With thanks to President Agnes, we celebrated in style with a festive buffet!!! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy, successful and peaceful 2024.
Once again, SI Southport is sad to report a great loss, with the devastating news of the untimely passing of our dear friend and dedicated member, Margaret Davies. Many of us have wonderful memories of Margaret. She had been a member of SI Southport for many years, working tirelessly on the Executive, leading the club in 2008/9 and rising to the lofty heights of Regional President just a few years ago. With her organisational skills, combined with her caring, patient and compassionate nature (amongst other qualities), she was not only an outstanding Soroptimist but also a truly special person and friend. Barbara Welby presented this tribute to Margaret at our meeting at the start of November: “I first met Margaret when we worked at college on a joint cooking project with children from Merefield Special School. She was lively, friendly and caring. She knew of
SI Southport has been working closely with the charity Against Breast Cancer and, as October was breast cancer awareness month, we decided to ‘go pink’. Bernie’s pink Bra Banks have been established in Southport for well over a year and she established some extra venues for October. All our amazing and supportive embraced Breast Cancer Awareness Month and held special events to support the campaign including the following: – The Imperial Hotel hold a monthly Car Boot sale and the proceeds from their last event were donated to the ABC charity – The Bijou cinema screened ‘Grease’, with the proceeds donated to the ABC Charity – The Richmond took a Bra Bank during October and collected 3 bags full of bras at their Pensioners’ Lunch – The Grand hosted a bra bank and coloured their lights pink. Additionally, the Atkinson, our wonderful arts centre on
The last meeting of President Carol Cookson’s year celebrated our fund-raising efforts. Heather Shulver and her team prepared a wonderful West African buffet and gave us an update on the Don McMath School in the Gambia. For a number of years, our club has sponsored girls at the Don McMath School to progress their education through both primary and senior schools. It is always rewarding to read the girls’ reports – and to receive some lovely photos. We invited as our guests the recipients of our fund-raising activities. Cheques were presented to Riding for the Disabled, Samaritans, Alzheimer’s Society and Compassion Acts . The last presentation was made at the May meeting to the Learning Rooms, Southport. They gave an excellent presentation in the form of a video and then answered questions from SI Southport members. Well done to the team
On International Women’s Day (March 8th), President Carol Cookson, together with PA Chair Heather Shulver and member Maureen Ballard, joined members from SI Liverpool and SI Crosby on a visit to the new Royal Liverpool Hospital. The visit was organised by Sandy Taylor of SI Crosby and Angie from Liverpool University Hospital’s ‘R’ Charity. The team were given a tour of the hospital and its superb facilities. This included a visit to Ward 8B, which provided exceptional palliative care under the terms of the SWAN Pathway. The tour ended with a buffet lunch in the restaurant on the 10th floor which provided panoramic views of the city. After a very delayed project, it must be such a relief to be housed in a new, state of the art facility for both staff and patients. The whole building was well designed and provided shops, outdoor spaces,
Superdrug are committed to recycling the waste from all of their activities. When they announced that they would be collecting and recycling empty medicine blister packets, SI Southport members sprang into action. Boxes and bags have been placed in the clubroom and members have been collecting blister packs by the score. Periodically, PA Chair Heather Shulver and IPP Rosemary Moore collect the bags and deliver them to the Superdrug Pharmacy in Southport. The most recent delivery was last week – Heather, laden with bags, paid a visit to Superdrug. Superdrug have dedicated collection boxes in every pharmacy – for more information about Superdrug’s recycling commitments, please click here.
In early December, we celebrated International night with a Danish theme to celebrate our longest standing friendship link with SI Horsens. We were delighted to welcome guests Denise Parker, President of SI South Lancs, Carol Tynan, President of Southport Inner Wheel and Eleanor King from SI Widnes.
Our Bra Bank project is still in full swing. Organiser Bernie Reynolds is delighted to report that the Against Breast Cancer Bra Bank Campaign in October, which was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, has been a great success. There are 53 KG of bras waiting for collection to be sent to the Recycling Company. Bra banks have been positioned at over 20 sites. Some sites have been more successful than others and we are very grateful to Creative Hub in Cambridge Arcade, Holy Trinity Church and the One Vision Housing Complex ‘Mill Spring Court’ in Bootle. Many of the sites are happy to ‘host’ again for us next year and some sites are happy to keep their ‘banks’ for the time being. New sites have come on board which is also heartening. Currently there are ‘banks’ at:-
The annual Remembrance Sunday service was held on a beautiful sunny day at the Southport Cenotaph. Following the Exhortation from the Chairman of the Royal British Legion and ‘The Last Post’, a two-minute silence was observed by all present. Wreaths were then laid, beginning with a Representative from the Merseyside Lieutenancy and The Worshipful, The Mayor of Sefton, Councillor Clare Louise Carragher on behalf of the townspeople of Sefton. President Carol Cookson laid the wreath for Soroptimist International of Southport. The Presiding Minister led the act of commitment: – To commit to responsible living and faithful service – To strive for all that makes for peace – To seek to heal the wounds of war – To work for a just future for all humanity Following a blessing and the National Anthem, the contingents from the armed forces, cadets and many other groups marched down
Everyone is very welcome to SI Southport’s Christmas Fair, which will be held on Saturday 19th November from 10.00am – 12.00 noon at Baverstock House (entrance in Preston Road). There will be some great opportunities to stock up for Christmas, with craft, bric-a-brac and the ubiquitous cake stall – our members are super bakers! Entry is £3, including coffee/tea and mince pie. All proceeds are in aid of local charities.
