Good Morning Sister Soroptimists As we approach the end of our third week of lockdown, it is good to reach out to all Northern England members and to hope that you are all staying safe and well? It is Easter, but we have never spent an Easter weekend like this; not able to join with our families and friends to share meals with them, unable to worship in our churches and with any planned holidays cancelled. I am so sad for Grandparents who are unable to hug their grandchildren at this time. As I CLAPPED FOR OUR CARERS on Thursday, not only was I clapping for our wonderful NHS staff, I was also clapping and saying thank you for police and fire services, teachers and support staff, food manufacturers, the supermarket and shop workers, postmen and women, delivery drivers, and waste disposal operatives and everyone

Good Morning Sister Soroptimists Two weeks of isolation nearly at an end and I hope that all of you are keeping safe and well? I find that the days pass remarkably swiftly but with not very much achieved! I have heard that club members are keeping in touch in various ways and taking particular 'virtual' care of members who are alone or who have health problems. I have managed to have telephone conversations with a few of you this week and have learned a little of how you are handling Soroptimist business, in particular your Annual General Meetings. I note that some of you are using ZOOM and would like to know if it is proving successful or otherwise? Some clubs are simply circulating all of the reports and accounts which would normally be delivered at your AGMs and asking for members's approval. Please let

Good Afternoon Sister Soroptimists As we end our first week of LOCKDOWN, I hope that all of our Northern England Members are safe and well and coming to terms with this unprecedented situation. We are living in a very strange and different world of enforced inactivity where we are unable to make plans for the future. Thank you to those who joined in the CLAP FOR OUR CARERS on Thursday evening. I know that some of you did as I saw your Facebook posts. As I opened my front door at 8pm, I expected to be the only one, and I was inspired to hear many of my neighbours clapping and cheering [plus some fireworks] to say thank you to our wonderful NHS staff in every capacity, who are doing so much and putting themselves in danger during this crisis. It was quite emotional to