Here is an update on our activities in October, which has been quite a busy month.
Soroptimist Cup Presentation at Risedale School
President Babs Hunt attended the Risedale School Awards night on 11th October. She presented the Soroptimist Cup for Making a Difference to student Ellie McGee. Ellie’s citation described her as “a wonderful positive asset to the School. Always smiling, she approached everything she did with positivity and enthusiasm and was a role model for had her peers. It is a pleasure to be able to reward Ellie for her uncountable contributions to Risedale School life, and we wish her every success in her future endeavours.”
Mayors Civic Service
Member Jan Beeton represented the club at the Mayor’s Civic Service. The current Mayor is the husband of one of our members – community service runs in the family.
October Meeting
We were very happy to welcome 3 prospective new members to our meeting, and 2 representatives of Spouse Force. Spouse Force works to engage army spouses in community activity in and around the Garrison, and reduce isolation. Our Club is developing a partnership with SpouseForce to enable their members to join our meetings in a similar manner to our Richmond School students on the Sharing our Skills project, which has been running for 12 years now.
The Fellmongers Company of Richmond
Jan was also the speaker at our October Meeting. She told us about the fascinating history of the Fellmongers Company of Richmond, of which she is a member. The origins lie in the medieval craft guilds which were found in market towns throughout the country. Each represented a particular craft, and was both a way of keeping the “mysteries” (craft techniques) of the crafts secret, to protect their livelihoods and maintain craft standards by limiting entry to qualified people. Ancient Guilds here in Richmond date from the mid 1100’s. Jan showed us the two crests of the Skinners and Glovers which amalgamated to form the Fellmongers, which were two of thirteen Trade Guilds in the town.
The modern-day Mayors of Richmond wear a wonderful ceremonial chain depicting all thirteen guild crests. On St George’s Day the Fellmongers of Richmond elect their new Master. The election is then followed by a procession to St Mary’s Church and a service of rededication for the Guild. Women are now equally a part of the Guild, and both our local ‘dignitaries’ Baroness Hale and Baroness Harris are former Masters. Each year there is also an Apprentice Award evening, to recognise the achievements of the local apprentices who have received Guild support.
Jan ended with a wonderful story of a Richmond resident, Henry Bradrigg, a Fellmonger and Alderman of Richmond in the 1th century. During the plague of 1645, when 600 people of Richmond died, many of the wealthier people fled for safety. However, Henry stayed on, he did a great deal to help and support the townsfolk of Richmond who became infected with plague. He set up ‘pest houses’ on the edge of town to isolate people, and paid for food to be delivered, as well as visiting victims to offer support. He suffered personal loss as his wife Anne, his grandson Henry, and his maid Anne, all died from the plague. Many Richmond people survived because of Henry’s help and support.
Certificates Awarded
President Babs was pleased to be able to present 3 Certificates to members of the club. Anne Potts and Anne Morton were given Soroptimist International 30 Year Long Service Awards, and Jenny Cathcart, PA Lead, accepted a SI Yorkshire Region shared Programme Action Award on behalf of the club. This was awarded for our Toilet Twinning of Richmond in this year’s Regional Awards.
Babs will be attending the next Yorkshire Regional Meeting in November at which she will be doing a short presentation on our Programme Action.
Programme Action Plans
Members signed up at the meeting to help run our fundraising Coffee Morning at the Richmond Town Hall, which will be taking place on the morning of 25th November. There was also an updated on plans for our campaign of awareness raising for the United Nations 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. We are planning to canvass businesses and other organisations around Richmond and Leyburn – plus the Garrison, with support from Spouse Force.
We aim to persuade them to put an orange display in their windows and display one of the posters Jenny has designed for the project on the “Orange the World” theme of the 16 days campaign. We will also provide flyers for their customers to pick up. As we are trying not to impinge on the vital Christmas shopping period, we will run the campaign from 25th to 30th November, tying it into our Coffee Morning as an ‘Orange Cafe’. The campaign will end with an Orange Cafe meeting at Morro Lounge on the 1st of November.
Bingo Night
On Friday 27th we held a very successful fundraising Bingo Night at the Richmond Rugby Club. Over 60 people attended, taking part in four fun games of Bingo plus a raffle, and consuming a delicious ‘Pie, Pea and Mash’ supper prepared and served by the Rugby Club Chef. We raised a total of £576 after costs, which is going to support Northallerton & District Breast Cancer Support Group, our charity for the year.