is the CEO of Newcastle Streetwise (on the right in the
photo and a member of SI Newcastle upon Tyne ). Mandy was thrilled to receive this financial boost as like many other charities, they had lost revenue during the pandemic. This donation will allow two young women to receive a course of counselling to help them through the traumas of their unsettled lives.
At the Regional Coffee Gathering on Saturday 4th September we were joined by a visiting Soroptimist from S.I. Cape of Good Hope in the Republic of South Africa. Rosemary Hickman had heard about our regular meetings from a Facebook post that had been sent to her and was intrigued by the pet cats that appeared during the chat. However, after introductions, we asked her about Soroptimist life in South Africa and were amazed at her reply. Her club has about 22 members but they are involved in between 15 to 18 projects locally.
These projects ranged from :-
– supporting teenage mothers, some of whom are only 10 years old, by giving support for them to return to school and keep and care for their babies;
– providing support to a local school library where although the basics were present, there was a need for cataloging and the services of a librarian as this was essential to improving the low numeracy and literacy skills;
– there are over 80 Refuges for victims of Domestic Violence in the area and at one local house, Soroptimists have worked on a ‘Serenity Garden’ to give the women safe space to relax and chat. They have also developed a sheltered workshop to give some employment to these women.
– this also produced a need for after school care for the children living with their mothers in the refuges, so “The Home of Hope” was set up where 120 children aged 2 to 12 years can be cared for between 6.0pm and 7.0pm with a meal and supervision for their school homework thus keeping them safe and not roaming in the unsettled and troubled neighbourhoods.
– the parents pay a small amount regularly for this care and together with some overseas volunteers, a vegetable garden has been established where the children can get involved in growing vegetables to be used in the meals provided for them but also to take home to improve their family nutrition.
– club members are also working with the Police and planned legislation to improve the lives of victims of domestic violence and they recently held workshops to discuss and examine the 3 laws which were being proposed for changes.
……we were awed at this project work being undertaken by a relatively small club and look forward to meeting Rosemary at future Coffee mornings to hear more reports of their very focussed activities. Why not join this now INTERNATIONAL Coffee Gathering !! – the next date is Saturday 9th October 2021 at 10.30am?
News from Kabul and Afghanistan has been a regular and high profile item in recent weeks. I shall look forward to reading reports from Clubs with news of their support and involvement in the re-settlement of Afghan families in the UK. Several of our Clubs have mentioned that they are expecting families to be relocated to hotels and then their own homes near them. Certainly there are been reports of great generosity by our own communities to provide the essentials that these families need. While these families clearly need our support, let us not forget those other refugees who have also had to flee from persecution and have journeyed vast distances over a long time to reach the U.K. by one means or another.
S.I. Middlesbrough have reported on their letter writing to local Members of Parliament on the plight of people seeking asylum who were being held in appalling conditions in Dover. Here is an extract from their letters which vividly expressed their concerns : “ In the case of women, who are likely to have suffered physical abuse or sexual exploitation, the intimate nature of their horrific experiences and the complexity of cultural pressures may make the abuse difficult to disclose on arrival to an Immigration Officer who may be male and through an interpreter who may also be male. Our treatment of vulnerable people reflects the kind of society we have become and this is illustrated by recent reports about the conditions in which people seeking asylum are being kept. In the Kent Intake Unit, in Dover, newly arrived migrants can have their cases processed. Members of the Home Affairs Committee visited recently and were shocked by their findings. They counted 56 people packed into a small waiting room, the floor of
which was almost entirely covered by mattresses where people were trying to rest. To be held for 24 hours ( the maximum period advised ) in this situation would be bad enough, but many of these individuals had spent up to 48 hours in these overcrowded, poorly ventilated conditions. There were no COVID-19 mitigation measures in operation. An atrium facility, which is an open office suite unsuitable for overnight accommodation, was being used to hold mostly unaccompanied vulnerable children prior to onward travel. The Members of the Home Affairs Committee were reminded that the Home Office had a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children arriving in the UK “. Please let us not forget those refugees who also need our humanitarian support and who may not have a voice as the Afghan people have. Thank you to S.I. Middlesbrough members for raising this topic affecting women and girls with their local M.P.s
Rosemary Webb of S.I. Tynemouth, Whitley Bay & District. has written to me with two items of more positive news. On 19 August her daughter spotted an appeal on Facebook for baby hats for 8 – 10 lb babies from a nurse at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow – Scotland’s biggest hospital and where her son-in-law works. Rosemary forwarded the information to a few ‘nits’ (knitters !!) in her club and she was able to parcel up 25 wee hats to take into the baby unit the next day. Fast and prompt Programme Action !!
