Card making, hard at work

Card making, in search of just the right bit

Card Making - the finished results!

Droopy receives his reward for the evening's work

Preston Friendship Evening

Preston Friendship Evening

Preston Friendship Evening

Garstang Soroptimists Award for Scientific Endeavour - Girls

Garstang Community Academy prize winner

Halloween Pumpkins Event

White Ribbon materials presented to St Aidan's School, Preesall

Garstang Lions / Fylde Coast Women's Aid – Garstang Soroptimists collected two bags full of toiletries and children's toys and took them to the collection point, for the Lions project - helping the Women’s Refuge (Fylde Coast Women’s Aid) by donating funds and goods to the refuge. We know the refuge has a desperate need, due to funding shortages, and we are delighted to support their efforts to deliver goods to the refuge.

23rd Nov - At our November social evening we had fun making Christmas cards. There may have been some nervous hesitation at first, but everyone soon got the hang of it and members produced two lovely cards each to take home. The only problem now is deciding who should be the recipients of such works of art! Thankyou to all who took part with great enthusiasm and miles of sticky tape!

16th Nov – For many years now Garstang Academy have presented a trophy donated by Garstang Soroptimists. The prize is awarded for Girl's Scientific Endeavour, and this year we also included a £25 voucher for the prize winner, who was Kate Blakely.

13th Nov – On Remembrance Sunday President Annemarie carried the Soroptimist wreath in the procession to St Thomas’ church and then on to the War Memorial, where all the wreaths were laid. There was a large crowd gathered at the Memorial and it was heartening to see such a level of support from the people of the area..

Life Education – In November Annemarie was fortunate to be able to visit the Life Education Van along with the Reception and Nursery children of Forton School. She had recently attended the Life Education AGM and heard of the work they do with school children and of the new programme they have developed, which will provide teachers with resource materials and lesson plans, and this was a chance to experience it at first hand. The children were enthralled by Harold the giraffe, as he helped them understand the importance of keeping healthy, and enthusiastically engaged with the interactive anatomical model used to illustrate why we need to exercise and keep clean. Annemarie even got to stroke Harold’s nose and got a sticker to wear!

31st Oct – A new bit of fun this year, and thanks to Muriel who put in all the hard work for it! A suitably carved and decorated pumpkin was added to the Garstang Halloween festivities at the market cross.

27th Oct – Members of Garstang Soroptimists accepted the invitation from the Lancaster club for ‘A bit of pampering, good food and friendship’ – and they weren’t disappointed. The speaker was a qualified Holistic Therapist, who told us about her training and then gave us some useful tips on how to keep ourselves healthy and improve our wellbeing. We practised ‘hand reflexology’ and were shown key points to massage for certain conditions. She also brought along a large range of aromatherapy lotions and potions for us to sample. Supper followed and, what can I say? It was a feast!.

26th Oct – Garstang Soroptimists celebrated International Literacy Day a bit late this year – because the star turn had previous engagements in September! Julie Norris brought her P.A.T.  (Pets As Therapy) dog, Droopy to tell us about her work in schools. She told us how P.A.T. dogs are selected and that there are about 4000 in the UK. A small section of these pets are part of the ‘Reading to scheme’ where they go into schools and children read to them. Because dogs are non-judgemental (or fast asleep in Droopy’s case!), children who have low confidence or special needs feel much safer reading to them and gain confidence and enjoyment from the reading exercise. Droopy was nominated as P.A.T. dog of the year and came in the final 6 at Crufts this year!

19th Oct – Members of Garstang Soroptimists attended Preston’s Friendship evening, where a flower demonstration enthralled and inspired the audience. The theme was ‘seasonal colours’, so lovely shades of autumn tints featured in the beautiful arrangements, which were later given as raffle prizes to lucky winners. Food and friendship followed the demonstration and we were made most welcome by our friends in the Preston Club.

White Ribbon Appeal - Garstang Soroptimists have been working with local schools on the White Ribbon Campaign, which has the slogan ‘Men working to end violence against women’. Leading up to White Ribbon day on 25th November, educational packs were delivered to Garstang Academy, Myerscough College and St Aidan’s School in Preesall. Pictured receiving the material are the Head (Andy Smith) and the Head of PSHE (Sophie). Both were very delighted to receive it and expected to find it useful and Sophie is expecting to use it in PSHE lessons in January. They also requested more "Loves me/Loves me not" bookmarks for use in November. Sophie said “I’m looking forward to experimenting and using the resources with a variety of age groups and seeing the positive impact for the students. It’s excellent to have new and exciting ways to teach these important themes and it will hopefully give the students some food for thought as they go about their daily lives.”