Our September Meeting took place at the Colburn Community Centre, with a meal served by local volunteers. These ladies usually provide meals at the Centre Cafe for local disadvantaged residents. The Community Centre is also the base for the Colburn Food Share food bank, and members brought along donations for this service, which supports many local families and individuals in hardship. This was our second visit to the Colburn Centre, and we were warmly welcomed again, and thanked for our donations of food and period products.
The speakers for the meeting were Simon and Jo-ann Eastwood, who have created the Colburn Community Support Trust this year to provide assistance and advice services to the deprived Colburn area. They aim to provide a wealth of services for local individuals, families and businesses including financial advice, help with practical tasks such as benefit forms, job applications, CVs and other practical and administrative support. We heard personalised accounts of bereavement support, mental health support and how they acquired their van used to collect and distribute furniture and household items to needy families. Colburn Community Support is one of SI Richmond and Dales’ charities this year.
Members were also thanked for the donation of children’s books which have been passed on via Colburn Community School. This is another initiative by Colburn Community Support to give books to children who have few, or none of their own. A thank you card was presented to us.
Prior to the start of the Business Meeting, members stood to raise a toast to the memory of Queen Elizabeth II to mark her recent passing.
Progress has been made in planning to provide front of house organisation for The Station Singers Christmas Concert on 10th December. This will involve collecting tickets, ushering and organising the raffle. This concert will be a fundraiser for Colburn Community Support. One of our members, Lin Clarkson, has donated some wicker baskets for small hampers, and members will bring donations to the November meeting to fill them.
The Soroptimist Cup for Making a Difference was presented at Richmond School on the evening of the meeting, so unfortunately, we were unable to send a representative. Our congratulations go out to the winner.