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Soroptimists – Lockdown Action

Soroptimists with bags of essential items for local womens aid charity
Widnes Soroptimists with essentials for local women’s aid charity
South Lancashire Soroptimists recently held ‘virtual’ regional meetings. Covid-19 action reports featured strongly.

All clubs are very active during the Covid-19 pandemic. They are offering practical support to their own members – particularly those who are shielded – and to the wider community.

St Helens club, for example, gave a consignment of soaps to the local homeless centre to commemorate the club’s 77th anniversary. Liverpool’s Soroptimists have supplied toiletries and household items for the Whitechapel Centre for homeless people. Widnes and St Helens members have also been busy providing buckets full of cleaning materials – and in responding to pleas for more.

Leigh & District’s gift hampers for care home staff ‘made’ the local newspaper; and members gave local young carers aged 5 to 11 – so isolated at this difficult time – bags of ‘treats’.

Crafts have featured widely – sewn face masks for GP surgeries in Warrington; scrubs and face masks in Crosby; knitted ‘mask-extenders’ in St Helens; twiddle muffs in Southport. Leigh & District Soroptimists made scrub bags in response to a plea from one member, a midwife.

Bootle & District club members – in common with Soroptimists throughout the region – have continued to donate quantities of essential items to local foodbanks.

Southport’s Soroptimists responded to a plea from Greenbank High School for support for girls who needed computers for their home-schooling.

Women’s aid organisations continue to receive financial assistance from local clubs, including in Manchester. Crosby’s ‘marathon’ (to commemorate the club’s 82nd anniversary) raised much needed funds for their local domestic violence charity.

Sriya Kulupana, the region’s Programme Action Officer, co-ordinated the reports. As Sriya said: “South Lancashire’s Soroptimists may be in ‘lockdown’, but practical support for women and girls is being maintained. Local members are identifying local needs – and acting on them.”

Yvonne Gibbon, Region President, added: “It’s heartening to find out how much is being achieved. Our ‘virtual’ meetings, and our quarterly newsletter, keep us in touch. We share news and ideas. As Soroptimists we continue to ‘make a difference’ to people’s lives.”