We begin this new year with renewed hope for a happier future because people are now being vaccinated against Covid-19.
It will be a year of change and continuity but we don’t yet know how much there will be of each!
One change for our Club is that I have taken over the task of President for the last four months of our Soroptimist year. We started on a high note, with Woking Mayor Beryl Hunwicks as our guest speaker this month. See the report of that great evening here. We were delighted to discover longstanding links between the Mayor and some of our members and look forward to welcoming her again soon. Our next speaker, in February, will be Elaine McGinty. She will be speaking to us about the changes on the horizon for the Fiery Bird Centre in Woking. Contact us here if you would to know more about joining us at that meeting.
We will be celebrating one hundred years of the Soroptimist Movement throughout 2021. We will be delving into our own history – our Club is a comparative youngster, having started in 1976. We will also be looking to the future by planting a tree in Woking. Hopefully, it will still be there when Soroptimists celebrate another big birthday. Above all, we will be tracking the continuity and changes that have happened to Soroptimist International and to women during the last one hundred years.
Although we cannot yet hold our usual events, we’ll continue to support local charities. Since the first lockdown started at the end of March, we have given around £2,000. Please take a look at the Club News page and Soroptimist Action. You’ll see how we have supported Free a Girl, Your Sanctuary, Action for Carers, the Heshima Project, the Purple Community Fund, Samber Riding for the Disabled Group. and the Walk the Walk breast cancer charity. Donations in January 2021 went to the Soroptimist International President’s special charity ‘The Road to Equality‘ (£200), to the national federations’ Benevolent Fund (£200) and to ESDAS (£100) in memory of our beloved member Barbara Watts.
All good wishes from Woking Soroptimists for 2021.
Jan
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To find out more about our initiatives and projects, get in touch via the Contact Us page on this website or via Twitter @WokingSorop and Facebook.
If you want to be actively involved – by joining our Club, or attending our events, we will be delighted to hear from you – With you, we can do so much more!-
Photo acknowledgements: Prawny, Alexas, Niederwimmer, Wixin Lubhon