At the start of October, we celebrated Friendship Night with our friendship links across the world. We joined on Zoom with our links in Dhanmondi in Bangladesh, Caserta in Italy, Horsens in Denmark and Gdańsk in Poland. Unfortunately, our friends in Lisburn, Northern Ireland could not join us this year as they had their own meeting. We heard from each of the friendship links about their club, activities and projects and it was wonderful to learn about the impact that Soroptimists are making in their local communities. As is our tradition, we lit a candle of friendship for each of our links and this was reciprocated. President Carol Cookson then lit a candle for Soroptimist International. SI Southport have always celebrated Friendship Night with the exchange of greetings with our friendship links. Since lockdown, with the advent of improved communications technology, we have been able

Our Programme Action project – Supporting Against Breast Cancer with the collecting of bras via ‘Bra Banks*’ – is launched! With grateful thanks to the Imperial, we hosted an informal gathering of our bra bank ‘hosts’ with SI Southport President Carol Cookson, Bernie Reynolds, who instigated the project, and other members of the club. Bernie explained the background to the project and the wonderful contribution made by local businesses and organsiations to champion and promote the cause. NO BRA IS TOO OLD OR TOO WORN OR TOO UNLOVED – the Bra Banks would like them all! Bra Banks are appearing all over Southport and the wider Merseyside area. We are so grateful to local businesses and organisations for hosting a Bra Bank, including: All Saints Church Creative Hub, Cambridge Walks The Imperial Mandala Yoga Poundstretcher Queen Bees One Vision Housing in Merseyside Brooks Court –

Members of Soroptimist International Southport are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen dedicated her life to the service of the nation and held fast to that promise. We are grateful to Her Majesty for a lifetime of devoted service to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Our thoughts are with the Royal Family at this very sad time.  

One of our new members, Bernie Reynolds, needs your ‘support’! The charity Against Breast Cancer’s bra recycling scheme takes unwanted or unloved bras and through their network of bra banks, raise vital funds for pioneering breast cancer research. The same bras also help to support small businesses in developing countries in Africa and around the world. Together with the charity’s recycling partners, the textile recovery project prevents these bras going into landfill by giving them a new lease of life in countries such as Togo, Ghana and Kenya, where bras remain expensive to produce locally. Successful ventures like this provide an income for families in developing countries whilst providing employment for people living in the UK. Any bras that are genuinely beyond redemption are dismantled and disposed of properly. So it’s time to bin your bra! For every tonne of bras collected, Against Breast Cancer receives

We were delighted to welcome two members to SI Southport. Jill Newsham has known a number of our members for some time and was invited to present to the club about the ‘Department Stores of Southport’ at the start of 2022 (see the article on our website) She gave a fascinating talk, with a great depth of personal knowledge. We were delighted when Jill accepted our invitation to join SI Southport. We know she will be a great Soroptimist and has already been an active participant in our club activities since joining.                   Miriam McCann rejoined SI Southport after a couple of years absence. She was a very enthusiastic member of the club when she first joined, especially in the area of Programme Action, which is the key objective for all Soroptimist Clubs. We are so pleased

SI Southport members, friends and guests celebrated their 90th Charter in June. The club was chartered in March 1932, a few years after our mother club, SI Liverpool. To commemorate and celebrate our 90th anniversary, and with thanks to one of our new members, Bernie Reynolds, we were invited to create a display in the foyer of the Atkinson in the town centre during May. For those not familiar with Southport, the Atkinson is the town’s home for music, theatre, art, literature and history, a multi-purpose creative arts centre. With the assistance of the wonderful team at the Atkinson, we put together a slideshow and photo display, showing some of the activities of the club members over 9 decades. We were able to display many of the artefacts from the club’s history, including our original charter and an early Minutes book from 1933. We also

Past President Rosemary Moore introduced this project to our club members. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting programme devoted to inspiring a love of reading in the hearts of children everywhere. The programme was launched in the UK in December 2007 – with a visit from Dolly Parton to London – and since then, the Imagination Library has grown and now work with over 200 affiliate partners and deliver more than 40,000 books every month to children living in communities across the UK. SI Southport are sponsoring this programme locally in conjunction with Marshside Road Pre-School in Southport. Each month, the currently enrolled children up to age five receive a high quality, age-appropriate book in the post. The books are carefully selected, and full of variety. They include traditional stories and rhymes, books by beloved authors and illustrators, non-fiction content, and newly published titles. On

As with most organisations, the last two years have been very challenging for fund-raising – and even more challenging for local charities. With great support from our members and friends, SI Southport continued to run some small fundraisers. Some were virtual – such as balloon races, remote dinners and raffles – and some had a more traditional format – such as our Christmas Fair at All Saints Church Hall and an Auction, run by Social Chair, Jean Tweddell. As a result, we boosted our charity funds and had the opportunity to make some donations to some local charities.               Queenscourt Hospice We are fortunate to have this wonderful hospice in Southport and Barbara Cox, one of the volunteers, gave us an overview. Queenscourt receives only 20% of its costs from the NHS, the rest being contributed by fund-raising and

As reported last year, Keith Porter, the cox of the Southport Lifeboats came to talk to us about the wonderful service run totally by volunteers. He proffered an invitation to members to visit the sparkling new Lifeboat House, which was due to open by the end of 2021.We were delighted to visit in March and see the amazing facility that has been entirely funded by public donations, directly and via their charity shop. The crews of the lifeboat provide an outstanding and vital service to the people of Southport and it was a great pleasure for President Carol to present a donation to Keith. For more information, please see the Southport Lifeboat’s website.  

Victoria Park In May 2021, members of Soroptimist International Southport gathered in Victoria Park, Southport to plant trees, as part of the SI centenary project. The first action taken by Soroptimists in 1921 was to save trees and 100 years later, we are ‘Planting Trees for a Brilliant Future’. As part of the Woodland Trust’s reforestation project – ‘A TREE TODAY, A FOREST TOMORROW’ – Alan Adams, the General Manager of Southport Flower Show and the Victoria Park Management Company, secured a supply of saplings which he offered to schools, community groups and local organisations for planting in Victoria Park. Every tree planted will contribute to the global reforestation efforts, restoring lost forests, repairing damaged ecosystems and mitigating climate changes. Alan generously provided the saplings – and some assistance from Victoria Park volunteer Simon Moorhouse. The Soroptimists planted 60 crab-apple saplings from the ‘Wild Wood’