In Ladies Circle, #TogetherWeRock because our unity is our greatest strength. By standing #SideBySide, we can achieve amazing things, support each other through life’s ups and downs, and truly make a difference in the world.
Each year we ask Circlers to nominate those that they feel have stood out, made a difference, and embraced all that Circle has to give. At our National AGM we give out a wide range of awards, celebrating Circlers, Circles and Areas but we rarely have time to give out all the reasons why our winners win or to celebrate all the wonderful nominees.
This magazine makes up for that! It includes details of all our awards, all our nominees and of course all our winners.
Congratulations to everyone who was nominated last year and a big thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate them.
Yours in friendship
Lara Lachello
National Immediate Past President 20
ircle AGM the first time can be a bit odd, there’s a real mix of dress codesome are in Circle tops, some are dressed up like a day at the races but what clothes you wear doesn’t matter... what you have on your head does!
The ‘Nordic Helmet’ was presented to us to on our 60th Anniversary in 1996 by the National President’s of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Latvia & Estonia.
It is awarded by the previous year’s winner to the person she believes is wearing the best hat/ headwear at AGM. The catch... the winner has too wear the ‘Nordic helmet’ necklace and her winning headwear to all Circle events over the coming year and share a shot of schnapps with those she meets! You can follow the hat’s travels here https://www.facebook.com/Ladiescirclenordichat
Unfortunately Preston & South Ribble LC 1223 could not attend and pick a winner this year, but they had a secret squirell (Ruth Williams) in attendance, and the Nordic Hat Award was presented to Emma Cartland & Liz Roden for their ‘Heart of England’ Area 4 showcase.
This award does exactly what it says on the tin, it is awarded by the National Immediate Past President (IPP) to the Circler who she believes has been the best person to speak on a topic during the AGM (National Exec not included!)
IPP, Fiona Bull selected our 2024 winner - Jenny spoke from the floor about our Belief Statement, sharing with us her views on inclusivity. She spoke well and helped the room come to a decision on which way to vote on the proposal.
This award is for a Circler, Circle or Area that has made an impact - maybe they’ve had awesome reach, created great graphics and engaging content, had a viral video, or a huge jump in likes/ followers etc across any social media platform.
Here’s what was said about our 2024 nominees...
“As part of National Membership week in January 2024 Letchworth Circler Sharon had an idea for a unique Social Media marketing campaign which could involve Circlers locally, nationally and internationally. The idea was for Circle members to post ‘5 photos that represent Circle to me’ on Facebook (the source of most of our enquiries) and then nominate three people to do the same to pass on to others to take part.”
“Charlotte has been an incredible Social Media manager. She has really kept her finger on the pulse of what is current and relevant, interacting with and celebrating the rest of our Circle family. She promotes positivity, posts engaging content and advocates for women everywhere through her content. She actively promotes our circle, our activity, celebrates our successes and provides a wonderful window into what LC is all about for nonmembers. ”
“Charlotte has done an incredible job this year as Social media lady for St Neots Ladies Circle. She has worked so hard to upgrade our presence on social media both locally and nationally. She keeps us all in St Neots up to date with what is happening in other circles and advertises our events far and wide. She gives us inspiring weekly posts and keeps our Facebook page current and relevant. Charlotte will also never let any members birthday pass by un-noticed showing her commitment to brightening everyone's day.”
This rela erage in the press or radio. It can be awarded to a Circler, Circle, Area or the organisers of a specfic event.
The nominees were...
“St.Neots did there first big charity night. They did a band night in October. They wanted to step out of their comfort zone and try and raise a lot of money for their chairmen's charity of the year
On the night, their members sold raffle tickets, helped set up and pack away. The night was such a success. The campaign worked and we raised over £900.
St. Neots Circle came together and they did an amazing event. ”
“Kerrie Foster has worked tirelessly to do as much fundraising this year as she can for Harleston. She has arranged bingo nights, cake sales, town stalls and even a festival to raise money for local causes. In doing so, she has raised the profile of Ladies Circle even higher in our community. Kerrie has worked hard collecting vouchers, making phone calls and making games as well as attending fundraising events. Her efforts have been very much appreciated and we are so proud of her for all her hard work dedication and also friendship. Kerrie - you are amazing! ”
“This circle year Enniskillen Ladies Circle raised a total of £8163.22 for SANDS by doing a dress sale selling new and second hand dresses donated by the public All circlers pulled it out of the box by volunteering hundred of hours collecting dresses, ordering and sizing them and having a dress sale in their local town hall. Donations and collections were also done on the day and on the run up to the event. Such an effort made by all and amazing work out in by all involved - such a massive achievement for such a worthwhile cause. Well done Enniskillen Ladies Circle!”
