SI Crosby

World Water Day

To mark World Water Day 2010 Crosby’s Soroptimists took up a national challenge to achieve a minimum of £75. Federation President Jackie Mosedale set a ‘tea party’ theme and urged all Soroptimists to take action in support of WaterAid’s vital work.

Firstly, at their own club meeting, Crosby’s members sold home-made cakes and held a raffle. This raised £100.75 - so the target was met in one go. Not content with that, SI Crosby President Doreen Forbes decided to involve singers in the Liverpool Male Voice Choir, of which she is Musical Director. The Soroptimists made more cakes, which were sold at a rehearsal. This brought in another £63.

To boost the grand total, Headteacher (and Soroptimist) Clare Baxter then organised a fundraising tea party at Streatham House School, Blundellsands. Her students served refreshments to family and friends - and many local Soroptimists - and held a cake sale. This enjoyable event scooped £200.

President Doreen said, “I am delighted that our combined efforts have raised a magnificent £363.75. All the ‘tea party’ money raised by Soroptimists this year will go towards WaterAid’s sanitation work in Bangladesh. Lack of safe water and toilets is an issue that mainly affects girls and women in the developing world, and it is estimated that 4,000 children a day die from diarrhoeal diseases. Soroptimists aim to advance the status of women and try to make the world a better place. Therefore, as projects managed by WaterAid cost on average just £15 per person, our World Water Day fundraising will make a real difference.”

Goods to Honduras

Members have taken part in a massive local project to send a container-full of goods to Honduras. They sorted, listed, packed and labelled a consignment of over 300 separate items.

St Joseph’s Hospice Association (Jospice) is based in Thornton, near Crosby, but also supports hospices in Central and South America. Soroptimist Pat Murphy, Director of Fundraising for Jospice, visited Honduras earlier this year and was stunned by the community’s deprivation and the Spartan conditions under which the hospice staff work. “I realised that lots of things that are discarded here would be really valuable there”, she said. Thus was born the dream of attempting to re-equip the hospice and provide extra resources for the neighbourhood.

Cath O’Leary, the nurse-manager in Honduras, provided a wish-list of medical, educational, household and other items. Pat appealed in Merseyside for the goods, plus the cash to fund a 40-foot container and its shipping costs. The response from the community was overwhelmingly speedy and generous.

Cath had spoken to the Crosby club during her recent furlough, so members were acutely aware of the plight of the patients - many of whom have developed AIDS - and the work of the staff. It was no surprise, therefore, that members supported the project wholeheartedly. Crosby’s members eventually helped to transport the goods to the container; and Pat Murphy had the final - pleasurable - task of locking the container doors.

Members recently had news of the safe arrival of the container-full of goods, sent to Honduras by St Joseph’s Hospice Association (Jospice).

The consignment of medical, educational, household and other items was sent to Jospice’s hospice in San Pedro Sula. Everything, including the cash to fund the container and its shipping costs, was provided thanks to the generosity of people in Merseyside. The Soroptimists sorted, listed, packed and labelled all the goods ready for transport.

At the hospice local people, who turned out in huge numbers, unloaded the container. All goods were put straight under cover, ready for sorting and allocation at the hospice and in the community. Medical equipment and sewing machines, for example, have been put straight to work; and the children now have a range of outdoor toys to play on. A life-size statue of St Joseph, carefully padded and wrapped by the Soroptimists, arrived with minimal damage. It has been placed in the chapel.

News of the container’s arrival spread far and wide. The Bishop of San Pedro Sula made a special visit to the hospice. Another caller was Father Antonio Quetglas, the priest who originally highlighted to Jospice the need for a hospice in the area.

AIDS has become the leading cause of death among women of childbearing age in Honduras, and many of the patients in San Pedro Sula are in need of care as a result of HIV-related illness. Cath O’Leary, the nurse-manager, knows that the container-full of goods from England will have a far-reaching, hugely positive effect on the work that she and her staff carry out.

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