REGIONAL PRESIDENT PAM’S MESSAGE Good Morning Sister Soroptimists, It was wonderful to see so many of you at the Regional Council Meeting on Saturday 19 March 2022.  There were almost 60 attendees and all clubs in the Region were represented. Following the business meeting,  Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson had been invited to talk to members as one of my “Extraordinary Women” for all that she had done and is doing.  She achieved great success in her Paralympic career as a wheelchair racer.  During her career she won 16 medals -  11 gold,  4 silver and 1 bronze -  held over 30 world records and won the London Marathon 6 times.  On retiring from the track she expanded her TV presenting career and took on a number of advisory and consultant roles, for example, locally she has been Chancellor of Northumbria University since July 2015.  However she

Regional President Pam’s Message : “Good Morning Sister Soroptimists, I am looking forward to reading in the Newsletter what you all did to commemorate INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY  .  In the evening of that day I celebrated the occasion with sister Soroptimists at the West End Women and Girl’s Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, where a big party was held for the community in Elswick.  It was wonderful to see so many people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds.  The party was being held to launch the 40 Women and Girls book to represent the Centre’s 40th anniversary.  There was a superb exhibition of the photographs of the women and girls with captions as well as projections on the outside of the building.    Fairground attractions on the green opposite the Centre had a ‘galloping horse’ carousel, a Helter Skelter and Shuggy Boats which all provided entertainment

MESSAGE FROM REGIONAL PRESIDENT PAM  “Good Morning Sister Soroptimists, It’s been an eventful couple of weeks since my last message. My move back to Morpeth was finally completed on 17th February.  Although I am sorry to leave Edinburgh and friends it is a relief to be settled in one place and I plan to visit Edinburgh quite regularly.  In fact I was there on Friday to meet friends for lunch.  All I have to do now is sort out the pile of boxes which are stacked away in a storage unit ! Many thanks to Christine, JIPP and Editor; for her best wishes on behalf of members for my life back in Morpeth as expressed in the previous Newsletter.  They were greatly appreciated. A major concern to us all is the plight of the people of Ukraine.  As usual,  I am sure Soroptimists across the

Regional President  Pam’s Message  Good morning Sister Soroptimists, In my last message I talked about my impending move from Edinburgh to amalgamate with my house in Morpeth.  I can report that the move went smoothly and the removal company was excellent.  Although we had some snow a couple of days before the move the weather was fine on the actual day.  I s6ll have to spend some 6me in Edinburgh this week to complete the move but by Thursday 17th it should be complete except for all the boxes to be sorted most of which are in storage ! Although I haven’t had much time to watch the Winter Olympics what I have seen has been amazing.  I’ve caught snatches of the snowboarding,  speed skating, skiing and biathlon,  a combination of cross country skiing and shooting.  Some of these sports look so dangerous and the

REGIONAL PRESIDENT PAM’S MESSAGE : Good Morning Sister Soroptimists, I’m sorry but my message in this Newsletter is very brief as I have other things occupying my attention at the moment - I am currently moving house from Edinburgh to Morpeth - but more about that shortly ! Again we are recovering from intense areas of low pressure resulting in another two storms, Storm Malik and Storm Corrie, the former being named by the Danish Meteorological Institute hence the reason why it’s not in alphabetical order as for other storms. I was in Edinburgh that weekend and although we did have strong winds they didn’t seem to cause as much damage as I saw in Northumberland on the drive home. More trees were damaged and I learnt later that roof tops had been lifted off some houses. In Morpeth there must have been a power

REGIONAL PRESIDENT PAM’S MESSAGE : Good Morning Sister Soroptimists, Another sunny but chilly day. I hope you have been enjoying the glorious bright blue skies during January. It is wonderful to see the days becoming longer with lighter mornings and the afternoons not darkening some days until almost 5.0pm. As well as having such beautiful weather during the days, the nights have also excelled with clear, starry skies and Monday 17th January saw the first full moon of 2022. Since then the full moon, known as the Wolf Moon, has been magnificent as a bright globe. Let’s hope the rest of the moth continues to be so enjoyable and makes winter easier to manage. On Saturday 15th January, Karen and I attended a virtual Programme Action webinar to discuss whether there should be another SIGBI Federation project. The session was hosted by Dr Kay Richmond

REGIONAL PRESIDENT PAM’S MESSAGE : Good Morning Sister Soroptimists, It’s hard to believe that since our last Newsletter that Christmas and New Year are over, however I do hope you all had a wonderful Festive Season with your family and friends.  I always think it is sad taking the decorations down as the house looks quite bare, but I do enjoy spending some time looking through the Christmas cards I have received and catching up on news often from people I haven’t seen for some time.  It is wonderful to hear from ex-colleagues, past students, from friends who have moved to different arras in the country as well as from current, kind, and supportive friends. I am always amazed at the range of a6ractive and interesting designs, particularly those from friends who have the skills to make their own cards which are always very special. 

REGIONAL  PRESIDENT PAM’S MESSAGE : Good Morning Sister Soroptimists, I do hope you have recovered from any storm damage and loss of power caused by Storm Arwen and to a lesser extent Storm Barra.  Although I had an enjoyable Christmas Lunch on Tuesday with a group of friends the short walk back to the car was quite a challenge –  Storm Barra had blown up during our lunch!  However, we all managed to get back safely so hopefully you kept safe.  Unfortunately, other parts of the world have been suffering with the unusual weather conditions too.  In America the severe tornadoes have caused havoc resulting in at least 200 deaths and a great deal of structural damage.  Again it makes us think about what we can do to prevent these extreme climate changes. After being so impressed by the work of the West End Women

REGIONAL PRESIDENT PAM’S MESSAGE  Good morning Sister Soroptimists, I was delighted to see Associate members and so many clubs represented at my first Regional Council Meeting a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately, some of you were unable to attend as there was a clash of dates with important club activities.  However, I hope these were a success and you are able to join us next time on 19 March 2022. For the second half of the meeting, we had an excellent speaker, Huffty McHugh, Coordinator of the West End Women and Girls Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne.  The work that she does with the women and girls and their communities is amazing.  She was so inspirational which has been shown by the many positive comments I have received. After Huffty,  my second Exceptional Woman is Mandy Coppin, the Chief Executive Officer of Streetwise and a Soroptimist. 

Regional President Pam’s Message Good Morning Sister Soroptimists, The first regional event I have attended since becoming Regional President was at my own club’s 84th Charter Tea on Saturday 13 November.  Whilst it would have been lovely to meet in person for lunch at our usual venue, The Centre for Life in Newcastle upon Tyne, we all had a most enjoyable afternoon.  It was wonderful to see a number of members from clubs in our Region as well as members from our Friendship Links, S.I.Glasgow City and S.I. Bangkok.  More about this event can be read later in the Newsle6er. I’m sure you have all been following the discussions at the Climate Change Conference COP26, in Glasgow during the past 2 weeks.  However, you may be interested in the photograph below of a long “scarf” that was made by crafters (knitters, crocheters and stitchers) from