On Tuesday March 28th wes held our annual buffet and cheque presentation at the Red Hall Hotel. 8 local charities were chosen to receive donations raised by us during President Ann’s year. These included Bury Hospice, Rossendale Hospice, Margaret Haes Riding Centre, Ramsbottom Pantry, Kitty Rescue Bury, Rossendale Responsible Animal Rescue, Bury Blind Society and Fortalice.
In February we distributed over 100 bunches of daffodils in and around Ramsbottom as a “”random act of kindness” to hopefully put a smile on people’s faces.
In June our speaker was Samantha Woodend From Helmshore Recycling who told us all about how we can “do our bit” to save the planet by recycling many items which we cannot put in our Council bins. she is a drop off point for such items which she parcels up and sends to Terracycle to be used again. By doing so she is awarded points which can be exchanged for money to give to charities. Pictures is Samantha with some of the items that can be recycled by her.
In June we again held our well known Charity lunch buffet at Ramsbottom Cricket Club. Our spread is classed as one of the best in the area and no-one goes home hungry! It was wonderful to welcome everyone again after 3 years of not being able to hold the event. The cricket Club were pleased too as we also sponsor the cricket match for that day – 2nd 11 v Haslingden. Over £1000 was raised which will be added to our charity “pot” to be distributed amongst our local charities later in the year. Pictured some of the food and the ladies who provided it!
At our speaker meeting in May we presented 3 charities with cheques from our fundraising in 2021-22. For obvious reasons our money raising was not up to our usual amount in the past 12 months but we still managed to raise sufficient money to make reasonable contributions to Bury Hospice, Fortalice and Rossendale Hospice. We also heard from Gill Smallwood about the work undertaken at Fortalice which is a leading local provider for domestic abuse and mental health services. Representatives from the three charities are pictured below. Pat Lomas, Bury Hospice Ambassador; Gill Smallwood MBE. CEO Fortalice and Joanna Williams, Fundraiser Rossendale Hospice.
In May we held an afternoon tea with entertainment for local Senior Citizens at Ramsbottom Cricket club. The theme was the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and guests were entertained with traditional songs and music as well as a short quiz to exercise their minds as well as their voices! Sandwiches, cakes, juice and tea or coffee were enjoyed by all. This is a regular event and a place at the table is always coveted by the local residents.
At the end of April we had our AGM and President Ann was installed as our new President for 2022/23. We held the traditional candle ceremony and enjoyed a lovely meal afterwards at the Red Hall Hotel in Bury. Long service awards were presented to 3 of our members for 25 years or 35 years service. Quite an achievement! Pictured are President Ann and Past President Denise and President Ann with her new Executive group who will steer the club forward over the next 12 months.
This year is our 70th birthday and we started off the year with a dinner at the Red Hall Hotel, Bury. Besides enjoying a lovely meal together with other Soroptimist club members from across the region including the International President , Ramsbottom Rotary President and our friends and families we presented our Young Achiever Award 2021 to our winner Jess Connolly. Jess is a very gifted netball player as well as an outstanding student academically at St Gabriel’s RC High school. The evening ended with music from the very talented folk group couple Louise and Chris Rogan.
After an absence of nearly 2 years we again made up and delivered nearly 300 Christmas Treats to local businesses today. Pictured here are the contents of the boxes and some of the ladies at Ramsbottom Cricket Club on the boxing up conveyor belt. Profits made divided between Rossendale and Bury Hospices. We hope those that we delivered to enjoy them!
Some photos from our Open Evening at the Red Hall including President Denise presenting our latest winner Ella Thompstone with her Young Achiever Award for her excellence in Muay Thai boxing.
