President Sandra Frier and Club members welcomed Linda Davis, Soroptimist International (SI)Yorkshire Region President, to their AGM held by Zoom on the 21 April.
Nearly all meetings are by Zoom. Sandra will be continuing as Club President till October. This is due to the impact of the covid restrictions on many of the Club’s planned events. Despite this, the Club’s raised over £2200 for her chosen charity Just B.
This included a Zoom Burns Night supper, Club member Maureen Ingleton taking part in the Virtual Great North Run and a lot of knitting! Just B is the bereavement service that is part of North Yorkshire Hospice Care.
It was a special night as the Club celebrated the long service of three of its members who have served a total of 115 years between them.
Val Hills joined the Club 25 years ago, Dorothy Taylor joined 40 years ago and is the Clubs longest serving member and Janet Haywood, who joined the Club in 1988 but has been a member of SI since 197 – a fantastic 50 years of service.
All received certificates signed by Johanna Raffan, President of Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI). President Sandra said she was delighted to deliver the certificates personally to all three members albeit in their gardens.
Janet Haywood also received a special certificate to acknowledge she is one of the 100 women showcased on the SIGBI Centenary website #WhoisShe?
Janet has made a significant contribution to Soroptimism as the organisation celebrates its Centenary Year. She is the author of the, ‘History of Soroptimist International’ published in 1993. It is still the ‘go to’ book to find out about the organisations history. The Club is delighted that Janet, who has not been well recently, was able to be present at the meeting and read the ‘Objects of Soroptimist International’.
The Club is continuing to flourish despite lockdown. It recently welcomed four new members with two more joining next month. Face to face meetings combined with Zoom will start in July at the Crown Hotel on the 1st and 3rdWednesday of the month.
