On Saturday 15 August, members of SI Richmond & Dales spent the morning on The Curtilage in Richmond on Saturday morning to raise awareness of one of the charities they are supporting this year, Just the Job Environmental Enterprise as well as the work of Soroptimists generally. The Curtilage is an area of the historic Richmond Market Place. Originally the Norman Castle bailey, it was granted to the town for a market place in the 13th century. The Curtilage is an area on which the Town Council permits non-profit organisations to set out their information stalls beside the Saturday Market.
Just the Job is an inventive local charity and social enterprise supporting adults with a wide range of abilities in practical, work orientated therapeutic activities. Steve Biggs, their General Manager, set up a Pole Lathe from their workshop which team workers use as therapy and also to produce items for sale such as Dibbers for planting seeds and Spurtles for stirring porridge and Mallets, all using green wood.
The Market Place in Richmond is always busy on a Saturday for market day. Despite the overcast skies, many members of the public stopped to observe the pole lathe in action and find out more about Just the Job’s “Big Green Build”, which will be undertaken in the near future, as well as to ask about the work of Soroptimists in Richmond, nationally and internationally.
One interested person, a local folk poet, stopped to find out more and by the end of the morning had returned with a poem for the Soroptimists, which really captures our ethos (see below). Our very own ‘poet in residence’ for the morning!
To the staff on the Richmond & Dales Soroptimist stall
Women helping women
Out of sorrow, out of pain
Helping women who were silenced
To gain self-respect again
Women helping women
Giving guidance, giving love,
Showing solidarity
‘Gainst the blackened skies above
Women helping women
Helping with a helping hand
To grow crops, to have clean water
At home and in distance lands
To help women out of poverty
Women out of grief,
A friendly face and helping
Comes as some relief
Rantin’ Richie
2020