Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters, I am not sure why I wrote that very first message to you all in March last year?  Mainly, I think, to apologise that our Regional Council Meeting had to be cancelled and to speculate what we were all going to do whilst we were locked down! I don’t know about you, but I was expecting that it would only last a few weeks and we would soon return to normal; how naive was I?  Who would have thought that one year on, we would still be locked down and with a UK death total of 126,000 – that is a shocking and dreadful statistic! This awful pandemic has affected so many and I know that there have been members in our Region who have been bereaved; my thoughts are, and have always been, with them. So in those early days,

Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters This week has seen an outpouring of grief for Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped and murdered in London. Sarah studied at Durham University and originated from York, so may be known to some of our members or their families. Christine Cottingham’s granddaughter, Amy, who lives in Clapham, attended an event on Clapham Common on Saturday Afternoon – this is what she wrote: ‘An emotional and overwhelming event to be part of. Struggling to find the words to explain how myself and many other women are feeling. Angry, scared and incredibly sad. Rest in peace Sarah Everard’. Christine added – ‘We, the older generation of women, and also as Soroptimists must support the younger generation of women, to try to show men that being threatening and misogynistic is not how they should behave towards women. I believe that how their parents bring them

Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters, Thursday was World Book Day and as an avid reader and former librarian, I was interested and saddened to read the reasons why World Book Day is so important: Only 25.8% of children read for pleasure daily and the numbers are in decline 383,755 children in the UK don’t own a book of their own In 2020 World Book Day gifted a million £1 Book Tokens in the UK and Ireland One in seven children said that the book they chose with their World Book Day tokens was the first book they had owned 59% of children said during Lockdown that reading made them feel better. I believe that if children develop the reading habit early, it stays with them all of their lives. #WhoIsShe? The Region of Northern England is honoured that two of the 12 inspirational Soroptimists featured in March

Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters, With the Road Map out of Lockdown unveiled this week, could we be seeing the beginnings of recovery from the restrictions which we have endured for almost 12 months? I really hope that we can now look forward with some cautious optimism and that summer this year will be so much better than summer 2020!  The downside is that there are members who have had a further letter from Matt Hancock, instructing them to ‘shield’ again until the end of March, and I can imagine how frustrating this must be!  I send my thoughts and best wishes to any members who are shielding and also to any who are ill, either at home or in hospital. CLUB NEWS It is always a joy to hear from Jess Sinclair [SI Carlisle] about their work to support Homeless Women in the Women’s Shelter in Water

Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters I am told that yesterday was the first day of Spring and indeed, the temperatures are positively tropical following all the ice and snow! It has been a blustery week, I hope that all your fences are intact! I am not sure if we have seen the back of winter just yet? Your Regional Officers held a virtual meeting on Wednesday this week, where we all demonstrated the International Women’s Day ‘Choose to Challenge’ pose for a screenshot. There was much to discuss and as always, we are looking to the future and planning for the Northern England Region, as much as we can within the restrictions. These virtual Officer’s Meetings have been extremely successful during the pandemic. Officers usually hold four meetings each year and travel to Seaburn for them. Using SKYPE initially and now GoTo, [and shortly on Microsoft

Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters, XIN NIAN KUAI LE  Happy Chinese New Year – the year of the OX! A very pleasant hour was spent on the first Saturday in February at our first virtual Regional Coffee Morning. Organised by Margaret Ayton and Kath Shearer of SI Newcastle upon Tyne, it was attended by 12 members and two cats! Clubs represented were – Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Penrith and Stockton-on-Tees. Conversation included Vaccination experiences and venues, the wonderful Jackie Weaver who had sorted out the Handforth Parish Council, the behaviour of cats and lots more besides. It was an enjoyable, relaxed morning.  Another of these Coffee Mornings will be held on Saturday, 6 March 2021 at 10.30am, lasting just one hour. All are welcome and should you wish to join us in March, please contact Margaret Ayton, who will send you the link, at:  margaretayton40@gmail.com    From SI Middlesbrough

Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters, Once again, it is a joy to celebrate a Soroptimist International Northern England member who is included in the February selection of #WhoIsShe?, now on the SIGBI Website, Kathleen Mary Manning  a member of SI Middlesbrough for almost 25 years, an International Soroptimist, being the International Co-ordinator for Economic and Social Development 1995 -1999 and a former Regional/DU President 1987/88.    Link to Biography        She was also the beloved sister of our very own Margaret Alderson. Margaret describes her sister as – ‘Spirited, determined, confident, courageous, never a quitter, always a fighter for what she believed in, qualities those who knew her will recall whenever they think about Kathleen. Of course, there were the shoulder pads, glitz and attitude – and if you loved her, you also knew that she could be a bit bossy and opinionated, like all

Good Morning Sister Soroptimists Yesterday, I listened to a local radio station programme, which featured Pam Cooper and Kath Sainsbury of SI Middlesbrough, talking in an interview about their Lockdown Project Book 'Overcoming the Odds'. The whole programme was built around women and their achievements in female non traditional professions. I was proud of how Pam and Kath promoted Soroptimism and hope that from this, more copies of their books can be sold, and maybe some women may be interested in joining our organisation.  The radio station was http://www.levenonline.co.uk  to catch up on the programme. Copies of the book are still available from Pam at cooperpageo21@aol.com   CLUB NEWS First, some news to share from December 2020 which I have recently received, and I am delighted to report some positive action and service. I have an update from SI Penrith and District, about their continuing activities

Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters, We have experienced a week of varied weather - rain, [lots of it,] strong winds, snow and ice and occasional clear, blue skies. Sadly, again, some areas have seen severe flooding, with evacuation from homes being exceptionally problematic with social distancing etc. I really hope that you are all safe and have been able to keep dry? This week also saw the inauguration of the new President of the United States in a ceremony on Capitol Hill, Washington, on Wednesday. As I watched on television, I was struck by some words spoken by the young lady Laureate - Amanda Gorman - from her poem The Hill We Climb: When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid The new dawn blooms as we free it For there is always light, if we are brave enough to see it If

Good Morning Soroptimist Sisters, I imagine it has been a hard week for many of you with the current restriction of movement and very little good news in the World. It is frightening to listen to the increasing death and infection rates and the new strains of the virus in South America and Portugal. The safest place is definitely behind your front door!   On the plus side, I am hearing of quite a few of our members who have had their first vaccination, and some have even had the second one also! I hope those that have, did not suffer any major side effects and will have a sense of relief that they will soon be immune to COVID-19. #WhoIsShe? Another of our remarkable Soroptimists is being celebrated with the latest 12 women on the SIGBI.org website – the late Her Honour Judge Myrella Cohen