Two of our members attended the Soroptimist’s World Convention held in Kuala Lumpor 19-21 July 2019. “We were privileged to hear internationally renowned speakers who were inspiring, thought-provoking, shocking and heart-breaking but also at times hilarious. We have made many new friends and look forward to maintaining the close friendships we have forged. This has been a wonderful experience and a one we shall not forget. Below is the view from our bedroom window”. Janice Rees and Marjory Smart

Some of the members of SI Aberdeen who took part in a clean up of Allenvale Cemetery on July 22nd to mark the SIGBI day of action While in the cemetery flowers were placed on the grave of Dr Mary Esslemont, one of the most well known members and past Presidents of SI Aberdeen (1950 – 51). She also became President of the Soroptimist Federation in 1961

At our final meal meeting before the summer recess over 15 club members enjoyed a fascinating talk from Lesley Mowat about her involvement with the Girls Brigade in Aberdeen over a number of years. Club member Pat Moir a close friend and long time nursing colleague was happy to be the model as she showed use how the uniform had evolved over the years.

Club member Dorothy handing in plastic bottle tops to our local Lush shop for up-cycling

Aberdeen Harbour, one of the UK’s busiest ports, is being transformed to develop new facilities and associated infrastructure at Nigg Bay, to the south of the existing harbour. The construction will facilitate increased capacity and will accommodate the larger vessels now associated with a whole range of existing and new markets. This £350 million project will continue for three years, and its scheduled completion date is in the summer of 2020. In this time, breakwaters, quays, improved access roads to support the new development, road re-alignment, parking and means of access, temporary construction and fabrication areas and other associated development including, paths, lighting, and signage will be built. The visitor’s centre is full of fascinating facts and display boards about the project and about the history of Aberdeen harbour. We enjoyed an informative talk from Teresa and Havier about the complexity of this new development

At our February meeting member Pat Stewart gave a very informative talk about palm oil. A lively discussion followed about palm oil, what the issue is with “conflict” palm oil, how we can try and ensure we are either reducing our consumption or only using products containing sustainable palm oil. The picture is a range of products we looked at and discussed.

SI Aberdeen members are working hard to bring together our 90th birthday celebrations. We have been planning for a good few months now to organise our birthday bash at The Douglas Hotel in Aberdeen in conjunction with the Regional meeting on Saturday 9th March of this year.

Click here to find out more about Grampian Child Bereavement Network

Wed 4th April saw well over half our members gather at our regular haunt The Atholl Hotel for a very full and interesting meeting, with Sue Kinsey chairing her last meeting before handing over the reins to Hilda Smith at our forthcoming AGM. We were delighted to induct new member Louise McIntosh a retired teacher into our fold. As always when a new member is welcomed we each introduced ourselves, giving Louise a short insight into any specific role we have within the club. Our Program convenor Marjory Smart introduced our speaker for the evening Susan Hogg a member of the Trefoil Guild who gave us a fascinating presentation on her trip to Russia as part of TOPAZ (Trefoil Overseas Participation Adventure with Zest). Susan had been selected along with seven other adult Trefoil Guides from the UK to spend a week with their Russian