SI Wakefield member Amanda Potts wore her wedding dress on a fundraising walk to celebrate her weight loss  and raise cash for charity. Amanda wore her dress from 2005 for a 20-minute walk from her office in St Peter’s House, Bradford to City Hall, she has lost three stone since January. You can see a short video on the website of local Bradford newspaper Telegraph and Argus. All Amadnas Soroptimist sisters are extremely proud of her achievements.

S I Wakefield took to the seas on 28 July – more precisely, members and friends cruised on the Calder & Hebble Navigation.   Using two boats we set sail and travelled as far as Cooper Bridge, where we feasted on pie and peas followed by cakes, before returning to Mirfield.  In spite of the rain earlier in the day, the sun shone and we were able to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the canal. The cruise was booked through Safe Anchor Trust which is a charity based in Mirfield that organises trips for community groups.  The Trust was originally set up by the Yorkshire Probation Service: skippers were probation officers and crews were offenders who operated the locks and acted as stewards. During this trip our members took turns to operate the locks and admire the passing scenery.    

SI Wakefield in partnership with Balne Lane Coffee Club (a coffee club supporting elderly people in the area) knit squares, that are then stiched in baby blankets by SI Wakefield Members and knit baby clothes. These are then send to CART (Christian African Relief Trust) for distribution. Working in partnership with the coffee club members this provides the members an oppurtunity to contribute to global relief. SI  Wakefield also support the coffee club by joining them at meetings and providing some financial support by contributng to purchases of coffee, tea and biscuit.

Wakefield Soroptimists have recently worked with Stanley Grove school to collect backpacks containing items for use in school to be sent via charity Mary’s Meals to children in Africa to enable them to attend school. Jane Walton spoke at an assembly and asked pupils leaving school to donate their old backpacks. Members visited school to collect the backpacks at the end of term. Find out more about this worthy cause at https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/get-involved/the-backpack-project/

SI Wakefield held a ‘Bring a bra’ event at their business meeting on Thursday 9th June. The used bras were in support of the Purple Teardrop Campaign which supports victims of trafficking and is working with an American charity to help women and girls in Mozambique, Uganda and El Salvador to start businesses. The bras are used to sell and make money to buy more bras and thus build a business. SI Poole has been promoting this in the UK and has arranged with their local CVS to transport the bras to where they are needed, SI Wakefield’s bras will join the campaign to help these women create economic opportunities for themselves to support their families. Pictured here are members with their donated bras on a photoshoot to raise awareness of this campaign.  

Members of SI Wakefield recently attended a Wakefield College event on the 3rd May aimed at promoting health and wellbeing to students. Our stand included information about the work of Soroptimist International and in particular our support of the Purple Teardrop campaign to raise awareness of trafficking. Our volunteers distributed Loves me/loves me not bookmarks to promote healthy relationships  to empower young people to make decisions to avoid abusive and controlling situations.

Members of SI Wakefield along with members of sister clubs from across Yorkshire came together at a fundraising dinner to mark International Womens Day recently. The event was held on the 17th March at the Cedar Court Hotel Wakefield and raised £8,000 which will be used to support Tasibeh Girls School in Pindi, Pakistan. The school is located in a very poor region of Pakistan and now educates over 100 girls and provides additional practical and financial support for many of their families. The school was set up and is supported by women from across the communities in Rotherham and South Yorkshire led by Khalida Luqman and her family.  Local  author Marina Lewycka was the guest speaker at the dinner. Marina is best known for her novel ‘A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian’, which sold over a million copies in the UK alone. She has donated short

Soroptimist International of Wakefield celebrated the 82nd anniversary of the club’s founding with a luncheon at the Hotel St Pierre, Newmillerdam on Sunday 13th March 2016. We were honoured with a visit from a Soroptimist sister from SI Hallamshire, the grace was given by our honorary long serving member C. Speeden, and several toasts were offered after a delicious meal. Pictured are members of the club with the framed original 1930s charter founding the club.

Soroptimist International Wakefield recently held a workshop to make washable, easy to use, feminine hygiene kits for girls in developing countries. Many girls in these countries have no access to feminine hygiene products which means that every month during menstruation they are forced to stay away from school, they suffer embarrassment, are considered unclean and they miss out on their education. The international initiative Days for Girls has prepared templates and instructions on making the kits; volunteers from many organisations travel overseas to supply kits to school girls, in some cases their mothers and other women in the community and, most importantly, to educate them on their use and how to make them themselves.

The Yorkshire Regional Soroptimist President asked Clubs in the area to support The Prince’s foundation for Children and the Arts and our Club held a fundraising Summer Soirée at member Linda’s home in August.  Linda organised an excellent meal and during the evening we were entertained by musicians with a range of different music – a really enjoyable evening.  The proceeds raised will be used to support local musicians.