As ever we can always depend on our Mayor – Norma Redfearn to support our club and the Northern Region of Soroptimist International. The 12 clubs of the Northern Region have worked together to produce their GLOBAL BLANKET.  This campaign is to raise awareness of the plight of Trafficked Women in the clothing trade.  The Global Blanket has 264 squares that represent a visual petition that hopes to inspire 1 million signatures by 2019.  Soroptimist International hope to present it at 10 Downing Street as part of their UN Anti Slavery campaign.  https://www.stopthetraffik.org/campaign/fashion/global-blanket-campaign/    

Thanks to Liz for being such a great sport – £85 raised for President Judy’s Charities .

Tenneh Mansaray breastfeeds her nine-day-old son, Manso Turay, in the Kono district of Sierra Leone. Four of Mansaray’s five children were born in a health facility.  ‘Nancy [the community health worker in her village] made me understand the benefits of going for clinic sessions when I am pregnant and also giving birth there,’ says Mansaray. ‘I don’t mind walking four miles to get to the health facility because I know that the care I receive there I can’t get in my village.’ Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal and under-five mortality rates in the world Photograph: Phelps/Unicef https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2017/aug/01/world-breastfeeding-week-women-celebrate-benefits-in-pictures?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail

 We helped our Sister Soroptimists at Stockton-on-Tees celebrate their achievements in style – they had organised a wonderful birthday event. SI Tynemouth, Whitley Bay & District members were delighted to join them!

THIS WAS A REAL TREAT AND RAISED £52 TO SUPPORT CLUB MEMBER LINDA JOHNSON FOR HER FORTHCOMING REGIONAL PRESIDENTIAL YEAR The BBC play by J.B. Priestley, in which three Edwardian Yorkshire couples, who were all married on the same day 25 years earlier, gather to celebrate their joint silver wedding anniversary, only to be told that due to a legal technicality their marriages were not valid and that for the past quarter-century they have all effectively been living in sin. Some react with horror at potential scandal, while others glimpse the possibility of freedom from a deadbeat spouse, or regret potential loves that got away after they were “married”.                                

GIRLS

KEEP UP THE PRESSURE LADIES & MEN – SIGN THE PETITIONS – WRITE TO YOUR MP’S – JOIN WASPI     http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b3d33cc3-1f16-491a-9154-3b7884019553

PETITION UPDATE New legislation to allow ratification of Istanbul Convention Becca, Robyn, Rachel & IC Change team London, United Kingdom 28 JUN 2017 — Hello! Following calls from individuals and organisations across the UK, (including letters we recently sent to the new ministers and the Prime Minister signed by 27 organisations), we are pleased the government has announced today that it will be taking the final step to enable ratification of the Istanbul Convention. The final law to be sorted in the UK is important – as it means that rape and domestic violence will be recognised as serious crimes that can and should be prosecuted – even when they occur outside the UK. This will help end the impunity of UK citizens who commit violence abroad – and help bring justice to those who have experienced violence. We are hugely proud of the efforts by