The sun shone for our South African themed garden party. A huge well done and thanks to our host, Madam President Vicky for your hospitality. We raised a whopping £680 for our chosen charity Love the one.           Love the One, itself as a concept, exists to stand alongside poor, abused, orphaned, exploited and marginalised children in India. One child at a time. Their work began in 2007, and since then they have evolved into a charity that is passionate about child-centred development. Children represent the future and are often the starting point for breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty, abuse and discrimination. Their vision is simple, they want to be part of creating a world where children’s rights are not just documented in a charter but are realised in practical ways to allow freedom for every child to reach their full

In February members collected 157 items for the Tamworth Foodbank (https://tamworth.foodbank.org.uk/ )           The speaker at our February Dinner meeting was Amanda Bailey. Amanda is the Home-Start Tamworth Support and Visiting Officer. She gave members a valuable insight into the progress made by Home-Start since the return to normality after COVID. She also shared details of what a typical day involves for her and the many volunteers that help families with young children. For more information about the work of Tamworth Home-Start please visit their website:- https://homestarttamworth.org.uk/    

We are delighted to report that Tamworth Soroptimists had a super Human Rights Lunch at the WI Hall in Drayton Bassett, and we have put together a collages of the photos taken to share with you. Thank you to everyone involved – Maureen and the International Committee for organising and every one that made the delicious soups, put together the cheese, rolls and cake, and provided the tea and coffee. Thanks to the efficient waitresses and the team in the kitchen! Thank you to everyone that provided a raffle prize AND a special thank you to all who came to support us. We raised the sum of £265 as our contribution to the International President’s Appeal, Opening Doors to a Brighter Future.     

During our Christmas party members presented Marie Ballard, Tamworth Hygiene Bank with three boxes of toiletries and hygiene products.         Some items were distributed immediately and other items went into school packs.

Members of SI Tamworth are Oranging the World and saying NO! to violence against women in 2022. We marked the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, by wearing something orange to our November dinner meeting. The 25th November marks the UN International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the start of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence which ends on 10th December (Human Rights Day). The colour orange symbolises a brighter future in a world free from violence against women. On our Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SoroptimistTamworth members of SI Tamworth joined other Soroptimists across the world taking action and calling for the Elimination of Violence against Women. We also decorated a tree at St Editha’s church as part of the Christmas tree festival. We would like to thank St Editha’s Church, Tamworth for supporting us and keeping

To mark the start of anti-bullying week on 14th November, members of Soroptimist International Tamworth wore odd socks. Odd Socks Day is a national event all about celebrating what makes someone unique. People are encouraged to wear their favourite odd socks to symbolise that we are all different and that children should be themselves, accepting of one another and celebrate difference. Anti-Bullying Week is a a campaign by the Anti-Bullying Alliance (https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/ ).

Tamworth Soroptimists attended the Remembrance Service held at St Editha’s Church on Sunday, 13th November when President Elect Vicky laid a wreath of poppies on behalf of the Club.

The 21st of September is the International Day of Peace but as the country was in mourning for Queen Elizabeth II members of SI Tamworth commemorated the day with a coffee morning in October. Everyone who attended enjoyed the event and especially the cakes.       A total of £150 was raised for our Ugandan Education Bursary which is one of SI Tamworths International projects.       This project has been ongoing since 2003 when it started with providing termite proof cupboards for books to be kept in. It then continued to educating four girls and a boy through to the end of their senior school education and then supporting the building of a school and the running of it. We also provide sanitary protection for the children so that they can continue to come to school as well as a small boarding

Eight members of Soroptimist International Tamworth attended the Federation Conference in Belfast. Club member Lyn Shiel came in as Regional President 2022 – 2023 for Midland Chase. Accompanying them was a Peace patch. This was made by Club member Susan Powell in response to the email from SI San Fernando (Trinidad and Tobago) to help them celebrate their 60th anniversary of charter. Their theme being ‘Celebrating the Past, Pursuing a Peaceful Future for Women and Girls’.     The centre of our patch has the peace dove. The left hand side shows five of the last six Soroptimist International biannual projects SI Tamworth have participated in. The six project is shown on the bottom. The right hand side has a quote from Albert Einstein:- “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding”.

October is Breast Cancer awareness month and people all over the world show their support for everyone affected by breast cancer. SI Tamworth promoted the month by having an tombola stall to raise funds for Breast Cancer UK (https://www.breastcanceruk.org.uk/ ) and to provide members of the public with leaflets about breast care. The Club would like to thank Ankerside Shopping Centre,Tamworth for allowing us to have a stall and everyone who generously donated on the day. We raised £200.