27 September 2012
ZIMBABWE – PROGRAMME ACTION
Past President, Chris Bowran, who with four SI-Yorkshire colleagues visited the five Soroptimist Clubs in Zimbabwe last month, gave an enthralling presentation to Club members and many guests about the Soroptimist-led activities in Zimbabwe. SI-Harare was established 76 years ago and was the first Soroptimist Club in the whole of Africa.
Because of the economic situation in the country, poverty is the norm for the majority of people regardless of the fact that the rate of literacy is high. Electricity supply is limited and erratic, a clean water supply for most people is virtually non-existent and bore-holes, where they exist, rely on expensive electricity-powered pumps. But despite the substantial physical and financial limitations, the five Zimbabwean Clubs have funded, and continue to support, a very large number of educational, health and welfare projects. These include: support and mentoring for pregnant women with HIV/Aids; residential care for the aged and destitute; hostels for lost, orphaned or abandoned street-children; latrine blocks for schools; play-areas at clinics; youth work of various kinds; improving inadequate living accommodation for teachers at one school; cervical screening clinic.
Chris took with her the £1,000 raised by SI-Richmond & Dales from running three Call My Bluff evenings. The money provided £200 for each of the five Clubs to be spent on specific, ongoing projects. SI-Zimbabwe members not only help to set up and support projects but they monitor progress at all levels. It was humbling to hear how even the poorest of the population are themselves involved in community work. The range of work supported by Zimbabwe Club members is truly astounding.
In the photograph, Chris Bowran (fourth from right) with colleagues from SI-Harare and SI-Yorkshire buying oranges on the long journey from Harare to Kwe Kwe at a roadside fruit and vegetable stall. They took them to the Kwe Kwe hospital project which is supported by SI-Kwe Kwe.
19 July 2012
BRINGING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER THROUGH SONG AND MUSIC
John Forsythe MBE FRSA, violinist and guitarist, founder of the Tees Valley Youth Choir, founder and director of the newly formed North East Youth Chorale and director of the Cleveland Philharmonic Choir has worked with young people for more than 40 years.
John enthralled us, firstly by playing two pieces of Elizabethan guitar music and then by giving us an inspirational talk about current influences on musical performance, his experience of working with young singers and an exciting new project, the Gabrieli Young Singers Scheme. The project brings together four of the best of British youth choirs, one of which is the North East Youth Chorale, with the Gabriele Consort’s professional musicians in the performance of masterpieces of the oratorio tradition.
[More information about the Gabrieli Young Singers Scheme at: http://www.gabrieli.com/aboutus/gabrieli-young-singers-scheme.html]
21 July 2012
TEENAGE CANCER TRUST
Abigail Batchelor, Regional Fundraiser for the Teenage Cancer Trust gave a stimulating and thought-provoking talk about the work of the Trust in the Yorkshire & Humberside Region. The Trust is one of our President’s charities this year.
Every day in the UK, six young people between the ages of 16-24 will be diagnosed with
cancer yet, because only 0.5% of all cancers occur in teenagers and young adults, they are often misdiagnosed initially which can decrease their chances of survival. Not only can they get some of the most rare and aggressive forms of cancer but the emotional upheaval of adolescence can make a cancer diagnosis even harder to cope with.
Until the age of 16 yrs a teenager is likely to be treated in a paediatric ward alongside children and babies. After that age many are cared for in adult wards with elderly patients; their feeling of isolation in both those environments is acute. To date, however, the Teenage Cancer Trust has funded, developed and opened 17 specialist units for young people in NHS hospitals across the UK where they can be treated together by experts in teenage cancer care in an environment tailored for them. Five of the 17 specialist units are in Yorkshire & Humberside.
The Trust not only raises awareness of the prevalence of cancers but also leads the world in the care of young people with cancer and has transformed the experiences of thousands of them.
Visit the Trust’s website: www.teenagecancertrust.org
17 May 2012
TARGET OVARIAN CANCER
One of our President’s charities is Target Ovarian Cancer. Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cause of death from cancer in women in the UK but most women know little, if anything, about it prior to diagnosis and most delay going to their GP.
Because most women know relatively little about the condition our Club held a lively awareness-raising event on a busy market day in Richmond’s Market Place early this month.
This month, too, we were delighted to welcome as our speaker, Amy Cartlidge, Target Ovarian Cancer’s Fundraising Manager who gave a fascinating account of the charity’s work and, in particular, the preliminary research that was carried out in the UK prior to wider research collaboration in Europe.
Target Ovarian Cancer has just been awarded one of the prestigious, annual GSK Impact Awards The citation reads: Target Ovarian Cancer is the national ovarian cancer charity working to save lives and help women diagnosed live their lives to the full, wherever they live in the UK.
19 JANUARY 2012
JENNY MOONEY, PRISON GOVERNOR
It was a pleasure to have as our speaker, Jenny Mooney, Prison Governor of Deerbolt Prison, shortly taking up a new post as Governor of Home House, Prison, Stockton on Tees. Jenny outlined her career from Probation Officer to Prison Governor, projecting a very humane view of her outlook on her work. She was thanked by Carole le Duc.
