By kind permission of the Fattorini family Skipton Soroptimists, family and friends turned the world orange at their Yorkshire themed carol concert in December at Skipton Castle.  Members and guests wore orange in support of the ‘End of Violence Against Women” project.  A mix of traditional music and festive readings from the pen of Alan Titchmarsh to 6 year old Hollie Simpson set the tone and the support of Skipton Ladies Choir was an early Christmas present.  Mince pies and mulled wine was enjoyed and proceeds from the evening totalling £145.00 supported IDAS, the Independent Domestic Abuse Service which is one of President Susan’s charities this year. Special thanks to Skipton Ladies Choir, mince pie and wine providers and especially to Diana Chambers who co-ordinated the whole evening.

If you are in Skipton between the 10th and the 20th October, pop in to Skipton Library on the High Street to see our club’s display marking the UK Anti-slavery Day on October 18th. It includes lots of facts about modern slavery and information from the Medaille Trust as well. Make a note of what to look out for and also the phone number to ring if you have concerns about something you have seen: 0800 0121 700.

As 2018 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Emily Brontë, members of SI Skipton in Craven decided to visit the home of the Brontës in Howarth on Saturday 15th September. We started with a very informative talk about this unique family given by Judith Stamper from the Brontë Society and then we toured the Parsonage, enjoying viewing the rooms that the family used. We even saw the table at which the Brontë sisters sat to write. In the museum we could not believe how tiny the miniature books and magazines were that they had created. As one of the pictures shows, we enjoyed a bit of dressing up as well! Can you spot our President, Susan Mendoza, at the back??? We finished off our visit with some lovely food and drink at one of the cafes in Howarth.  

On Wednesday, July 4th 2018, President Susan Mendoza attended Skipton Academy’s Awards’ Evening and presented the first Soroptimist International of Skipton in Craven Achievement Award. This will now be presented annually to a female student from Skipton Academy who has consistently worked hard, achieved her potential and has high aspirations for the future. Year 9 student Emilie is the first to receive the award and in addition she will spend a day with President Susan at her place of work.

   President Susan Mendoza and Skipton Soroptimists hosted their annual Interclub meeting at their clubroom on Otley Street on Monday 25th June 2018.   Our speaker was Liz Andrew from The Medaille Trust, a charity which help rescue and give help and assistance to people who have been targeted in human trafficking.  Liz gave some shocking statistics and personal individual experiences, but also shared many positive outcomes and the work being undertaken in the many safe houses provided by the Medaille Charity.  Much more information is available on the charities website. Guest to the meeting included SI Yorkshire President, Chris Clark and friends from other neighbouring clubs. Picture l-r SI Yorkshire President Chris Clark, Liz Andrew, The Medaille Trust, Skipton Soroptimist President Susan Mendoza.

Our club has been raising money for two charities chosen by the President for the year 2017-2018: KASIN (Kids at School in Nepal) and IDAS (Independent Domestic Abuse Services). Recently we were able to present a cheque for £600.00 to each charity.        

 A Fairtrade Breakfast event organised by Skipton Soroptimists should have taken place on 1st March but was postponed due to the terrible weather that week. It will now take place at the Soroptimist Clubrooms, 28 Otley St., Skipton, on Wednesday 25th April from 8.30am-11am. A breakfast using Fairtrade food will be available and there will also be a Traidcraft Stall. All proceeds will go to the Fairtrade Foundation which seeks to make a difference to the lives of the people who grow the things we love. They do this by changing the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fair deal for farmers and workers in developing countries.

Fiona Broadfoot “Inspirational Women: Power of a Second Chance” – an event organised by Soroptimist International of Yorkshire in partnership with Kala Sangam Centre in Bradford to mark International Women’s Day – certainly lived up to its title today. Speakers Adeeba Malik, Kersten England, Kongosi, Noreen Khan and Fiona Broadfoot inspired us and sometimes brought us to tears. Their experiences and their thoughts about how far women still have to go to achieve true equality gave us a lot of food for thought.

We have taken the decision to cancel the Executive and Business meetings planned for Monday 5th March because of the present poor weather and uncertainty about what conditions will be like by then. We were due to present a cheque to Kids At School In Nepal (KASIN) at tomorrow’s meeting. KASIN is one of two charities we are supporting this year. This will now be presented at our next speaker meeting on March 19th. The speaker at that meeting will tell us about the other charity we are supporting: IDAS (Independent Domestic Abuse Services) and we will also present them with their cheque. IDAS is the largest specialist charity in Yorkshire supporting anyone experiencing or affected by domestic abuse or sexual violence

Please note that the Fairtrade Breakfast due to take place at our clubrooms tomorrow, Thursday 1st March, has now been postponed due to the weather. We hope to announce a new date for it soon.