From 1st to 3rd November a group of club members were among 500 delegates from across the world who gathered in Edinburgh for the 90th Anniversary of the SIGBI ( Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland) three day conference. Greetings were received from King Charles, from the former First Minister for Wales and from both Soroptimist International Presidents of the South East Asia Pacific Federation and of the Americas Federation. All our member delegates were happy to join others at the introductory ‘meet and greet’ coffee morning organised by SI Edinburgh where we swapped stories with other members and caught up with friends from other clubs.
The conference was opened by the SIGBI President and a short welcome talk was given by the first woman of colour to be elected as Rector of the University of Edinburgh three years ago telling us about her professional journey from being called to the bar in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2000 to becoming a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Commerce and Manufacture in 2022. We heard from SI President of Africa Federation who spoke of Education projects in various parts of Africa, from SI President of Europe, a member from Iceland, who told us about Empowering projects for women and girls including the Leadership Academy, and from SI President who talked about the range of projects she has visited in various countries, and about her work to raise awareness of the particular impact of violence, conflict and climate change on women and girls. The CEO of the Steve Sinnott Foundation spoke about delivering projects with teachers and educators to develop enabling opportunities for quality education across the globe and to support gender equality. Best practice awards were made to three projects with the separate themes, Educate, Empower and Enable, the delegates’ choice being a club project supporting women survivors of domestic violence.
The development of past SIGBI global projects including the Meru (Kenya) Garden Project and the Purple Teardrop Campaign, an anti trafficking project, were reviewed with delegates delighted to hear that their success continues after a number of years. Honorary Membership Certificates were proudly presented to three longstanding members in recognition of their immense work over many years serving in a variety of roles at club, regional, national and international level. Our members were particularly proud as a new club member was chosen to read the Soroptimist Vision and Mission.
A panel of Soroptimist member mentors discussed the challenges, benefits and practicalities of mentoring women and girls and we heard from recipients of the SIGBI Diamond Education Grant (Charity No 1139668) which funds female students to help with the cost of courses, books and equipment, one particular recipient telling us about her mentoring experience with a Soroptimist member and how she came to write her first novel.
The large majority of delegates voted for the talk by the keynote speaker, Baroness Floella Benjamin DBE OM DL, as the outstanding event. Baroness Benjamin spoke of her early childhood in Trinidad, her first years in Britain as part of the Windrush generation and the challenges she met and overcame to be what she has become, a highly successful actress and singer, presenter, author, politician, business woman and charity patron. The delegate audience was enthralled by her personal story, her exuberance and her obvious happy, sensitive but steely look on life.
Posters showcasing the huge variety of work done in Regions and National Associations worldwide were viewed and much discussed and appreciated. One evening entertainment was given by ‘Hjaltibonhoga’ (Old Norse for ‘Shetland, My Spiritual Home’) a group of Shetland fiddlers who were originally formed in 2014 and are well known for playing at the Edinburgh Tattoos. Representatives of the Charity ‘Smalls for All’ were delighted to tell us that during the course of the conference over 2000 sets of women’s underwear had been donated by delegates. The conference dinner was enjoyed by over 200 guests and provided another opportunity for delegates to meet up socially. There was lively debate on proposed resolutions at the General Meeting after which delegates said their goodbyes and prepared to disperse back home.