There are three National Membership awards - all are based on statistics taken from Circler.World (our membership database) as at 31st March. You’ve got to be in it to win it so always make sure your new members are registered as soon as possible.
Why do we use the 31st March and not a date closer to the AGM in May? Simply because we pro-rata the membership fee each month and charge absolutely nothing for new members joining in April and May. It’s easy to sign up lots of new members if its free and then find they don’t renew in June, to avoid this skewing the numbers we take data from end of March.
The top three Circle’s in each category, in no particular order were...
Most New Members
Shirley LC 282, York LC 41, Southend-On-Sea LC 101 and St Neots LC 532
Newest Circle Membership Increase
Rugby LC 104 & Bourne LC 766
This award is for a Circle who have tried something different to attract new members i.e. they really have thought 'out of the box'.
Here are your nominees...
“St. Neots Circle had a great idea turning old A3 posters into Selfie Frames for a summer festival in their town. Great way of showing circles how they can recycle old promotional material and make it work for them, it was away of engaging people with the group and they were just fun.”
“Jenn Davy Day is one of those happy, healthy, hippy but down to earth people ever. She's a bit 'out there' so, I'm not surprised she came up with this amazing idea.
The background to this is that our village, Littleborough, has a PINK LITTLEBOROUGH campaign every October. In aid of Breast Cancer awareness and 'Prevent Cancer' campaigns. I asked Jenn to write something for us, and this is what she wrote:
Awareness for Prevent Cancer (making £100) and awareness for circle, in a crazy 'out of the box' way - that not only made everyone she met during this month happy, it also got LC out in our little village once more as she ran around doing mum stuff.
You could say we were all tickled pink!”
“I am nominating Lichfield 106 for these awards as they have sponsored a local under 10's girls football team. The logo is on the girls tops and jackets, the girls play all over Staffordshire from Tamworth to Stoke on Trent This initiative has already given us a new member and also triggers conversations about ladies circle and promoted what we do.”
an Area Chairperson that has made the greatest contribution to the role either in National Council Meetings, in feedback to her Area Circles, helping other Area Chairpersons or making a difference to her Circles.
The nominees for 2024 were...
Kate Baker
Sophie Amber Horton
Jessica Demain
Jeni Wright
There was a wealth of nominations for these ladies and most comments could apply to any and all of them. Here’s a little snapshot of what was said about our winner...
“She took on the role of Area 25 Chair for a second year, I think partly because no one else stepped up, but she has absolutely given it her best. She has made an effort to try to forge closer ties between the Circles in our Area and been very supportive especially to those less experienced Circlers who hold committee positions in their Circle. She has regularly engaged with social media posts from our Area Circles and attended/supported fundraisers and community events as much as she can. She has also made an obvious effort to relay information from National meetings and events back down the chain, as well as conscientiously getting feedback from our Area Circles to inform her valuable contribution to discussions and votes at National level.
She has also started discussions with Royston Round Table to look into the feasibility of setting up a new Circle in Royston. And she has done all of this whilst juggling a busy job as a teacher, raising her two children solo, and looking after a menagerie of animals.”
“Area 25 wouldn't be the same without her. She has been so supportive to St. Neots in the past year. Any questions we have had she has answered them. She came to our band night event to support us which meant so much to us.
She is circle. She is warm, enthusiastic, supportive. If you want to know how to be a circler- She is the best example. ”
Bernadette Young, Ruth Farrell & Emma Ashcroft
made the difference internationally; usually through organising a trip, encouraging others to attend, getting involved in the actual meetings, raising money for the ISP etc. or simply embracing the friendships LCI has to offer. Here are your nominees....
“Alice Watts - Connected to Berlin Circle and donated leftover event supplies for them to donate to local women’s refugees”
“Kat Walmsley -Kat’s 2 loves, travel & circle It’s been fabulous to see Kats LCI travels blossom from her first trip to LCI India AGM, and then to the MTM in Nuremberg. She’s made long lasting friends all over the world ”
“Sharneigh Brown - She was part of a group taking aid across to countries that need it. The bravery of doing that should be rewarded ”
“Vicky Parker-George - Vicky has been brilliant is going to countries around the would while supporting her local group she is a highly motivated and inspirational lady who deserves recognition! ”
rom the annual Charity Impact Survey, it’s simple, the most amount of money raised wins. As an association we raised £209,532.94 that we know of - the percentage of Circle’s completing the Charity Impact Survey means we know e Enniskillen LC 380, Letchworth LC
Based on stats from the Charity Impact Survey this award goes to the Circle that the National Vice President thinks has made the greatest contribution, this could be in terms of hours advice given, or the overall impact made.
re Hinckley LC 71, Letchworth LC
Nominated by any Round Table Family Member, this award can be given to a Circler, Circle, Area, or specific event that has shown the family working well side-by-side.
