Fairtrade Fortnight 2018 runs from Monday 26th February to Sunday 11th March. A Fairtrade Breakfast event has been organised by Skipton Soroptimists. It will take place at the Soroptimist Clubrooms, 28 Otley St., Skipton, on Thursday 1st March from 8.30am-11am. There will  be an opportunity to buy goods from a Traidcraft Stall and a  breakfast consisting of Fairtrade food will be available. All proceeds from the breakfast 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.

From 25 November through 10 December, Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence aim to raise public awareness and mobilize people everywhere to bring about change. This year, the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign invites you to “Orange the world,” using the colour designated by the UNiTE campaign to symbolize a brighter future without violence. Our photo shows the club members doing their bit to “Orange the World”

Last Friday, October 20th, President Jane presented prizes, given by SI Skipton in Craven, to pupils at Greatwood Primary School, Skipton, for the best posters created on the topic of what makes a good friend. At the start of the Autumn Term 200 “Friends” bookmarks were given to the school by the club along with suggestions for how they could be incorporated into a project on Friendship. One side, which is red, has a list of warning signs and behaviours that suggest that someone wanting to ‘be your friend’ may have a hidden and dangerous agenda. The reverse side, which is green, lists the actions and behaviours a good friend would exhibit such as politeness, encouragement and a willingness to listen. The bookmarks were a result of work done by pupils of Trinity All Saints CE  Primary School, in Bingley, and were developed with the Bingley branch of

We are grateful to Skipton Library for allowing us to survey members of the public on what they know about Modern Slavery. This took place on Wednesday 6th October. The survey was part of the work of UK Soroptimists’ Programme Action to raise awareness of Modern Slavery. It was very interesting to see how awareness of this problem varied. Initial results will be available at the National Soroptimist Conference running from 26th to 28th October in Cardiff and a more detailed analysis will be available next year. Pictured is Rosalie Holroyd, member of SI Skipton in Craven,  and one of our younger respondents. 

On October 2nd we held our Interclub meeting. Tim Crossley gave a fascinating talk about some World War One medals his family possessed but which did not belong to any of his relations. We also celebrated the 50 year anniversary of the very first meeting held in our club-rooms with a lovely cake. Yorkshire President Elect Chris Clark attended and we were able to present her with several bags of items for a refuge for trafficked women. A good night was had by all!

Message from President Jane Firstly, congratulations to everyone who has been involved in all the different fund-raising events that have taken place in the first four months of my year in office. We have raised almost a thousand pounds for the Meru Project (from Gardeners’ Question Time and the three Strawberry teas). We raised over £300.00 for “Hope not Hate” from our Great Get Together event in memory of Jo Cox and then another £240.00 for my two charities on August 15th. Now we need to look forward to the coming months and see how we can support other groups. Together we can achieve great things. In friendship, Jane

Knitted hats for premature babies in The Gambia Kathleen Sutton has updated us with a report from Janet Brookes as follows:- “Margaret Crossey is a lady we have come to know from going to The Gambia, she has been going for approximately 25 year, and one thing that has never changed is the poverty. “She now spends six months of the year living in Garrabunda, one of the most populated areas of The Gambia. The other six months she lives in Southport and spends her time collecting items to ship out in containers to her partner Ebraham. He then picks everything up from the docks and takes them to their house. “The locals always seem to know when Margaret (or twabab -White person) has arrived back as they form a queue outside her compound waiting to see what she has brought. She also takes the

  MERU PROJECT Afternoon Tea over the Border! Thanks to Sheila Tattersall for hosting an afternoon tea at her home in Clitheroe in aid of the MERU PROJECT on 30th July.  Ably assisted by fellow member Barbara Sanderson, Trevor and Jim and blessed with a sunny afternoon.  A delicious Lancastrian afternoon tea and raffle  raised £206.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Ahead of Breast Cancer Awareness month (September) Ann Reeve took part in a fundraising challenge in South Wales. The challenge involved a 22 mile walk, over the weekend of 19th – 20th August, along the coast line of the Gower Peninsula. Money raised is for a charity called Breast Cancer Now which funds research – 1 in 8 women in the UK face breast cancer in their lifetime and every 45 minutes a woman dies from the disease. If you would like to sponsor Ann please click on the link below to make an on-line payment, Ann will, of course, accept cold hard cash or cheques if that is preferable. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/AnnThomasReeve

President Jane’s AT HOME event was held on 15th August £240 was raised to be shared between her two Charities, KASIN AND IDAS