The Federation Conference was held in Llandudno in 1975 and members gave a wonderful Wales welcome to all the delegates, see below a report taken from the local Newspaper
In 100 years of Soroptimist history the Soroptimist International Great Britain & Ireland (SIGBI) Conference has been held in Llandudno on TWO previous occasions – in 1955 and again in 1975 – You can read here the accounts in the Local Newspapers of these Events
From Thursday until Sunday Llandudno became the focal point for more than 1500 women attending the 41stAnnual Confrence of Soroptimist International Great Britain & Ireland.
The delegates who included representatives from Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Canada and the United States arrived in the town and started with a pre-conference coffee party at the Grand Hotel.
Business commenced on the Friday afternoon when the conference was officially opened by the Federation President Dr Hilda Ruth Harris, Llangollen, a member of Wrexham Club and a consultant pathologist.
A welcome was extended by the President to the Mayor Coun. KFW Lee and to the President of Vheshire North Wales & Wirral Region Miss CE Evans, and to the President of Llandudno Club Mrs Grace Barker. Who said how conscious the members were of the honour of having the conference in the town.
During the next two days delegates passed resolutionson the controversial legislation on rape,in which they asked the Government to afford victims of rape the same anonymity as is afforded to victims of blackmail
At the close of Conference business Miss Celia Evans headmistress and member of Southport Club was installed as Federation President
During their stay in Llandudno delegates were entertained with a variety concert on the Friday and a Male Vioce Choir and traditional Welsh folk dancing on Saturday, both at the Pier Pavillion.
For more information about SI Llandudno Click here to visit Llandudno website
More than 1200 delegates and members of the 215 Soroptimist Clubs attended the twenty-third annual conference of the Federation of Soroptimist Clubs of Great Britain and Ireland, at Llandudno on Friday and Saturday.
Visitors from Australia and Canada attended, and a distinguished guest was Dr Louis Bar, neurologist in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Liege, Belgium, who is president of the Soroptimist International Committee for the Advancement of Women.
On Friday evening, the delegates were given a civic reception at the Pier Pavilion and in his address of welcome Councillor John Owen chairman of the council remarked on how wide and worthwhile were the manifold objectives and missions which the various Soroptimist clubs so earnestly and diligently pursued on a national and international scale.
Mental health
Guest speaker on Friday was Dr JR Rees, director of the World Federation for Mental Health. In his address on ‘Mental Health and Human Relations – a World Problem’ Dr Rees advocated the need for more adequate facilities such as modern hospitals for the care and rehabilitation of the mentally sick, in place of the old type of mental institution. He also referred to the need for more trained personnel, particularly in the underdeveloped areas of the world, and for social acceptance of sufferers as being less fortunate members of the community. But Dr Rees emphasised that the problem could best be remedied by the establishment of healthy moral and social conditions, referring particularly to broken homes and the resultant effects upon children of instability and anxiety complexes which affected their character through life and which were chiefly responsible for the high incidence of delinquency.
Dr Rees’ address linked up with the ‘Four-Year-Study’ undertaken by the three federations of Soroptimist Clubs in Europe, America and Britain, on the handicapped child disabled by poliomyelitis and cerebral palsy, and on the moral handicap of delinquency on the basis of which study plans will be worked out for service work in these fields.
The formal business of the conference was opened on Saturday and the annual report was presented by the outgoing president, Mrs Dinah McNabb, a Member of Parliament of Northern Ireland. The report dealt with the work of the Committee of International Understanding and Goodwill, with particular emphasis on refugees. It was on this matter that the federation wrote to the Foreign Secretary asking that the Government should take its share of responsibility in rehabilitating refugees so that the camps could be closed in the foreseeable future.
Federation’s Influence
Other matters in the report included the influence of the federation on social problems; as consultants at the United Nations, and as members of the liaison committee of Women’s International Organisations whose activities are centred round human rights, the status of women and the welfare of children.
Presenting the accounts, Miss SG Lange the treasurer, spoke of the closure of the Post-War Relief Fund in Europe, which had made grants amounting to £11,230. The fund is to be superseded by a Goodwill Scheme for furthering international relations, one suggestion being the granting of scholarships for the study of home economics. Ms Lange also referred to Elizabeth House the play centre in London sponsored by the federation in conjunction with the Save the Children Fund. Support for the centre was to be continued.
In her presidential address, Mrs McNabb said her year of office had been memorable as it coincided with the implementation of equal pay which was a milestone in the social advancement of women. Mrs McNabb also referred to the work undertaken by Soroptimists, including the care and housing of old people and the many problems that lay ahead.
Miss G.E. Allen, of the Chesterfield Club, was installed President of the Federation for the coming year.
From the archives of S.I. Colwyn Bay and District
23rd Annual Conference of Federation of Soroptimist Clubs of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Llandudno 1955.
For more information about SI Llandudno Click here to visit Llandudno website
