On a sunny Saturday members and friends of SI Tamworth attended a coffee morning hosted by Soroptimist Chris Arrowsmith, in aid of Sightsavers and in memory of Gwen Hutchinson. A lovely time was had by all with good company and plenty of cakes! The event raised £364 for Sightsavers projects. Members also donate to this organisation by saving our our loose change.
The Forest Restaurant, Tamworth, was the venue for our annual picnic meeting. Members and friends enjoyed good food from locally sourced ingredients and welcomed the chance to catch up with friends in its unusual forestry setting.
Raising awareness of Climate Change is a global issue and is the most important issue facing the planet and humanity. The last century has seen a sharp increase in global temperatures with an exponential increase over recent decades. Soroptimists are currently focusing on the environment and climate change and with Cop26 almost upon us it is timely to take action on our special SIGBI Day of Action Saturday 17 July 2021 when we can collectively endeavour to make a difference. The interconnectedness between humans and the natural world has direct consequences on how we live with each other and share resources. This concept of integral ecology can make a huge difference to improving our carbon footprint. This offers a chance to accelerate climate action. SI Tamworth would like to share some of the simple things you can do to address Climate Change: 1. Use the
During our Club Year 2020/2021 we had members who were due to receive Long Service Certificates. Unfortunately, we were unable to present these due to the pandemic. It has now been possible to put this right, due to the slight relaxation of restrictions. Immediate Past President Lyn presented Betty Bates and Susan Powell with their certificates and some flowers. Both members have served 35 years as valued members of SI Tamworth. They are both Past Presidents, Betty 1991/1992 and Sue 1996/1997.
Outgoing President Lyn Shiel installed Linda Hayes as this year’s President President Linda has chosen “Looking Forward – tomorrow will be a better day” as her theme for the year. President Linda said “It was nearly 5 years ago that I joined SI Tamworth after reading about a study day that the Club had organised. I was struck by my first meeting at what a formidable group of women you were and you clearly inspired me to want to join you and I have not been disappointed. The impact of Covid 19 has been profound and touched us all in many, many ways and as we move out of the pandemic I hope we can have much to look forward to. I am looking forward to my year as President and know we will have fun so be uplifted and looking forward, tomorrow will be
On behalf of Tamworth Soroptimists, President Lyn recently presented a cheque for £300 to St Giles Hospice. A large amount of the donation was raised from the Peter Turfrey Memorial Quiz that Maureen Turfrey organises each Christmas. The money raised from this popular quiz is always donated to The Hospice.
Tamworth Soroptimists joint treasurer Linda Scott proudly shows off all the food we collected for our local food bank. We usually collect food at our club meetings, but as this was not possible during the pandemic the collection was stored at Linda’s house. We have met in zoom meetings during the year where there have been presentations from Marie Ballard of the Hygiene Bank, Steve Hodgetts of Tamworth Community Together and Jane Walker of Purple Community Fund. We usually hold our International evening about this time where donations are presented to the club’s chosen charities but as this event could not be held donations have been sent to SightSavers, The Hygiene Bank, The Samaritans, Water Aid, Tamworth Talking Newspaper, The Soroptimist Benevolent Fund and the International Presidents Appeal “The Road to Equality” President Lyn Shiel’s chosen charity for the year is St Giles Hospice and
This week President Lyn Shiel and Secretary Edna Shafer-Hughes presented a cheque for £200 to Tamworth Self Isolation Support Group. The money was raised by donations from club members. Steve Hodgetts, joint organiser of the Support Group, spoke about this superb community scheme. In over 100 days of providing a service to the community and as of 28th June, they have dealt with 2043 in coming calls, 2836 outgoing calls, 270 befriending requests, 955 Emergency Food Parcels, 192 Co-op food parcels.
Soup, mince pies and cheese were part of SI Tamworths annual lunch to celebrate Human Rights Day. All funds raised were for the SI President’s Appeal ” The Road to Equality”. Please see https://www.soroptimistinternational.org/campaigns/roadtoequality/ for more information.
In March SI Tamworth signed up to EasyFundraising. We have now raised over £375.00. Immediate Past President Chris said: “Easyfundraising is a wonderful idea and a very easy way to make money for your good cause, it’s brilliant”. Watch our video to see how easy it is to use or goto Easyfundraising.org.uk for more information
