During April Madam President was delighted to present Long Service Awards, together with flowers, to Maureen Turfrey (35 years) and Margaret Clarke (25 years).                 Whilst earlier in the day Betty Bates handed over the certificate and flowers to Margaret Walters (35 years) at her home.       All members are Past Presidents. Maureen (1995-1996); Margaret Walters (2004-2005) and Margaret Clarke (2003-2004 and 2017-2018). Congratulations ladies and thank you for those years of wonderful service and friendship.

  This year Soroptimist SIGBI celebrates their 90th birthday. We have set ourselves a challenge to achieve lots of things this year involving the number 90.     Tamworth Soroptimists collected items for our local Foodbank and smashed the number 90 by collecting 150 items.  

At our February Dinner Meeting, Tamworth Soroptimists and guests were delighted to welcome Jennifer McLelland as our speaker. Jenny, currently a West Midlands Police Superintendent and a member of SI Lichfield, enthralled us with the story of her career, spanning almost 30 years. Jenny highlighted the special work she undertook as part of the UK Disaster Victim Identification Team out in Thailand following the 2004 tsunami disaster, leading to special responsibilities in Birmingham during the COVID epidemic, all of which led to her being awarded the Queen’s Police Medal, which we agreed was richly deserved.   We look forward with anticipation to Jenny becoming the Regional President of Midland Chase Region in November 2024.

Thank you to Maureen Turfrey and the International Team for another great get together for our delayed Human Rights Lunch.       We raised over £200 for the Soroptimist International Foundation. This currently has two international projects running. One is for the education of women and girls from or in war-torn countries. The other is for public speaking competitions aimed at empowering girls and enhancing their communication skills. For more information please see:- https://www.soroptimistinternational.org/soroptimist-international-foundation/     The photos show that a good time was had by the Soroptimsts, family and friends.    

SI Tamworth started the new year by celebrating Burns Night. A good time was had by all, whether those energetic enough to dance or those chatting and watching following our meal. The haggis, neeps and tatties went down a treat with those who partook and we all were treated to a whiskey tot. Good food, good company and good fun – what better way for our first actual meeting of the year!

2023 ended with our Christmas party and our decorated Christmas tree in St Editha’s Church Christmas Tree Festival. Our theme was peace because as a quote from Albert Einstein shows:- “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding”

In November SI Tamworth presented Tamworth Hygiene Bank with the items they had collected over the last couple of months. Marie Ballard, Project Co-ordinator said “Thank you so much for your very generous donation which weighed in at 32kgs! We’re midway through getting a pack of toiletries out to each school for Christmas so it’s already been distributed!”

November is the month when Soroptimists support UNiTE ‘s campaign to end violence against women and girls. Our support started earlier in the year when we met up with friends and family to light a beacon. On the 25th November Tamworth Soroptimists and family braved the cold to see Tamworth Castle bathed in Orange light to signify the first day of 16 of activism to raise awareness of violence against women. Information and advice posters linked to the event were also displayed in a wide range of venues across the town. The colour orange is used because it symbolises a brighter future, free of violence.

Autumn 2023 was a busy time for Tamworth Soroptimists. Hannah Mann gave a most thought provoking talk about generative AI at our September dinner meeting. Hannah, daughter of our member Barbara and founder of Day One Strategy, took us on an informative journey through the pros and cons of Generative AI, a new subject to many! At our October dinner meeting two Tamworth Soroptimists talked about their lives and achievements. Members said “What a lovely dinner meeting and our two excellent speakers Ally Allerson and Debbie Brayshaw were the icing on the cake.” Another member said “our members are a real chocolate box of treasures as we heard and saw. Bravo to Ally and Debbie.” 180 years after her first visit, Queen Victoria, AKA Gwyneth Brown, made an appearance at our November dinner meeting. She told us stories about her life as Queen Victoria trying

Some of our members made it to Dublin for the Soroptimist International Convention. Pictured are (L-R – President Vicky Vernon; President Elect Ally Allerson and members Debbie Brayshaw and Chris Arrowsmith) with our poster promoting our work with Tamworth Community Together. Every Friday, since 2021, Tamworth Soroptimists give service to the ‘Befriending Phoneline’. During the Covid restrictions a phoneline was set up by Tamworth Community Together to help people, mainly to answer queries about food banks. As people returned to work this service was on the verge of closing, but the service had also identified many lonely and vulnerable people in our town. Tamworth Soroptimists came to the rescue. Initial training was given and we now call weekly 50-60 residents in need.