I have heard about an Appeal that S.I.Thames Valley have circulated which was about a lasting tribute for Federation President Johanna Raffan. I know that this subject has been discussed at a recent meeting between all the Regional President’s and Cathy Cottridge, now our Federation President. Members have been asking if there is to be a permanent tribute to Johanna who was much loved throughout SIGBI Federation and although many suggestions were made, no action seems to be planned.
Forgive me for circulating this Appeal as I would not usually have included it, but as so many members have been asking about a lasting memorial for Johanna I thought that many of you would be interested in the plans from her own club where she was a founder member.
This seems to tick so many boxes !
– planting trees
– trees that provide food
– linked to a school where children will take part, nurture and harvest the crops
– and part of the Charity which Johanna had a very special interest in.
Please do read the Appeal below that gives you more details – and any small donation that you or your club could make would be very gratefully received.
From S.I. Thames Valley MEMORIAL FRUIT ORCHARD FOR JOHANNA RAFFAN
To pay tribute to the memory and achievements of our founding member, and President of our Federation Johanna Raffan, we are proposing to create an orchard on an acre of land donated by a grateful Sierra Leonian. This will be adjacent to the secondary school we have built in Bai Largo, Kori district. The planting of trees was very dear to Johanna’s heart – and so was our Kori project of which she was Chair. It is hoped that the schoolchildren will help to plant the trees and eventually take part in harvesting the crops. We will need to fence the land, buy tree guards to protect the young trees from smaller
animals, and also want to build sturdy benches. All of this is anticipated to cost £5,000 and we are hoping that Johanna’s Soroptimist friends will consider helping to finance this project in her memory.
If your club would consider making a donation to our project it can be done directly to our club bank account, marking it “Memorial Orchard”
HSBC Bank plc Soroptimist International of Thames Valley Sort Code : 40 27 34 Account No: 11130870
Or send a cheque made out to Soroptimist International of Thames Valley – to : Rose Kirk, 1 Kingswood Cottages,Tag Lane, Hare Hatch, Berks RG10 9SX
Please also email us to let us know so that we can acknowledge your kind contribution to : sithamesvalleysecretary@gmail.com
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT FROM US ALL AT S.I. THAMES VALLEY CLUB.
Our club plans to post pictures of progress there : at www.koridp.org
S.I.Sunderland have also been tree planting and on Saturday 11 September I joined a group of their members with Club President Suzanne Brown at Herrington Country Park in Sunderland. 
A Redwood tree was planted to commemorate the 100 years of Soroptimist International and further plans are to plant 100 bright yellow daffodil bulbs around it. The tree is in an accessible and prominent place near the main entrance to the Park. This new Redwood tree joins its sibling which is now 10 years old so it was fascinating to see how quickly it will grow and we all hope that we can re-visit it over the years to come. It is a wonderful link to the Giant Redwoods of California where our global story began. The photograph shows President Suzanne on the right, myself next to her and a group of the Sunderland members.
My next Regional Newsletter will be on Sunday 26 September and I hope that it will reach you before I depart on my travels across the Pennines to be at S.I.Cockermouth & District’s special 40th Anniversary Lunch. I hope to see many of you there.
Please do keep sending me news items to include.
In friendship – your Regional President Christine Lumsdon