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Regional Meetings and Events

COMING in 2021

See Regional and Club Events Calendar

Where do we meet?

Being a large Region, gathering for a joint meeting involves quite long distances but we have discovered that sharing ideas, socialising together and being able to listen to speakers who would not come to our individual Clubs is of real benefit.  Cambridge is the most central place for us all to visit. although currently we are having virtual meetings.

The London Anglia Region hold two Regional Council Meetings each year, normally at Newnham College, Cambridge.  Club Regional Representatives and all members are invited.

  • Club Regional Representatives are also invited to an annual Officers’ Council meeting and we welcome Club Presidents/Programme Action Officers and others to this meeting.
  • In addition the London Anglia Region’s Officers meet twice a year.  All meetings are chaired by the Regional President.

The Regional Council Meetings (RCM) include business matters, speakers on issues that are faced by women and girls, and sharing ideas for Programme Action/Fundraising.  The Officers’ Council meeting is where we plan the next year’s meeting programme.

In November 2020 our speaker at the RCM was none other than Dame Vera Baird, Victims’ Commissioner and sister Soroptimist. She told us about her role, challenges, priorities for change.  Excellent presentation and we fully support her proposals for change that will enable victims and witnesses to be treated with respect and be kept informed.

Photo courtesy of: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dame_Vera_Baird.jpg#/media/File:Dame

At the July 2020 RCM our speakers were Lynda Cornish and Felicity Borwick from Women’s Voices (Ipswich) who told us about the Gender Equality Quilt that is a lasting physical celebration of the Centenary of the first women given the right to vote in 1918.

At our last meeting in 2019 our speaker was Chloe Winlow, from East Suffolk Council.  Chloe spoke about their district wide Period Poverty scheme and how it was developed.  An innovative approach which involves businesses, this could be a template for other Councils.  Thank you – we learnt a lot.  Most of our Clubs donated a large bag of sanitary products.  Club names were entered into a hat and SI Cambridge won all the contents of these bags.  They were donated to Sue’s Essentials – started by a police officer who realised that young women were stealing sanitary products from stores because they could not afford to buy them.

At the same meeting we participated in ‘Oranging the World’ – The 16 days between 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and 10 December, Human Rights Day, are known as the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign(link is external), a time to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world.

President Mell thanking Chloe for her talk and a group of Soroptimists in ‘Orange’

If you want to know more about what’s happening in the Clubs in the London Anglia Region, or you would like to attend an event or meeting contact your local Club.