{"id":4765,"date":"2025-10-23T11:31:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T10:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/?page_id=4765"},"modified":"2025-11-03T13:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T12:55:11","slug":"opening-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column]<style>.ld_fancy_heading_69ea3381347ef .lqd-highlight-inner{height:0.275em;bottom:0px;}<\/style><div class=\"ld-fancy-heading ld_fancy_heading_69ea3381347ef\">\n\t<h1 class=\"lqd-highlight-underline lqd-highlight-grow-left\" ><span class=\"ld-fh-txt\"> Opening Ceremony<\/span><\/h1><\/div>[vc_column_text]<strong>Blog by Olein Webster, SI Surrey Hills<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4848 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As always, the Conference opened with the flag ceremony as these were carried from the back of the hall, across the stage and back to their stands where they\u2019ll remain for the rest of the Conference.<\/p>\n<p>There were big cheers in particular for the Jamaican flag, in support for our sisters in the Caribbean, affected by the hurricane. Flags were waved by delegates in the audience for others such as Trinidad and Tobago and the UK to support their own nations.\u00a0 There was a new flag this year \u2013 St Lucia, as they have joined the Federation this year. All stood for the UN and SI flags.\u00a0 Music accompanied each flag\u00a0 but the last song was \u201cWe touch the Sun\u201d, the UNIFEM song originally heard at the Glasgow Convention some years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Federation President Ruth Healey welcomed all to the Conference.\u00a0 She had emailed the Presidents of the Jamaican Clubs before Hurricane Melissa hit and had heard back from some.\u00a0 The Emergency Relief Fund has allocated funds which will be donated soon to an appropriate organisation.<\/p>\n<p>The Vision and Mission were read by Cynthia Sanchez.\u00a0 Thoughts were sent to SIE President Hafdis who\u2019s father died during the recent SIE Conference.<\/p>\n<p>The roll call as always was lively and noisy \u2013 in particular for the Midlands Regions and Wales South!\u00a0 With big welcomes for the SI Presidents from around the world.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to our 91<sup>st<\/sup> annual Conference![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Blog by Olein Webster, SI Surrey Hills[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text] As always, the Conference opened with the flag&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":746,"featured_media":0,"parent":4762,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4765","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Opening Ceremony - SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opening Ceremony - SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Blog by Olein Webster, SI Surrey Hills[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text] As always, the Conference opened with the flag...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-03T12:55:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/\",\"name\":\"Opening Ceremony - SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-23T10:31:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-03T12:55:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":427},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Friday 31 October 2025 &#8211; Session Blogs\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Opening Ceremony\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/\",\"name\":\"SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025\",\"description\":\"A Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland Club website\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Opening Ceremony - SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Opening Ceremony - SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025","og_description":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Blog by Olein Webster, SI Surrey Hills[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text] As always, the Conference opened with the flag...","og_url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/","og_site_name":"SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025","article_modified_time":"2025-11-03T12:55:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/","url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/","name":"Opening Ceremony - SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-10-23T10:31:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-03T12:55:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/files\/J311025_105.jpeg","width":640,"height":427},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/opening-ceremony\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Friday 31 October 2025 &#8211; Session Blogs","item":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/friday-31-october-2025-session-blogs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Opening Ceremony"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/","name":"SIGBI Birmingham Conference 2025","description":"A Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland Club website","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/746"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4765"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4979,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4765\/revisions\/4979"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/birmingham2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}