The first ten days of the month were quiet on the Soroptimist front but busy for me personally! I was unable to attend the SIYAMS meeting on the 10th but I was delighted to be able to represent the Region on the 11th at the Awards Ceremony for Round 6 of the Mayor’s Safer Communities Fund.
SIYAMS, at very short notice had put in a bid for a grant to the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Safer Communities Funding to support Gill Kirkman’s project, the school’s game Danielle. Gill Kirkman (who had talked to us during President Ruth’s visit in April) had launched an immersive educational computer game called Danielle. The game enables young people, in a safe environment, to explore and understand the extensive abusive dating behaviours involved, their impact, and where to seek help.
Julia Allan from SI Keighley had raised awareness of the grant, and then began the application. Chris Clark and Pat Kilbane joined Julia on a zoom meeting to complete the process. I had the privilege of reading the final application, which was superb and extremely professional. Julia, Gill and Pat also attended the awards where we gave a presentation to showcase S I Yorkshire, and Danielle. The money – £9550 -will support Gill to deliver workshops to teachers and youth leaders so that they can confidently enable more young people to access the computer game.
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On the 21st the Region met at The Bridge, Walshford for my last RCM. The best of Programme in the Region was celebrated. Four clubs had been shortlisted by Regional Programme Action officer Linda Davis and myself – SI Bingley, SI Dewsbury and District, SI Hallamshire and SI Sheffield. The worthy winner, SI Sheffield was voted for by the delegates at the RCM. Their project is ongoing and builds on a past project, “Healthy Hampers”, which provided slow cookers, kitchen utensils, cool bags, recipe cards and food to women’s refuges and the Winn Gardens Estate. The club continues to support Winn Gardens, an economically challenged and very diverse estate in Sheffield which houses many asylum seekers and women escaping domestic violence. The club have continued to provide slow cookers to resident families, alongside recipe cards. I had the pleasure of visiting the project in August and was impressed to see the community pulling together, with past and current recipients volunteering at the project.
There was also a President’s Award presented to SIYAMS for excellent Regional Programme Action work. I had decided that I would like to give the Award before the group discovered that they had received the Grant from the Mayor’s Fund.
On the 25th I was in revered company at the Past Presidents’ Lunch at Towton. Sixteen of us met for a delicious meal full of friendship and laughter. It was a lovely surprise to see Rita Leeman, who had flown in from Belfast that morning so that she was able to join us. I hope that you are able to sense the fun from the photograph below!