Our 2024 nominees were:
Chelmsford LC 182 (alongside all the Chelmsford Round Table family clubs; Tindal Circle, 41 Club, County and Chelmsford Tangent). This year has been our first year back to 'normal' circling post covid. It's been amazing to see how quickly we have reestablished the ongoing connections with our local clubs and how we have all supported one another during this circling year.
Area 51 - we are in the fortunate position where most - is not all - of our circles have a strong connection with the local family clubs around them. With our circles having these relationships established, we have been able to work along side them at various fundraising events and social events.
The Lost Hours Walk Team - A group of Tablers and Circlers held their own 27 mile charity walk together in aid of CALM. Starting at midnight, they walked from Marchesi House in Birmingham to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to lay a wreath they carried between them on the way. The group made of Tablers from different areas and Circlers from Lichfield, lead by Daniel White and Harriet Raymont were supported by members from the Round table family on route. It was grueling but inspiring trek and the encouragement shown between the group was fantastic. Testament to what can be achieved when we work together.
Littleborough & Areas 2010 - Side by Side with Rochdale Round Table, this year we did the foodbank, the Santa sleigh and we had a table at their ladies' night - we want to do more. In fact, in June 2024 we have a wine and pizza night post national AGM on the cards! This year really marks our 'first year of being truly side by side with Rochdale Roundtable and its once again down to Jenny Murray pushing and fighting for us, as she believes we should work together into next year and beyond.
Harleston LC 785 - We have worked alongside tangent after setting it up one year ago and they support all we do and we support them equally it really is a wonderful relationship. We have 4 very strong clubs in Harleston and we all support each other and work well together its amazing that between the 4 clubs we have around 80 members maybe more, what an amazing feeling it is that when anyone needs something we have all these wonderful people to lean on, it really has been a fantastic year with tangent coming on board.
“Harriet should be nominated for the Side by Side Award and Circler of the Year for her outstanding commitment and contributions to our association and RT Family Her dedication is evident in her active participation at numerous Round Table international events alongside her partner, Daniel, and National Ladies Circle events, making global friendships within Ladies Circle and Round Table. Additionally, she assist Lichfield Round Table with their Santa Sleigh run and consistently attends events locally, nationally, and internationally. Harriet also took part in charitable endeavors such as the Lost Hours Walk for CALM raise £2,000+ and Walking 100km for the Robin Cancer Trust during March. Furthermore, she consistently supports fellow circlers whenever and wherever needed.”
This award was ng Eaton LC 611 Chair who died during the year. Jen valued her Circle, their support and their friendship. Going forward the National President will set the criteria at start of year.
National President Lara Lachello’s criteria were the Circle that most embodies our ethos "Together We Rock".
The nominees were:
Enniskillen LC 380 - Amazing group of ladies who are all supportive of each other. A huge team effort was put in for the fundraising event which raised over £8000!!
Littleborough & Areas LC 2010 - “When one of the members of LALC was encouraging me to join, she told me that she felt like being a part of LALC had made her feel like ’a better person.’ I wouldn't have known what that meant until I did join, and I have never looked back.”
Harleston LC 785 - We have only been running for 4 years and we have gone from strength to strength retaining members and the friendship, fundraising and fun ethos is something we take very seriously and we do in my opinion very well at all 3! As a circle we have gone above and beyond to embrace all that Ladies Circle is. We have worked hard to give back to our community, had an amazing about of fun while doing it and created a great bunch of friends in the process. As a circle we have been able to raise a tremendous amount of money for charity / local good causes in our area. We have worked alongside the other local clubs within our area in our 4 club family to help promote circle and all that we are about.
Littleborough & Areas LC 2010 - WOW. WHAT A YEAR!There are SO many reasons why LALC should win this award this year - and I'm going to do my best to tell you our little story from May 2023 to April 2024.… GET YOUR TISSUES READY!
May 2023 AGM/Blackpool - What a turnout to Blackpool AGM! - we had 15 members there and Preston had about the same. Being the host area, we took on roles such as 'runners' and note-takers, and mic holders. Jenn Davy Day also did the official photographs on the day, which were awesome.Area 35 (Preston, Littleborough and Enniskillen) despite not having anyone from Ireland there, our area took over the whole left-hand side of the room. Area 35 chair won the 'Best Area Chair' award and Preston got the Nordic hat, with a smattering of nominations along the way as well. We were buzzing, and I, who was National Membership Officer at the time looked out on my area, all their smiling, cheering faces and I cried in my speech as I was so proud.
June-October 2023 - We did some charity work, meetings and volunteering within our local area and Prevent Cancer walks (1 of our chair ladies' charities) – A summer of true fundraising, Friendship and fun. In these 2 months Jenny Murray (our chair) made some good connections with Rochdale Roundtable (our brother club) who had all but ignored us for years - through her grit and determination, she finally opened up the gates of communication and we took on a foodbank service for them as well as put some plans in place for the rest of year. Charity walks started up in September, and we continued working in the community on the tea stands, Jenny and Rachel went off to CarFest and raised at least £2k there as well for CIN.
