President’s Message
It is almost six months since I last wrote and it certainly has been a busy and interesting time for the Club.
At our Autumn Supper last September we heard from Erwin James about his life inside and outside of prison, and we welcomed from Southern California Soroptimists Kathy McElvaney and Carol Roddy who were visiting our Region on a Grant of Friendship.
To celebrate World Food Day we organised a lunch for local business women at the Chefs Restaurant in Croydon College. This restaurant is a gem in the heart of Croydon, and for the new students their first major event. We received a huge response to our request for unwanted bras in support of the project “Bras in the Bay” to be launched at the SIGBI annual conference in Cardiff later that month. On the day the first bra was donated by The Mayor of Croydon, Councillor Margaret Mead, quickly followed by 100 others. By the end of the month we had collected over 1,000 bras. The lunch was such a success that we have again booked Chefs Restaurant for a World Food Day Lunch on Thursday 14 October 2010.
The conference held in Cardiff, as always, was an interesting experience with inspiring keynote speakers. This annual event gives us an opportunity to meet overseas friends and to hear about the wonderful work being done by Soroptimists around the world.
Continuing our ‘education’ theme gave us the opportunity to learn more about the more unusual aspects. Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, Curriculum Manager, for Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy, talked about the Croydon Family Learning Week and the work undertaken to involve parents in various activities. Graham Harker, retired Head Teacher of Shirley High told us how the school transformed into a Performing Arts School. In January we learned about the importance of music therapy for children with learning difficulties from Sarah Hadley, Head of Music Therapy Services, Greenwich, and from Alexia Quin, Founder and Director of the charity Music As Therapy International.
Up-to-date now, and at our Annual Inter-Club Friendship Supper ‘Celebrating Women’s Achievements’ held on 11 March our guest speaker, Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, talked about her successful career and the challenges she faced. The Mayor of Croydon highlighted some special events from her year and our Region President Jan Day concluded the evening by presenting long-service awards to Pauline Everett and Gillian Joy, both of whom have been Croydon Soroptimists for 25 years.
The Club’s fundraising efforts for the Helena Kennedy Foundation have been extremely successful. The House of Lords lunch held last November was well supported and itself raised £700 and by April, we will have almost £3,500 to present to HKF. This money will be used for two Soroptimist International of Croydon and District Bursaries – one for law and one for medicine.
I am approaching the end of my 18 months term as Club President and very much value the experience. Meeting people for the first time and engaging in small talk has never been my strong point but when you are thrown in at the deep end you either sink or swim – and I now feel I have at least learned to ‘doggie paddle’.
The support for Croydon Club events and speaker meetings by other Soroptimist Clubs and local organisations and has been tremendous, not only for us but for the guest speakers too.
This will be my last report as Club President and an opportunity to thank the Croydon members for their encouragement and support, and to thank you, readers, for visiting our website.
Patricia Painting
16 March 2010
Photograph: Baroness Helena Kennedy and President Patricia at the House of Lords Lunch held on 19 November 2009
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