REGIONAL PRESIDENT PAM’S MESSAGE 

Good morning sister Soroptimists,

I hope that you have all enjoyed your Easter festivities and have recovered from eating chocolate eggs !   Or perhaps you have been less indulgent, and as suggested by Editor Christine in the previous newsle6er, eaten boiled eggs instead.   I used to love boiling eggs in onion skins to produce rich brown eggs of various shades, as well as painting them with faces.   Do young children still do these decorated boiled eggs ?

Fortunately the weather has been bright and sunny for most of the Easter holiday which has been a change for this time of year when schools are closed.  It is wonderful to see colour in the gardens and parks with all the Spring flowers, magnolias and blossom.  I understand that the Japanese blossom at Alnwick Castle Gardens is beautiful this year so I hope to manage to visit in the next couple of days.

Some of you may remember the short piece I wrote about Dr Mo Mowlem in my last message, so it was lovely to receive an email from Kath Sainsbury of S.I. Middlesbrough who had links with Mo.  Below is the email she sent me and with her permission I include it as a follow-up :

“Good morning and Happy Easter,

 Many thanks for another interesting edition of the Newsletter.

  I particularly enjoyed reading President Pam’s piece on the late Mo Mowlem.  I have been      a member of the Labour Party since the 1970’s and remember campaigning for Mo.   In those days we didn’t have a slick, sophis8cated PR team and I can remember working    on a friend’s kitchen table to hand paint the Labour rose on a home-made sign for Mo’s    campaign headquarters !!

  The same friend later went on to work for Mo as a Caseworker.  Her Constituency Office  was on Redcar seafront next door to a Care Home for elderly people.   My friend tells how    self-effacing Mo was on one of her regular visits to meet the residents.  When an elderly    gentleman asked who she was,  she replied simply “I’m your next door neighbour . “

Many thanks Kath for the additional insight into a courageous but genuine person.

As I have indicated in previous messages I plan to have a number of Exceptional Business Women at my President’s Event on 25th June.  One young women who I had hoped to include was Amy Bray from Cumbria but unfortunately she has another commitment that day.  However you may have seen her on a recent programme of Countryfile in Cornwall working with school children to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the seas.  She has always been interested in outdoor activities and the environment and is now a marine biologist.

Amy was impressed with the concept of plastic free shopping and has set up two shops, Another Weigh,  in Penrith and in Kendall to help reduce waste at low cost to customers and to our planet.  Customers bring their own containers,  fill them and pay by weight then bring back to refill.  The shops stock a wide range of products from cereals to straws and from cleaning products to oils and vinegars.   All profits go to an educational charity, Another Way,  which has supported the planting of 27,000 trees and hedgerows in Ma6erdale Valley over the past 2.5 years and the giving of talks to schools.

Amy was nominated Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s first Nature Hero in January 2022 and was awarded the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award in October 2021.

On Thursday 21st April, it was the birthday of a very Exceptional Woman,    Queen

Elizabeth II  was 96 years old.  A lovely portrait was released to mark the occasion which shows Queen Elizabeth standing between her two white fell ponies Bybeck Nightingale and Bybeck Katie.  Apparently the photograph was taken in the grounds of Windsor Castle in March.

Despite admitting to feeling very tired  and exhausted ager a bout of COVID-19 in February she has continued with some of her engagements and is an inspiration to us all.

The Platinum Jubilee, to be held at the beginning of June,  marks her 70 years on the throne.  This makes her the longest reigning British monarch and the longest-serving female head of state in history.

Are any of you planning to do something for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee ?  Please do let Editor Christine know if you are.

Our thoughts are still with the people of Ukraine, particularly in Eastern Ukraine.

Take care and look ager yourselves 

Pam

Regional President

Editor  :  Thank you Pam for reminding us all of the colour and happiness of Spring when our world is fresh and new and we are looking forward to a warm and enjoyable summer season.