Wigan Borough Archivist Alex Miller spoke to the club in July 2014 about the Edward Hall Diary Collection. This contains diaries dating back to 1698 and are a hidden social history of people’s lives. It also includes some diaries of women, which are rare as they often lacked the education or social opportunities to write and preserve their diaries. Following his inspirational and fascinating talk it was decided that all members of the club would contribute in turn to a weekly diary to record women’s lives today. This should be completed by the end of 2014 and will be added to the Borough Archive for future generations to read. In September 2014 documents and information relating to SI Wigan, its history and the important role of the club in improving the status and lives of women and girls since its foundation were also placed in

SI Wigan has been very successful in welcoming new members into the club in recent months. To celebrate the fact on 29th September 2014 a New Members Evening was held. Everyone was made very welcome by the Club President and members of the Executive Committee and there were opportunities to have discussions and to answer questions about club activities and roles within the club.  All who attended had a very pleasant evening and enjoyed the food and wine kindly prepared by the host who is a longstanding club member, it is hoped to repeat the event for new members in the future.

On September 22nd the annual Awards Evening was held at Haigh Hall to celebrate the on going support given to local, national and international charities by SI Wigan. The evening was a great success and representatives of eleven charities attended to receive cheques for money raised by SI Wigan over the 2013-2014 period. The Charities represented were :- DIAS ( Drop in and Share) Domestic Violence Support Charity FOMO ( Friends of Mulanje Orphans in Malawi) MAG ( Mines Advisory Group) Leprosy Mission Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Breakthrough Breast Cancer Wigan Music Society Wigan and Leigh Hospice Alzheimer’s Research After Adoption Hearing Dogs for the Deaf

To celebrate National Literacy Day on September 8th 2014  SI Wigan held a book sale at the Business Meeting. On the night £20 was raised  from the sale of donated books. Any books that were not sold were donated to Book Cycle to support their literacy programmes abroad. This will be followed up by a literacy quiz in December and the final amount raised donated to Book Aid International. This will help to support key SI goals to Educate, Empower and Enable.

At the South Lancashire Regional Programme Action meeting on June 14th 2014 £75 was made in donations for cakes and scones made by SI Wigan and SI Leigh members. The money will help to fund the Local Osteoporosis Support Group. Osteoporosis affects 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men over the age of 50 leading to fragility fractures, loss of height and alteration in posture. The Ashton, Leigh and Wigan Osteoporosis Support Group meets locally and has several Wigan and Leigh Soroptimists on the organising committee.    

SIGBI’s Big Project – Birthing in Gambia  A total of £1620.60 was raised for this national SI project following enthusiastic support from SI Wigan and friends An Italian Friendship meal at the Wheel restaurant  in Wigan with raffle and treasure hunt (supported by Tower College) helped to raise £166 Tower College with support from SI members, staff and parents ran business projects, baked cakes and sold sweets to raise £1,016.60 plus a donation of £100. A quiz for members and friends raised £28         The final total was increased by £310 following an wonderful Indian Take Away enterprise provided by Dr Saroj Jamdar and her husband Mr Jai Jamdar who cooked Indian meals at their home for over 35 SI Members