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

The Lady Provost of the city of Aberdeen, Hazel Cameron, the wife of the Lord Provost Doctor David Cameron and a member of Aberdeen City Council, gave a most interesting talk about her experiences and activities since taking up her post in the summer of 2022. She began her talk by speaking about her chain of office, known as the ‘Jewel for the use of the Lady Provost of Aberdeen’, with the pendant made in gold and commissioned by the wife of Henry Alexander, Lord Provost of Aberdeen from 1932 to 1935. It includes a central sapphire and a pendant pearl, and depicts in relief the saltire and four saints with special significance to the city, namely, St Nicholas, patron saint of  the Burgh of Aberdeen, St Clement of Fittie, St Fittick of Nigg and St Machar of Old Aberdeen. On the reverse side is

Over the last few weeks club members have been very busy, successfully knitting several ‘Thin Red Line’ scarves as part of our campaign to highlight the impact of climate change, modelling the scarves in the bandstand of our local Duthie park. Scottish club members are being encouraged to contact their MPs to remind them of the importance of enacting policies in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and are also being urged to display their scarves in their towns and gift the scarves to their MPs! Club members have also recently spent a week supporting the local charity ‘Aberdeen Cyrenians’ in the Aberdeen City Council charity shop. Volunteers ran the busy shop throughout one week and were thanked for all their efforts. http://www,weareac.org Members will gather together this week at our Orange Cafe to promote our club and will be delighted to chat to anyone

As part of our long standing commitment to looking after our planet and preserving our environment for future generations a group of members spent time on a lovely sunny morning doing a clean up of a local beach. Armed with litter pickers and black bags members undertook a good clean up of the stretch of beach, and on this occasion, were very encouraged to find little evidence of discarded plastic bottles or cans. Most of the litter was small pieces of coloured  plastic and polystyrene which was difficult to pick up. Following the walk along the beach members were ready to enjoy a well earned lunch in a nearby restaurant.

Recently a representative of SANDS, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society, gave a truly impressive talk about the charity's wonderful work. Its vision for the future is a world where fewer babies die and anyone affected by the loss of a baby receives the best possible care and support as long as it is needed whether it is some years after a loss or early on in a pregnancy. The charity works in partnership with health professionals, trusts and health boards to offer a range of training programmes and bereavement care resources to ensure that bereaved parents and families receive the best care wherever they are in the UK. Within the UK there is a helpline, the SANDS online community, a private support page on Facebook and various other online support meetings and in addition within Scotland groups share experience and best practice. The charity

Our Federation’s recent ‘Day of Action’ saw a group of club members gather to knit a ‘Thin Red Line’ to depict a key threshold for climate change and to raise awareness of the impact of climate change, global warming and other climate disruptions. The focus for the day was on poverty and the effect of climate change on poverty worldwide now and in the future. Members aim to continue knitting!

Once again a group of members took part in the Big Help Out in the Trinity Centre in the city. Organised by the local charity ‘We, Too’ in conjunction with ACVO (Aberdeen City Voluntary Organisations) following a very successful campaign initiated by King Charles last year, and at the culmination of this year’s national Volunteers’ Week, a variety of organisations set up their stalls to showcase the work they do and the causes they support, providing members of the public with opportunities to become volunteers. At the end of a very busy day ‘Thank You’ Volunteer Certificates were distributed to all the volunteers present.

Club members recently gathered to hear a talk from a representative of the charity, CHSS, which provides service and support for people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions as well as Long Covid in Scotland, through their Community Healthcare Support Team.  Their ‘NO LIFE HALF LIVED’ strategy supports anyone who needs them to live full lives. The charity also supports health professionals and carers, and their dedicated stroke nurses help patients who return home from hospital following a stroke. There is a telephone interpreting service and an air quality & weather alert service. http://www.chss.org.uk     adviceline@chss.org.uk

A group of members were delighted to attend the Big Lunch  hosted by Grampian Women’s Aid, the specialist service to women, children and young people in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire who have experienced domestic abuse. The theme for the lunch was ‘Women and Work’ with guest speakers who shared information about the work and volunteering they do. The attendees were women who GWA has supported and have done the ‘Own My Life’ course, the natural progression of which is a new syllabus being developed to support women with employability hence the theme of the day.http://www.grampian-womens-aid.com