When you only have £1000 (A HUGE thank-you to Newcastle Building Society for this grant to our club!) to spend it’s best to hit the January sales to get the best bargains to put together at least 12 NEW START BAGS. Now into our 3rd year and aiming for 100 bags for Acting Superintendent Claire Wheatley Here is a summary of our actions so far and an update from Northumbria Police. 29th October 2016 21 bags given to Claire from several clubs in our region region 12th December 2016 – 12 bags donated to Claire thanks to donations by generous individuals £1500 grant from GREGGS FOUNDATION June 2017 – last of 40 bags handed over to Claire, 8 of which were used to support Romanian £3000 grant from NEWCASTLE BUILDING SOCIETY & COMMUNITY FOUNDATION February 2018 -President Judy accepts our award from Newcastle Building Society

  Have you heard of the RED BOX PROJECT?  Donations of sanitary products, knickers, tights and money donations are used to provide free sanitary protection to those girls who’s families cannot afford this monthly expense.  In March, 2018 it was estimated that more than 137 700 girls missed school in the last year because they couldn’t afford sanitary products. Our club, instead of Secret Santa at our Christmas celebrations, chose a charity and this year will be using the £150 raised in one evening, to buy sanitary products to support a local secondary school. More about this to follow but why don’t you check out their website by following the link below. http://redboxproject.org/          

  Can you believe that Harbour Refuge received 582 referrals in the last quarter. Most of these are from the police. The majority arrive at Harbour with very little, therefore all donations are gratefully received. Our contact at Harbour, Sarah, was full of praise for our four girls from Whitley Bay High School, impressed by their commitment to supporting the vulnerable residents of Harbour and those supported through the outreach service. The PJ’s will be used on Christmas Eve for the 29 children who will be spending Christmas at the refuge for a film night.  £60 remaining from the fund-raising quiz will be used for their Hardship Fund to buy items such as school uniforms.  Along with a safe place to live residents have access to legal advice, debt advice + money management, supported health care and many other essential services that work towards helping

Once again our efforts as a team have been rewarded with another £1000 grant from the Newcastle Building Society and the Community Foundation.  This will enable us to put together 12 more bags bringing the total to 92. We aim for 100 asap!! We were also delighted to meet Michael Patterson, part of the team who decides which grant applications are successful and he chose SI Tynemouth, Whitley Bay & District.  Popping around to present our club with a gift box.                 

Soroptimists around the world have surpassed themselves in using TWITTER to raise awareness of the gender imbalance of violence against women…… but it doesn’t stop there.  According to UK government figures from 2012, assault and domestic murders spike 25 percent over the Christmas period.     

 20 PAIRS OF PJ’S, WRAPPED, LABELLED AND SOON TO BE DELIVERED TO HARBOUR REFUGE, THANK YOU WBHS SOROPS!

One of the best Christmas celebrations – nearly every member made it, we welcomed new linked member Jo, our four younger guests: Kate, Kate,Jasmine and Alex from WBHS Sorops along with recognition of long service to our club, Wilma = 50 years and Margaret Alderson = 40 years.  Thanks to newbies Louise S and Karen H for sharing this special occasion with Wilma & Margaret. How generous are our members and supporters with over 121 wrapped gifts for Harbour, sacks full of toys too.  As is our custom instead of Secret Santa each member hangs a bag of £1 coins on our tree and this year £140 will be used to buy sanitary protection for The Red Box Project and our raffle money goes to the hard working staff of The Sandpiper, our meeting venue as they look after us throughout the year. MERRY CHRISTMAS

Soroptimists from all over the UK were encouraged to add their images to The People’s Picture – the Face of Suffrage on display on the concourse at Birmingham New Street Station from November 15th to the 14th December, the day women voted for the first time. Many Soroptimist pictures were included in the montage. Congratulations to everyone who was included. The effect is absolutely amazing. Member Louise’s daughter Jane, who lives in Birmingham, spent time to find our picture followed by Louise who paid a surprise visit to see the completed picture and her daughter. . For more information www.thepeoplespicture.com/thefaceofsuffrage To view the whole image https://goo.gl/ziCzTk

President Judy’s annual Christmas Shopping Bonanza raises £707 and we’re hoping for more after our Christmas meal on December 10th.  All monies raised goes into our charity pot – totted up at the end of the presidential year to be given to our nominated charities -Tyneside MIND & Manzini Youth Project. HUGE THANKS to friends, neighbours, family and of course members for their continued AWESOME efforts.  

  This annual walk attracts more people every year – it’s a sociable, healthy way of starting the UN 16 days of Activism to raise awareness of the how many women, and men suffer from domestic violence.  Thank you to the North of Tyne Domestic Awareness Week and to Lesley Pyle – this is the 10th anniversary of this walk.