2018-19 Events

International Womens’ Day 8 March 2019

Richmond & Dale Soroptimists celebrated International Women’s Day by organising a talk entitled Step by Step by Ghazala Ahmad-Mear.  A full audience listened to a truly inspiring woman talking about her walk in 2018 to the South Pole on an expedition using only renewable energy.  Ghazala is married to the explorer Roger Mear who in 1986, with Robert Swan and Gareth Wood, made the first unsupported walk to the South Pole with the expedition ‘In the footsteps of Scott’.  Ghazala, who was a NHS Surgeon, shared her training programme with us and explained that Antarctica – the last great wilderness – is under threat from global warming. Glaciers are retreating and ice shelves the size of France  are breaking up.  By using only renewable energy on her walk, her strong message to us is, if we can survive the coldest, driest and most inhospitable place on Earth, then step by step we can make similar changes to our everyday lives and have a positive effect on climate change.

7 Richmond School students join the Share Your Skills programme

At our first meeting of 2019 we were delighted to welcome 7 female students from Richmond School. They are taking part in our ‘Share our skills’ project and will attend 3 meetings to gain an understanding of how a club runs. Pat Kilbane, the Yorkshire President, joined us and we had 2 speakers from our club.

Firstly Sue Young spoke about ‘Equal pay for work of equal value’.

Sue is a management consultant, who spent 4 years helping to design the NHS job evaluation scheme. We heard that before 1970 the average hourly earnings for full time female employees was 72% of men’s. The 1970 Equal Pay Act, outlawed separate rates of pay and allowed women to claim equal pay for equal work. There has been progress but it is slow. The UK is NOT in the top 20 gender equal countries.

Our second speaker was Michele Herdman who gave us an account of her visit to Uganda, working with the Kumi Community Fund.We learnt about the distribution of Afripads (washable sanitary pads), funding for goats, the making of fuel efficient stoves, setting up of clinics and providing equipment for disabled children and their families.

SIGBI Conference in Liverpool

Presenting Connie Mutunhu , SI Vabatsiri with US dollars to give to SI Harare, at the October Conference

RABI Donation

Sue presenting cheque of £1000 to Sally Collins for the farming charity Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution

Toilet Twinning

Richmond Soroptomists have their first twinned toilet with Richmond Cricket Club.

Our President Sue laying wreath on Armistace day.

The Club receiving the Mary Hillary Award for the STEM jobs for the girls project.

November Quiz Night at the Farmer’s Arms, Brompton on Swale.  Raised £500

Presidents’ Charity
At our July meeting we welcomed Debbie Barker CEO of The Rape & Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre, our chosen charity for the year, and Jaye Caffery an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA)  to tell us about the work that the Centre does.

Debbie explained that the Centre is a safe, women only environment, offering understanding & acceptance. Clients are given the opportunity to work through their feelings at their own pace ,away from the distractions of day to day life that can sometimes interfere with the healing process. They offer a free confidential service, a telephone support line, 20 hrs free face to face councelling service provided by women for women and girls aged 13 and above in the Darlington & Durham areas. They facilitate group programmes for sufferers of domestic abuse and guidance and support for those who are supporting someone who has been raped or abused.

Jaye explained her role as an ISVA. She is a trained specialist who offers non judgemental, practical and emotional support to  survivors of sexual abuse. Her role is to work with these women and help them access other support services & address long and short term needs, often supporting them through the criminal justice process.

The Centre is open Mon-Fri  9.00 – 5.00     Phone 01325 354 119

Email rsacc.dton@gmail.com.      Website www.rsacc-the Centre.org.uk

In August, we were able to present Debbie with a cheque for £1000

Ending Period Poverty
At the July mmeting,  all members were urged to lend their support to ending period poverty by signing the  online petition, set up by Cannock Soroptomists

Recent media reports have highlighted issues relating to what is being described as period poverty. 137,700 UK girls miss school each year in addition to putting their health at risk trying to manage without these essential items. Cannock Soroptimists believe funding is needed to end period poverty.

In Richmond itself, Soroptomists have committed to raising funds to provide Sanitary products to the local Food Bank run by the Tressel Trust.

Soroptomists at Bark in the Park
Members Sandy and Dorothy took our stand and information to a local Bark in the Park fundraising event in their local villa

Busy month in June

Members were out in the local library in June promoting our club.  The members in the photo  volunteer for CRACCL, the voluntary organisation which runs the libraries in Catterick, Richmond and Colburn.To find out more go to http://www.craccl.org/

#Vote100

Club member Chris Bowran, along with 23 other Yorkshire Soroptimists, joined Yorkshire Regional President Chris Clark on a trip to London to visit the Houses of Parliament and celebrate 100 years since some women were able to vote in parliamentary elections.   They met up with Mary Creagh MP from Wakefield for a lively discussion on issues affecting women and children. Later, some visited the London Museum to see The Votes for Women exhibition and visited the new Millicent Fawcett statue.

May Meeting

At our May meeting, the speaker was Elspeth Robinson from Darlington, founder of the Kumi Community Fund which is one of our president’s charities this year.  The fund works in central Uganda with disabled children, young people and their families. In this part of Uganda poverty, malnutrition, malarial infections and local genetic clustering result in a high incidence of maimed children, particularly with lower limb deformities and cerebral palsy.  Elspeth and her team help the sufferers with rehabilitation treatments, organise surgery and provide mobility aids which enable these children to be active members of their community, instead of being trapped in immobility and dependence.  The fund also supports their education and provides guidance, livestock and tools to improve incomes and diets of subsistence farming families with the aim of breaking the cycle of malnutrition and deformity.  Elspeth is a very inspiring speaker about this work which makes an enormous difference to many hundreds of people.

