Poppies and snowdrops feature in successful Programme Action projects carried out by Soroptimists in three of South Lancashire’s clubs.
Soroptimists in St Helens recruited 10 nimble-fingered volunteers to help produce hand knitted red woollen poppies in aid of the Royal British Legion (RBL).
Alison Tickle (Joint Chair of Programme Action) said, “Our club members wanted to mark the 100th anniversary of World War 1 in a very special way. We raised a fabulous £4,880 and presented the cheque to Dame Lorna Muirhead, who is Patron of the RBL in Merseyside, at a tribute evening.”
Her PAC colleague, Sue Black added, “Special guest at the tribute event was Andy Reid of St Helens. Seriously injured in Afghanistan, he has first hand experience of the RBL’s emotional and financial support. We were delighted, too, that the Sea Cadets of TS Scimitar spoke about their visit to Normandy for the D-Day Landings Commemoration. This was a ‘thank you’ for our club’s contribution to the venture.”
As part of the Soroptimists’ WW1 project, St Helens members have sown poppy seeds at the base of The Dream, the St Helens landmark sculpture at Sutton Manor.
In Stockport, too, poppies featured prominently: just three keen knitters raised over £1,000. Liz McConnell (Immediate Past Regional President, and a club member) said, “We certainly have some ‘real stars’ in Stockport!!”
Meanwhile, Val Moss (Chair, SI Manchester’s Programme Action) updates the club’s participation in the ‘Snowdrop City’ project. “The snowdrops that our Soroptimists helped to plant last year in Parsonage Gardens are now flowering. The initiative, funded by the National Trust, commemorates the centenary of the outbreak of World War 1. Each snowdrop plant has a delicate flower, so they were planted in large groups to give the best effect. They will naturalise and return year after year – and give much pleasure to everyone.”
