Here is our update on our June activities.
Cheque presented to Colburn Community Support
Members Judith Clark and Sue Young visited Colburn Community Support to present them with a cheque from our fundraising for this new organisation, set up last year, which provides support to the impoverished community of Colburn. CCS aims to support individuals, families, and businesses in the community by offering practical & admin support, budgeting & financial management advice, help with CVs, job applications & benefit forms, bereavement support, business mentoring and advocacy services.
June Meeting
Our speaker at the June Meeting was Irene Boreham, from the Breast Cancer Support Group associated with The Friarage Hospital MacMillan Cancer Care Centre in Northallerton. Irene told us about her own journey through breast cancer and then went on to describe the history of the support group and the services it provides.
All its members have and have survived breast cancer, which enables them to share experience with other sufferers. They provide emotional and practical support and social contact for breast cancer patients. Through fundraising events they are also able to provide financial support to those in need of help to access their treatment. The group has been in existence for over 25 years, and has managed to weather the difficulties of Covid and continue its important work. This group is our chosen charity for this year.
EVA
After our inspiring talk last month by the Director of EVA Women’s Aid, the husband of one of our members was highly impressed. So much so that he has agreed to donate £150 every month from his filling station business located near Redcar, EVA’s base. We were delighted to hear of his generosity.
Bingo Night Fundraiser
President Babs asked everyone to save Friday 27th October to our diaries. We will be holding a fundraising bingo night at Richmond Rugby Club, with supper. Details to follow…
International Women’s Day 2024
A sub group has been set up and had it first meeting recently to plan our celebration of International Women’s Day next March. The group have decided that the event will be called ‘Women of Richmond’. It will be held at the Richmond Town Hall as a drop-in event with two time slots – one in the afternoon and the other in the early evening. Refreshments will be available, and an exhibition will be on show. We aim to highlight the careers of as many notable Richmond women, past and present, as we can. Members are invited to send President Babs nominations for the exhibition in time for the next sub-group meeting in late July. If anyone has access to display boards, the organising group would be grateful for offers for the exhibition.
Orange Cafe
Last month saw our first Orange Cafe meeting, when several members met for coffee and to discuss how best we can support this initiative. The aim is to promote awareness of
the UN ‘Orange the World‘ campaign to Eliminate Violence Against Women, and also of Soroptimism. We have agreed to hold a monthly meet-up at the Moro Lounge in Richmond Market Place. The Moro Lounge management are being very supportive, as they wish to develop community links. We will meet on the 25th of every month from 10.30, wearing orange and our ‘Stop the Violence’ badges, and displaying leaflets/flyers etc, in the hope of interesting other customers in our activities. As well as having coffee and a nice chat!
Lend With Care
We have just donated £252 to the Lend With Care programme, part of the Care International charity. This programme provides loans – micro-finance – to small entrepreneurs in developing nations to enable people to start or develop businesses. These businesses help applicants out of poverty, so they can better support themselves and their families. Raising even small amounts of capital is incredibly difficult for people with low incomes, so this programme is invaluable.
We divided the money up between 6 applicants, all women, living in Ecuador, Pakistan, Zambia, Vietnam, and Peru. Their businesses are very varied: dealing in dried fish, tailoring and dressmaking, livestock rearing, wig-making, and traditional textile embroidery. We wish all our ladies’ luck in their enterprises. When they have been able to pay back their loans, we will be able to make more loans to new applicants. This is a wonderful way of providing aid which can be ongoing.
Coffee Morning on June 22nd
We held another of our fundraising Coffee Mornings at Richmond Town Hall on Thursday June 22nd. Sadly, numbers attending were rather low – which has become the norm on Thursdays since the Covid pandemic. However, between serving teas, coffees and biscuits, and running a raffle, tombola and bric-a-brac stall we were able to raise a total of £123.50. A nice boost for our charity fund. Thank you to all those who came and supported us. Our next Coffee Morning will be a Saturday in November, which hopefully will draw more customers.