Desk top PCs, laptops and tablets, from members and friends of SI Widnes, ready for donation to Alpha Computers, Birchfield Rd, Widnes for wiping and regifting to local families and schools to support with home schooling. A big thank you to Michelle from Alpha for providing this service free of charge to support local children. #alphacomputers@btconnect.com

For the 16 Days of Activism against gender based violence, starting 25th November to 10th December, Soroptimists everywhere were asked to #OrangetheWorld. Each of the 16 Days we celebrate marks a step towards women’s rights and a safe space for them. Soroptimist International believes that women’s rights are human rights and through our work in the communities we work with that objective. Beginning with the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25th November, Soroptimists follow UN Days to transform lives of women and girls. We rally against Child Marriages, Human Trafficking, Modern Day Slavery, Rape, Sexual Exploitation, Female Genital Mutilation, and Sexual Harassment at Workplace and in support of Human Rights Defenders . On 10th Dec the last day, we honour the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Each day is a call for action and provides a focus for our projects. Commemorating

As the COVID-19 lockdown continues, members of SI Widnes have enjoyed meeting up ‘virtually’. Our Executive and Business Meetings have been held using Zoom and we have also enjoyed ‘Zoom Bingo’ and a ‘Zoom Quiz’ with more planned for August. Our latest offering is a ‘Zoom craft and coffee’ session starting on Friday 31st July at 10.30, when we will be making ‘Hearts for Heroes’. If you would like to join us for any of these events please see our Club Diary Dates page and contact us for the link.

Aiden Jackson with mum Caroline and President Eleanor Each year, we like to celebrate our Programme Action work with members, friends and guests and hold an annual Programme Action evening to this end. Three speakers were invited to this year's event: 1. Aiden Jackson, a young man who has put his energies into raising funds to provide community defibrillators throughout our local area. We had already donated £100.00 towards a defibrillator. Aiden regaled us with stories about some of the fundraising events he has organised. He raised £40.00 on the night with a football card. 2. Laura Bevan, from an organisation called Fortuna Female Society told us about the work they do in supporting local women mainly through social events but also through the awards ceremony they organise to honour local women. We had been invited to sponsor one of the awards and President Eleanor

On 7th July 2019, Members, friends and distinguished guests, joined together at our Annual Charter Lunch to celebrate 75 years since Soroptimist International of Widnes was first chartered. The celebration was held at our usual meeting place, The Everglades Hotel, and the food, superb as usual, consisted of: Thai fish cakes or blue cheese salad followed by Salmon or beef served with potatoes and seasonal vegetables and to finish off there was a choice of a cheese board or strawberries and cream accompanied by tea or coffee. President Eleanor was joined at the top table by Regional President, Sue Underwood, and Mayor & Consort of Halton , Cllr Margaret Horabin & Mr Carl Horabin. The atmosphere was informal, relaxed and convivial as members of SI Widnes chatted and networked with Presidents and members from other Soroptimist Clubs from our Region, South Lancashire. The fantastic cake

Saturday 25th January was a night of fun, food and friendship in the true Soroptimist way as we celebrated the Robert Burn's birthday. A fantastic four course Scottish dinner was served up  by 'Sugar and Spice', which consisted of: Arbroath smoky fish cakes; scotch broth; haggis, tatties and neeps followed by cranachan or tipsy laird. A selection of poems written by The Bard were read out by members and guests of SI Widnes and Region President Yvonne and her husband John gave the address to the 'lads' and the 'lassies'. John revealed his creative side by writing both addresses in rhyming verse, much to the delight of everyone. The evening culminated in the draw of our superb raffle, for which tickets had been sold over the previous six months; amongst the many prizes were:  a gin hamper, a spirits hamper, a chocolate hamper and a

Our annual strawberry tea held in conjunction with Cronton Methodists took place on July 27th. The event was organised by Hazel Landon who was very ably assisted by her “team” .  This year' event was the largest to date with over 70 people attending and more than £400 was raised with raffles, stalls and a fabulous cake sale. The strawberry tea was absolutely delicious.   In August, Sheila Guthrie invited current and past members to her home for an evening of chatting and eating. Current members brought along food items and the result was an amazing spread. It was a very pleasant evening and £175 .00 was raised for our President's two charities. We know we can look forward to a relaxed and enjoyable evening when Jean Sinnott is our host and the coffee evening at her home in September was no exception. Jean had

We held a fundraising bingo night and raffle at the Holy Family Club in Cronton. Before we could say, "Eyes down", the bingo machine had a false start, which could have been "unlucky for some!" However, after some amusement, we were soon underway. The event was well attended by members and friends of SI Widnes; in fact we had a "full house" and it was a very enjoyable evening for all. Altogether, £480.00 was raised for the President's Charities.