The History of Soroptimist International Naas
Newbridge & District
The Founder Executive Committee
Click to enlarge
Soroptimist International Naas Newbridge and District came into
being on 15th October 1982 when the club charter was presented
by the Federation President of Great Britain and Ireland, Mrs
Viola Hewitt, to Mrs Noreen Mahony, Founder President. A very
enjoyable charter Dinner took place at the Hotel Keadeen and was
attended by 235 guests who came from various Soroptimist Clubs
throughout Ireland. We were also pleased to welcome our own friends
and representatives from many local clubs and organisations.
Our chain of office was sponsored by AIB and designed by local
teacher and artist, Joan Yourell.
The first national Soroptimist Project we contributed to was
"Friends of St Luke's". As 1982 had been designated
"Year of the Elderly", our first local interest was
helping "Care of the Aged" in our area and we contributed
funds to this organisation in Naas, Newbridge and Kildare. Friendship
and Service are our two main objectives - friendship within the
club and service to our community.
Service
Our service usually takes the form of fund-raising for local charities.
We were involved in helping the Carers before they were in a position
to form their own organisation - mainly by inviting them to meet
together socially and perhaps listen to and interact with a guest
speaker who could offer them constructive help and information
in coping with their onerous tasks. We also sponsored week-end
hotel breaks for several groups of carers.
Over the years, we raised money for, among others, KARE, Naas
Hospital Cardiac Unit, Women's Aid, Association for Children
and Adults with Learning Disabilities, and Jack and Jill Foundation
in Naas. Since 1987, when our 1987 and 2007 President, Theresa O'Doherty's goal was to start
a Hospice Movement in Kildare and West Wicklow, we have been
particularly interested in the work of the Hospice.
Our main
fund-raising has been directed towards this and many other voluntary organisations. Theresa, with the
help of the club, played a vital role in 2005 in establishing St Brigid's
Hospice Unit in the Drogheda Memorial Hospital on
the Curragh. To date in excess of €387,000 has been raised for the Hospice by the club.
Theresa was the Chairperson for twenty years and now continues to be active in the movement.
Education
We have entered local participants in the Soroptimist "All
Ireland Girls Public Speaking Competition" which is open
to all girls aged between 15 and 18 who are in full-time education.
This competition is aimed at helping the girls to improve their
ability to communicate with clarity and confidence, and we hope
to encourage them to play a more prominent part in public life.
(Link to Public Speaking page.)
When ACLD started in Kildare, two of our members served as tutors.
We have had self developing and educational programmes for our members including art appreciation, finance and general interests.
Social events
We have had many social evenings together and many of these were for our Charity Fund. Among them were dress functions in the earlier days, cheese & wine, fashion shows, visits to galleries, theatres etc, dog and horse racing, educational tours and of course our Presidents lunch or dinner.
We started off with 28 active members. Membership now stands at 35.
Highlights
Our highlights have been the inauguration of three of our members as Presidents
of Soroptimist International, Republic of Ireland - Theresa O'Doherty from 1991-1992,
and Patricia Tyrrell from 1998-1999 and Catherine O'Sullivan from 2003-2004.
These three National Presidents were shown amazing support from our Club and
they represented Soroptimists in Ireland with dignity, thoroughness and generosity. We
were proud of their success.
We started off with 28 active members. Membership now stands
at 35. With people moving on over the years there have been
changes in the membership, new people, fresh ideas and 10 founder
members still in action.