The Atmosphere in Summer 2023 within LALC was the happiest its ever been!The whatsapp chat was exploding with positivity and lalc were talking to more and more ladies with new member nights etc.
October - Saw our busiest volunteering month (in terms of hours put in by the exec. at least) with our legendary WREATH NIGHTS (this is our 6th year running them for the community). Stacey, also ran the North West Marathon this month as well who deserves a massive well done (she had only been a member a few months and was making waves already).
20th October - Tragedy struck one of our members. Heidi Murphy lost her husband due to suicide, and we all rallied around her. Myself, Jess and Lynne the most. We even set up a 'dog-walking' club for her pugs Wills and Charlie to help her out, due to the masses amount of emotional and family details she had to take on, whilst losing her soul mate.
This night, was also (sadly) Lynne's last event with Circle - the comedy night. it was so funny, we were all buzzing, so we went to the pub afterwards and there were about 10 of there, dancing the night away - what a night! What an unintentional, but fabulous send-off for Lynne!
2nd November - Tragedy struck once more - and this time it affected ALL 20 MEMBERS Lynne Howarth suddenly lost her life (we still don't know why).
SHOCK, HORROR, SADDNESS, GRIEF just shook our circle to the core. That weekend we had a 'dinner for Lynne' event, EVERY member turned up at some point that day, and Mark (Lynne's husband) and Lynne's children Harrison and Harmony met us at the end for chips and hot chocolate. We had Lynne's photo on the table, we all wrote something in the card to the kids and the card to Mark, and it was just a sad, but amazing day of mourning we all needed.
November/December - After 2 funerals in the space of 2 weeks, our circle was pretty flat and the future was uncertain. Would we just cancel everything, and just 'survive' the year? Jenny said, No, Lynne planned these events with us, we'll do them in her honor! And so we did.The wreath nights were planned, carried out and completed with tears in all our eyes (taking place just 3 weeks after Lynne passed and one night I think was the day after her funeral). These were incredibly hard for all of us, but members of the community had paid their money and turned up, so Jenny and the rest of the circle felt strongly they HAD to go ahead. Emotional and tough, we all surprised ourselves and raised a glass to Lynne each time. Jenny even made a Wreath for Lynne's front door!
Our Christmas party was tough, but I think there were only 2 people who couldn't attend, and we had Lynne on the table, we raised a glass to her and we all cried at the end of the night for Lynne and the sadness that she wasn't with us in one of her sparkly tops! :-(
Jan/Feb 2024 - The Grieving process took over... These months were a blur to the Lalc Exec. and our members. We lost our enthusiasm, our drive our being...
We lost 1 member (Stacey) due to the 'atmosphere' and 'sadness' of our group. We lost 1 member to Eclub (Rachel). We were crumbling inside and out.
End of Feb 24 - Now - April 24 -It was time to rebuild, pat ourselves on the back for a brilliant year, despite our tragedy and loss - and look at what we achieved in 12 months! The bonds LALC have made this year in the community and with Roundtable are stronger than ever, and we have more events planned with them next year (and this is a real first for us).We've raised a phenomenal amount, from a little (haha) village circle like ourselves, (over £7k) and the community now KNOW of us – yay!
Our membership has grown from 19 to 24 this year (if we include our angel Lynne who will always be a member to us) and our friendships have strengthened.
I am truly proud of this lovely, inspiring bunch of misfits (I can say that cause I'm their friend) but we're all different but when it matters, we put aside these differences against ALL THE ODDS!
I can safely say, our circle has been hit hard this year, but we've survived, we've thrived, and I like it when other areas and circler's come to me and say 'oh Littleborough are our favorite circle - you guys are amazing', and if I may add, damn fun too!
This is our mo ard a runner up. The National President decides on the criteria at start of her year and Lara Lachello’s criteria were the Circle that most embodies our ethos "Together We Rock"
The nominees are all amazing young women and seeing what their fellow Circlers said about them was heartwarming. Each and every one of them has embraced the theme. With so many nominations it would take another 20 pages to give all the reasons why these women were nominated.
But here they all are...
Jane Moore
Hayley Jarvis
Sam Gamble
Rebecca Salmon
Kerrie Foster
Jenny Murray
Lynne Howarth
Verity Klennert
Jeni Wright
Donna Nelson
Harriet Raymont
Lizzy Pegg
All our 2024 nominees should be incredibly proud. Your peers think you are so amazing, that they took time out to tell us all about you, and The National Executive think you are all a shinning example of Circle. Thank you for giving your best to our association.
