What a year!

Where to begin? 2017 has been such an amazing year for Ladies Circle Hong Kong and the charities we support!
 
Are you ready…….??
 
Our Community Ladies have organised over 10 visits this year to some of the charities we support. We've been able to take friends, partners and children to see first-hand the good work that is being done. A particular stand out was the Hong Kong School for the Deaf, where many of our members were able to take their own young children to enjoy their graduation ceremony. Definitely a perk, and an education, when we can involve our own young ones!!
 
The first few months of the year we enjoyed a huge range of socials, from hiking through Tai Tam Country Park, to starting our Craft Circle with Greeting Card designs and Chinese Tassel making, Afternoon Tea at The Upper House, Karaoke, morning tea, Cherry Blossom Bubbles and of course our hugely popular Charity Quiz Night raising money for Small Group Homes….and this was all before our May AGM !!
 
At our AGM in May we welcomed a new council.  Some ladies who had become members in just the past year. So exciting to see this level of enthusiasm and commitment – and always good to get some fresh blood too!!! ;-)  We bid farewell to a couple of our long standing Council team with fond memories and thanks for their dedication.
 
After the summer break, the ladies came back with all the get-up and go you can imagine. [Where do they get their energy from??!!!].
 
Our first monthly dinner was like the first day back at school. Everyone excited to see friends and catch up. Very heartening. October we had outdoor yoga on the harbour front and in November we supported the Round Table with their 31st annual 24 hour Pedal Kart race.
We lost count of how many cones were carried around but there were some very dirty hands afterwards I can tell you. Fabulous job ladies!!!  And a shout out to Karla and Mary our Community ladies for coordinating again and all our members who volunteered. Team work at its best!
 
Our members really are everything at Ladies Circle. In November we were out in force again as one of our members - Caroline - hosted 'Pink Drinks' at her house. A fabulous fundraising evening in support of a local HK breast cancer charity and the Round Table boys who participated in Movember.
 
We may be a “Ladies Only” membership but we do value the support we get from our other halves - and Caroline's husband was definitely the hostess with the mostess that night. He also “MC’d” our annual pub quiz back in April – oops, forgot to mention that!! Yeah, back in April we had our annual pub quiz to fundraise for our main charity Small Group Homes. Another fab night which was once again held at The Globe, we ladies are always humbled by the support we get from local businesses. We heart HK!!
 
There's no 'I' in 'team' and there's no end to a circle.
 
Autumn also saw the annual Box of Hope appeal and our ladies just surpassed themselves by packing a whopping 439 boxes. Beating last year's total by 95. Massive thanks to our President Fiona and all the members [and her neighbours] who spent so many days at her house wrapping boxes in preparation for the big night. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Well thanks to our members we were prepared and it was night of organised packing and music and cheers at the final count. Good times…..
 
So now we are in December and this month began with our Christmas Dinner. Yes it was our time to let our hair down but life at Ladies Circle HK is all about our charities. A Toy Drive and making up Hampers for Crossroads Foundation Hong Kong.  A little bit every now and then adds up to being a lot at the end of the day. Our last dinner of the year and we had the pleasure of inaugurating FOUR new members. Loretta, Rebecca, Smriti and Sally. We are so excited to have these ladies join us and definitely an end of year high for us.
 
We have had a few lows with several members moving overseas – Laura, Telina, Danielle, Lisa, Jan and Angela - leaving Hong Kong. But, as with all our Alumni the HK door never closes and we can't wait to see them when they're next in town - perfect excuse for a big old fundraising party right??! And speaking of parties and Alumni – oh are we in for a treat next year!!
 
How can 2018 top all of this you ask??
 
Ladies Circle HK turns 50 in 2018!! 
 
But before that, we have already lined up some amazing guest speakers for our monthly dinners, a site visit to Small Group Homes, Craft Circle is an official fixture in our calendar and on February 5th we have our first Book Club meeting. Are you tired just thinking about the first 8 weeks of 2018? We're not…..because right around the corner will be our 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner on March 8th (International Women’s Day!)
 
We are all excited about the week of festivities being planned. In addition to the big gala dinner and special guests and Alumni we will be hosting, there are a range of activities from local Dim Sum to walking tours around the sights of HK.
 
Our Social Coordinators are already on the case for the Annual Pub Quiz and Comedy Night – oops – did we forget to mention something again??!!! Our inaugural Comedy night was hosted by Jami Gong and fabulous comedians from TakeOut Comedy who donated their time to make us chuckle for the charities we support. Yep. We’ll be doing it again in 2018. So much fun!!
 
So to the council, all members, our supporters and mostly the charities. Let’s put our feet up while we can over the holiday season.
 
2018 promises to be another fun filled and action packed year and we look forward to celebrating and working with old friends and new!!
 
Happy holidays and a prosperous New Year to all!!
 
Yours in Friendship & Service
Ladies Circle HK

Festive Greetings from the Hong Kong Ladies Circle Council