President - Kathy Osborn

Programme Action - Jackie Whiteley and Gail Porter

Membership Co-Ordinator - Muriel Burnham-Airey

Treasurer - Joan Bailey

Hi. I’m Joan Bailey and I’m the SI Garstang Treasurer, as well as the website manager.

I joined the Soroptimists in May 2013 having been invited to attend firstly a small ‘Intro Chat’ and then a very convivial social evening for a member’s birthday. In addition to the very worthwhile aims and work of the SI community, from the start I’ve been very impressed with the caring and friendly approach of all my fellow soroptimists – not to mention their willingness to try anything.

I was very quickly roped in to help with a re-launch of this website, then another (and there’s always another one in the pipeline too).

In April 2014 we needed a new Treasurer as the rules dictated that the previous incumbent had come to the end of her term. I was therefore persuaded to volunteer, but I do have plenty of experience of cooking the books elsewhere! Being a newbie soroptimist meant I had a lot to learn about the ways of SI but my predecessor Pat always provided sterling support to keep me on track. I also attend as many regional meetings and conferences etc as possible to learn more and simply be involved where I can.

When not tinkering with the website or accounts, or knitting little hats for the Big Knit, I can be found running a small computer support business or doing the website and accounts at St Mary’s Church in Fleetwood. Or feeling very happy/despondent sat in the stands at Bloomfield Road.

Secretary - Lesley Rainford

My name is Lesley and I worked as a Chartered QS in Civil Engineering until I met and married my farmer husband.  I then gave up my nomadic life to work in partnership with him on our dairy farm – 14 years of milking cows and the inevitable paperwork.  We changed enterprise some years ago and as a result, I went back into the work place, this time as an Information Advice and Guidance Officer in an Agricultural College.

My loves are reading (thrillers) and music (everything from opera to heavy metal).  I’m an amateur gardener – I know all the wrong places to put my plants but I do try, I think dogs are the best animals in the world – so long as they are Labradors and I’m passionate about education, the guaranteed way to better our world and hence my reason for being a Soroptimist.  But most of all I love socialising and fun and this I get in abundance from SI Garstang!