{"id":893,"date":"2026-10-15T11:13:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T11:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/?page_id=893"},"modified":"2026-11-01T10:12:03","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T10:12:03","slug":"history-of-our-club","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/about-our-club\/history-of-our-club\/","title":{"rendered":"History of our club"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\n\t<section class=\"wysiwyg-outer secondary  left section\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t <p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>The early projects and activities reflected the \u2018lean \u2018years following the Second World War<\/strong>\u00a0and met the needs of local people and charities. From reading the records, the first project of the Club was a Christmas Draw and its proceeds funded a distribution of 10 shillings each to 33 needy ladies of the district and it seemed that subsequent fundraising was mostly done through raffles, whist drives and selling embroidered pieces at a regular bring-and-buy stall.\u00a0 The records show that our first service project was transcribing print into braille.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>We\u2019ve learnt that we follow in the footsteps<\/strong>\u00a0of some strong and amazing women whose actions and concerns still echo with us today. The local newspaper in 1948 reported the words of the first President Miss M E Moston: \u201cIf we could only get women to take a greater part in the world\u2019s affairs we should not only get peace we should keep it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n\t<section class=\"accordion-outer    section\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    <header class=\"section-header container\">\n\t\t\t        <div class=\"section-header-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"section-header-title\">The Early Years<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"section-header-summary\"> <\/div>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    <\/header>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion-button accordion-trigger\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion-panel-Club-Members-Learn-Braille\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tClub Members Learn Braille <svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/themes\/honeycom3\/assets\/svg\/icons.svg#arrow-right\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-panel\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-button-Club-Members-Learn-Braille\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-description content\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-895\" src=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/First-Chairmans-Sunday-1948-CROPPED-copy-300x290.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/First-Chairmans-Sunday-1948-CROPPED-copy-300x290.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/First-Chairmans-Sunday-1948-CROPPED-copy-600x579.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/First-Chairmans-Sunday-1948-CROPPED-copy-400x386.jpg 400w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/First-Chairmans-Sunday-1948-CROPPED-copy-621x600.jpg 621w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/First-Chairmans-Sunday-1948-CROPPED-copy.jpg 671w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Supporting and volunteering for projects connected with Vision \/ Eyesight would appear to be a thread that has run through the club since 1948.<br \/>\nIn June 1948 just over a year after the club was founded, the then Club President Miss Muriel Preece received a letter from the secretary to the Chief Librarian at the National Library for the Blind in Manchester asking for help.<br \/>\nWithout any hesitation the members decided to respond and immediately invited someone to come and speak to them at their July Social Meeting. No one was available at such short notice so without more ado they cancelled their social meeting and took themselves off on a train to Manchester to visit the library for themselves.<br \/>\nThe outcome of this visit was that the library promised that an instructor would come across from Manchester to give members their first lesson in transcribing print into Braille \u2013 the club secretary was responsible for arranging her train journey and making sure she arrived on time.<br \/>\nWe have no record of how many members were involved in this training but minutes of a later meeting record that the Club president gave an update of progress being made by members, and that a further machine was being presented to the club by Mr Crowther \u2013 who was proprietor of the Club meeting venue and this news and I quote \u2018was received with great applause by the club!\u2019<br \/>\nNothing more is recorded about this project until October 1950 when two members gave an account of an event, they had attended by invitation, to a Braille Reading Contest in Whalley Range High School where they had been and again I quote \u2018were impressed by the happy atmosphere and the age range of those competing \u2013 from young children in Elementary School to older competitors, and that prizes had been presented by Mrs Bromley Davenport \u2013 I think we can be certain that she was wearing a very smart hat and of course gloves!<br \/>\nThere are no further references as to how long this project continued \u2013 no Programme Focus Reports to refer to in those day! But there are references later on to the Club giving financial support to the work of St Dunstan\u2019s \u2013 now known as Blind Veterans UK. This was a charity set up set up to provide training, rehabilitation and lifelong support to those blinded in the First World War. Interestingly their headquarters were for a short time in Bayswater Road.<br \/>\nFurther down the line, The Club eagerly supported the International Presidents project working with Sight Savers.<br \/>\nAnother major service project undertaken by the club was in the 90\u2019s and into the 2000\u2019s when members were on a rota of volunteer readers for the Runcorn Talking Newspaper. This was a weekly commitment and to this day \u2013 well at least until Lockdown when the service stopped- one of our members is a reserve reader for this project.<br \/>\nThose wonderful eager and determined women who went before us are an inspiration to us all and as a club we are so proud of their achievements.