Soroptomists were active in Richmond on the Tour de Yorkshire weekend. They took part in the Wheels Within Wheels exhibition at St Mary’s Church and revitalised the Fragrance Garden at Friary Gardens.

Annual General Meeting

We had a well attended AGM where the retiring President, Angela Edwards, (see below) who was one of 10 for our Jubilee year, thanked all the club members for all their tireless work to make our Jubilee Year an exciting, thought provoking and very successful year of events. She handed the chain of office over to our two new presidents, Sue Eastham and Michele Herdman whose theme for the year is “Busy women , busy lives”, hence the sharing of the busy role of President. Many events have been planned which will raise awareness and funds for this year’s adopted charities, the main ones being The Rape & Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre, based in Darlington, and Mission Direct, Kumi, Uganda.

Our Jubilee Year draws to a close

As our 60^th Charter Anniversary year draws to a close, we have looked back at some very happy and successful events.    Highlights have been:

The Jubilee Weekend, from 23 to 25 June 2017, a resounding success –

• starting with the Friendship evening catered by our own Club members, then
• a scenic drive through our beautiful dales to Hawes, a tour of Wensleydale Creamery and lunch
• an evening sing-along view of “South Pacific” (a film that just happened to be released in the same year as our club was chartered – 1957)
• a Charter lunch at Tennants Auction Rooms in Leyburn attended by 90 guests including SIGBI Federation President, Ann Hodgson and members from all our Friendship Link Clubs in Harare, Basel, Easter Ross and Durham.

Our STEM Jobs for the Girls Conference another success and great achievement for the many club members who worked tirelessly to bring to fruition –

• Our aim to raise awareness of STEM opportunities for girls was realised
• 203 Year 9 girls attended the Conference held at RAF Leeming with teachers
• Other organisations and professionals were engaged and delivered amazing workshops
• Inspiring speakers addressed the girls and teachers
• A stimulating ‘Market Place’ saw displays by companies and organisations, universities and colleges providing a wide variety of information and opportunities to network

The feedback has been very positive, a comprehensive report has been widely distributed and very well received.    Our local MP, Rishi Sunak wrote:

“Last year I gave my support to a project led by Richmond and Dales Soroptimists International … .   The project – called STEM: Jobs for the Girls – included a one-day conference and workshop sessions at RAF Leeming. More than 200 schoolgirls from all over Yorkshire and North-East got a taste of these subjects and their practical applications.

I have just read a comprehensive report on the project and it was a tremendous success with pupils subsequently expressing interest in taking degree course or apprenticeship routes to STEM careers.

There were also lessons to be learned and one is that careers advice in schools is patchy and we need to share best practice. I have written to the Schools Minister, with a copy of the project report, urging him to ensure all girls get the best careers advice and fulfil their potential to be the great engineers and scientists of the future”

We have enjoyed many other club gatherings and meetings all reported on previously.     As an active and welcoming Club we are always looking at ways to encourage new members to join us and our banner and information are currently on show at the local library.    We welcome enquiries so we would like to hear from anyone through the website.

As always, the thread running through everything we do are the aims we set to enable, educate and empower women and girls at home and internationally, our Programme Action.      Our fundraising, focus on local and international projects are at the heart of our meetings and events.    Through teamwork, dedication, hard work and friendship we have accomplished so much during the year and we are looking forward to another positive year ahead with two new Presidents sharing the role, Sue Eastham and Michele Herdman.

New Members welcome – the display in our  local library

March Club Meeting

It was a pleasure to welcome to our meeting, Terry Anne Scholes, a Hypnotherapist and Laughter Practitioner with 20 years experience of making people laugh!  The members did not quite know what to expect from her workshop ‘Life in the Laugh Lane’, but were game for anything!   She began by reminding us of the words of recently departed and much loved comedian Ken Dodd – who said ‘Life would be tragic if it wasn’t so funny!’

Terry Anne’s view of laughter is to encourage all to smile through adversity, and even illness, as the benefits of laughter are well documented – including lowering blood pressure, neutralising cortisols and releasing endorphins, which give us the ‘feel good’ factor.   Terry Anne then showed the members how to belly laugh – which caused much hilarity in the group.  But the evening ended with everyone feeling less stressed than earlier in the day – so a successful outcome! Terry Anne can be contacted at www.terryanne.com

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY  8th March, 2018

International Women’s Day is a date of celebration and the 8 March is a day always marked by the club.

Our speaker Irene Lofthouse was sadly unable to deliver her talk,  presenting ‘Words, Women and War.   A wonderful afternoon tea had been prepared for 60 people however, so cancellation was not an option, and the club rallied, especially Jenny who offered her services as speaker and spoke at short notice on the history of communication.

A wonderful afternoon enjoyed by all, and £265 raised towards Soroptimist International charities.

A plentiful tea provided by members of the Club!

January Club Meeting

S I RICHMOND & DALES were delighted to welcome journalist Sharon Griffiths to their meeting. Sharon was known to many members who avidly read her column in the Northern Echo.

Her early career path had not been easy, and Sharon entertained us with stories of overt sexism, not least when she was appointed as Head of Press and Public Relations at Southern TV – many times members of the public would telephone and ask to speak to ‘the man in charge!’ But Sharon took it all in good part, and maybe that is part of the reason she has written a successful column for the past 27 years.

She has certainly found a stimulating career in journalism, and regards it as a privilege – not least the access to fabulous places, and interesting people.

But times are changing, newspaper circulation figures are falling and many titles have closed. The internet is the way forward – often with millions of readers worldwide.

Sharon ended her entertaining and thought provoking talk by stating – The Future is Bright!