The SIGBI Conference in Harrogate 2014 was a huge success. With a jam-packed programme and 1400 delegates including 7 from S I Easter Ross.
We all arrived (eventually) on Thursday evening, just in time for the Opening Ceremony and Parade of flags. How wonderful to see so many Soroptimists in one place, with many of our sisters in their National Dress – very colourful.
On Friday morning we had a very inspiring talk from our Keynote Speaker Sahar Hashemi. Sahar was one of the founders of Coffee Republic.
Saturday started with Key-Note Speaker Professor Susan Vinnicombe CBE, Director for the International Centre for Women Leaders, followed by Ann Garvie, SI President. The rest of the Saturday sessions were dedicated to Programme Action, with a very moving talk from Alice Odingo, who told us about her family members who had died in the Ebola epidemic. A ‘bucket’ collection took place and delegates raised over £7,000 during the 2 days and this would be sent to one of the clubs projects to help those on the ground directly. We also heard a final report from The BIG Project where we learned that the total raised for the Birthing in Gambia project is £144,000. Our final speaker on Saturday afternoon was Dame Jenni Murray, who gave us a fascinating talk on her life and her work presenting Women’s Hour, on Radio 4.
We all agreed this was a wonderful conference and below are some pictures.
