Harrogate Soroptimists raise more than a £1,000 for local dementia charity

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Val Hills, President of Soroptimist International of Harrogate, accompanied by member Sandra Jowett, presented a cheque for £1,400 to Jill Quinn, CEO of Dementia Forward at their headquarters, The Hub in Burton Leonard.

This was in addition to the £160 already raised from online sales of concert tickets.

The total of £1560 means that the Soroptimists are now well on their way to their target of £2000 to help fund an additional the Dementia Forward helpline needed during lockdown.

The money has been raised from two car boot sales, sales of ‘unwanted’ Christmas presents, an afternoon tea and a Wimbledon strawberries and cream tea event.

President Val said “Dementia Forward do such a fabulous job supporting people with all forms of dementia and, of course, their carers, that it is a great honour for Soroptimist International to be helping with that work.”

Soroptimist International is a worldwide organisation that aims to improve the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and internally through education, enabling and empowering opportunities.

In the meantime, Sue Williams, a member of Harrogate Soroptimist, has just published her first novel.

Entitled Five Ladies and a Bus Called Bertha, Sue has always written for pleasure but since retiring from her day job, has been able to concentrate on her writing.

She initially embarked on writing a biography which covers many of the peace protests of the 1980s and the impact they had and the people involved.

She has also written many short stories and particularly enjoyed writing those with a humorous twist she has contributed to two anthologies and has written two pantomimes, both of which, when performed, raise several hundred pounds for charity.

Sue is always looking for inspiration and ideas for her writing and, during a lunch for retired Soroptimists, the conversation got round to how fingerprints wear away with age, and how useful this would be if they embarked on a life of crime!

As a thank you, Sue has decided to share the profits from the book, between four very worthwhile charities supported by Soroptimist International of Harrogate and District – Dementia Forward, Toilet Twinning, The Trussell Trust and Soroptimist SIGBI.

Sue said “This is a book for those who don’t want to grow old gracefully. I loved writing it and, though the biography is still unwritten, there is always next year."

The book is available to buy now via Amazon.

For more information about Harrogate Soroptimism visit:

www.sigbi.org/harrogate

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