{"id":6057,"date":"2021-10-24T17:19:23","date_gmt":"2021-10-24T16:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/northern-england\/?p=6057"},"modified":"2021-10-24T17:19:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-24T16:19:23","slug":"presidents-message-number-64","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/northern-england\/2021\/10\/24\/presidents-message-number-64\/","title":{"rendered":"Presidents Message – Number 64"},"content":{"rendered":"

To all my sister Soroptimists in Northern England\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The 20 June was World Refugee Day <\/strong>\u00a0and S.I. Middlesbrough <\/strong>\u00a0has marked this special\u00a0<\/span>U.N. day every year with an event.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

They report :-\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>\u201cRefugee Week has become part of our social calendar in recent years.\u00a0 It has traditionally been an opportunity to welcome and celebrate the contribution made by those w<\/span><\/p>\n

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ho have come to the U.K. seeking sanctuary.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>The theme of Refugee Week 2021 is\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe cannot walk alone\u201d.\u00a0 With this in mind,\u00a0 members of S.I.Middlesbrough invited women from the local refugee community to share an evening of hospitality and friendship.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During the evening we learnt about the experiences of refugees from our excellent speaker,\u00a0 Pete Widlinski.\u00a0\u00a0 Donations were made to the Mary Thompson Fund,\u00a0 alocal charity which supports refugees and asylum\u00a0<\/span>seekers who are experiencing hardship.\u00a0 Pete has been a Trustee for 20 years and now chairs the charity.\u00a0<\/span>It was an example of what Soroptimism is all about –\u00a0 supporting women in their struggles and helping them to achieve their goals –\u00a0 and as our refugee friends left the Centre,\u00a0 it was lovely to hear their laughter echoing down the corridor after an enjoyable evening ! \u201c\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Thank you S.I.Middlesbrough for reminding us of this significant U.N. day.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the 5th June 2021,\u00a0 S.I.Lichfield held a Planet Conference <\/strong>\u00a0on Zoom to support\u00a0<\/span>World Environment Day.\u00a0\u00a0 Two members from S.I.Newcastle upon Tyne <\/strong>attended and Cris Young reports that there were approximately 60 members present with 5 guest speakers.\u00a0 Cris has sent me an abbreviated report with all the links to the recorded speakers,\u00a0 so if any member would like to view certain ( or all ) of the sessions, then you can find them on line.\u00a0 SI Lichfield Planet Conference<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n