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n\t<section class=\"accordion-outer    section\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    <header class=\"section-header container\">\n\t\t\t        <div class=\"section-header-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"section-header-title\">Founder Member<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    <\/header>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion-button accordion-trigger\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion-panel-Founder-Member---First-Woman-Town-Council-Chair\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFounder Member &#8211; First Woman Town Council Chair <svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/themes\/honeycom3\/assets\/svg\/icons.svg#arrow-right\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-panel\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-button-Founder-Member---First-Woman-Town-Council-Chair\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-description content\"><p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-924\" src=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Miss-Preece-1961-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Miss-Preece-1961-192x300.jpg 192w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Miss-Preece-1961-384x600.jpg 384w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Miss-Preece-1961.jpg 532w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/>Club members were invited by Halton Borough Council Registration services to Runcorn Town Hall to be present at the opening by the Worshipful the Mayor of Halton Cllr. Valerie Hill of the Preece Suite, which has been named after one our club founder members Miss Muriel Preece MBE<br \/>\nMuriel Jessie Preece was the first women to chair the Runcorn Urban District Council in 1961.<br \/>\nMuch interest was shown in finding out about Muriel Preece, so the club was able to share some of the club archive material with the Registration Service, and\u00a0Runcorn &amp; District Historical Society\u00a0\u2013 they will also learn more about the other amazing women who preceded us.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-897\" src=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Muriel-Preece-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Muriel-Preece-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Muriel-Preece-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Muriel-Preece-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Muriel-Preece-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Muriel-Preece-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/Muriel-Preece.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-993\" src=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/11\/Preece-suite-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/11\/Preece-suite-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/11\/Preece-suite-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/11\/Preece-suite.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n\t<section class=\"accordion-outer    section\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    <header class=\"section-header container\">\n\t\t\t        <div class=\"section-header-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"section-header-title\">70th Charter Celebrations<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    <\/header>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion-button accordion-trigger\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion-panel-70-Years-of-Service\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t70 Years of Service <svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/themes\/honeycom3\/assets\/svg\/icons.svg#arrow-right\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-panel\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-button-70-Years-of-Service\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion-description content\"><p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-930\" src=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-300x191.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-1024x654.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-768x490.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-1536x980.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-800x511.jpg 800w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-600x383.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-400x255.jpg 400w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-1692x1080.jpg 1692w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3-940x600.jpg 940w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-3.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-932\" src=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-291x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"291\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-291x300.jpg 291w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-992x1024.jpg 992w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-768x793.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-1488x1536.jpg 1488w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-800x826.jpg 800w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-600x619.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-400x413.jpg 400w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-1395x1440.jpg 1395w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-1046x1080.jpg 1046w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1-581x600.jpg 581w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/10\/70th-Charter-1.jpg 1984w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 291px) 100vw, 291px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Club members celebrated the 70<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0Anniversary of their chartering in style at Forest Hills Hotel Frodsham on Saturday 17<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0March. We were delighted to welcome Federation President Sue and Region President Hilary together with their husbands to this special occasion. President Sandra invited our special guests to cut our splendid celebration cake.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">We received many greetings from near and far and were very happy to receive a special gift from our Mother Club Ellesmere Port and District \u2013 they have twinned a toilet on our behalf!<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">President Hilary proposed the toast to Soroptimist International and President Sue responded. They were both generous in their praise for our Club and its work over the years and encouraged us to carry on. President Sue also reminded us that we should take time to think about ourselves and to enjoy what we do.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Entertainment was provided by the delightful Kiwi Chorus. Finally President Sandra thanked our guests for joining us and reminded us that it is our members who are our strength; for seven decades the dedication, skills, friendship, and sense of enjoyment have been, and still are the strength of our Club.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":0,"parent":26,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"page-themes":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-893","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":998,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/893\/revisions\/998"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"page-themes","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page-themes?post=893"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/runcorn-frodsham-and-district\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}