Women inspiring action,

  In July several members of SI Brixham enjoyed a wonderful day out to Buckfast Abbey

  One of the first fundraising events in Jane's Presidential Year was the Summer Fair on the Quay. This year we were lucky enough to be able to have a date in June and the weather was most kind to us after the torrential down pour we had the previous summer.

We raised a total of £360 for our charities.

  The last fundraising event of President Jean's year was a "Tutti Fruitti Evening" hosted by President Elect Jane Lancaster and Pru Preston at Pru's home which raised £420.

  On Tuesday 15th January at the Berry Head Hotel Brixham Rotary Club handed over a cheque for £181.50 to Brixham Soroptimists which together with amounts collected during the Christmas Street collections by ladies of St Mary’s Church, Inner Wheel and Soroptimists meant that cheques of £340 each were presented to Brixham Does Care and The Friends of Shoalstone Pool.

Brian Altham, Jean Tulley, Vic Ellery and Tony Heard

Volunteers from all parties were there, Vic Ellery from Brixham Does Care, Tony Heard from Friends of Shoalstone Pool, Brian Altham and Geoff Lawson from Brixham Rotary Club, Pru Preston from Inner Wheel together with President Jean Tulley from Brixham Soroptimists.

Vic Ellery thanked all the volunteers saying that this year is a very special one for Brixham Does Care as it is their 35th anniversary and they are relocating, along with their Charity Shop, to Brixham’s Market Hall and without all these donations they could not afford to do this.

Tony Heard, on behalf of Friends of Shoalstone Pool who attended with his committee, also thanked the assembled volunteers telling them that 2012 had been a difficult year for the pool with budget cuts and whether the pool would even open, in the event it did for a short period and again proved itself to be a tourist asset for Torbay.

Brian Altham said Brixham Rotary Club were delighted they were able to contribute from their Christmas Rotary Sleigh and Jean Tulley, President of Brixham Soroptimists thanked all the volunteers for taking part in the Christmas collections and for standing in the street in the cold and wet!

President Jean Tully and President Jack Palk, of the Churston Fatstock Show who very kindly handed over a cheque for £400 for the Soroptimists for their chosen charity this year of Torbay Hospital’s Ricky Grant and Turner Ward Trust Funds.

Eleven Soroptimists and their partners attended the dinner at Churston Golf Club on Friday 30th November, to watch President Jean collect the cheque – what a change for us, it is normally Soroptimists handing over money so this cheque was very gratefully received.

It was a lovely evening and a very amusing auction which included pheasants, meat, fruit and vegetables.

  Our 64th Annual Dinner Dance was held at the Berry Head Hotel on Saturday 10th November and one of our speakers was Mrs Caroline Chugg, President of the South West and Channel Islands Region.

 This was Mrs Chugg’s first official function of her year in office. She is sShown on the left with President Jean Tully.

The Berry Head put on a delicious meal with the meat coming from the President’s farm at Waddeton. Jean’s family were there to support her, Richard her farmer husband, their two daughters and son-in-laws coming from their homes in Bath and London and son Steve Tully, a popular footballer with Exeter City, came straight from his match.