It is no secret that the COVID19 Emergency has hit the charity sector particularly hard. Warrington Women’s Aid which supports families fleeing domestic abuse is a case in point.  We’ve been providing practical support to this independent charity for many years. To help mitigate the impact of the pandemic, Club members rallied round and donated £250 and food, hygiene and household goods to the Women’s Refuge.

More than 200 extenders already delivered to the NHS in Warrington to help relieve ear chafing!!!   The idea is that instead of hooking the mask loops over your ears, you wind them around the buttons at each end of the mask extender which you place on the back of your head. We’re still knitting – apparently the demand at the hospital continues unabated!  

Thanks to Annette Maudsley of SI Liverpool, a Border Control Officer and Lead for “Stop the Traffik” campaign in Liverpool, for her talk about how to spot signs of MDS in the local community. Annette’s presentation provided a shocking insight into both this insidious aspect of today’s society and the work of the Police, Border Control officers at ports and airports, and local social services all over the country, to identify victims and support them in reintegrating back into society. Also, the enormous challenges of tracking down the gang masters behind human trafficking in its various forms and the types of exploitation involved, such as prostitution, forced labour, domestic servitude, organ harvesting, forced crime, forced marriage and the drugs trade. A very difficult subject, and raising awareness is a major focus for Soroptimists everywhere.

Following on our successful crafting activities with the Dress a Girl projects, members get together monthly at the home of Past President Liz Smith to produce a wide range of items for local charities. The latest hoard of goodies included: More than 20 sets of “Traffic Light Hats” (colour-coded woolly hats for newborns whose condition needs close watching in hospital, i.e. “red” “amber” or “green”) – in support of the Royal Mail/NHS project Two dozen “Twiddle Muffs” – both knitted and sewn – for dementia sufferers at the Forget-Me-Not ward in Warrington Hospital 30 crotcheted cot blankets with matching hats for the local baby unit A variety of toddler jumpers Other items such as re-usable sanitary towels and breast pads, toy bags, teddy bear hand puppets “Cocoons” for babies “born asleep” Crafting is alive and well at SI Warrington and Liz’s coffee, tea and biscuits