A number of Club members attended the recent Scotland North and South Joint Conference held in Stirling on the 14th of April.
The theme of the conference was ‘building bridges’ and the speakers approached this with a range of topics.
Keynote Speakers
One of the key note speakers was Mariet Verhoff-Cohen, President of Soroptimist International – who spoke on her President’s Appeal for the 2017-2019 biennium, Women,Water and Leadership. Mariet is recognised as an expert on the topic of water and how it impacts the lives of women and girls globally. She stated that more than 600 million of the world’s population lack ready access to safe water and sanitation and because they are the primary water carriers for their families, water scarcity affects women and girls disproportionately. The hours they spend daily fetching water prevents them from attending school and impairs their ability to be financially independent in adulthood.
“Women, Water and Leadership” embraces 3 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – SDG 6 ,Water; SDG 4 Education and SDG 5 Gender Equality.
The Appeal hopes to raise £350,000 to support 5 projects in 5 continents aimed at giving women and girls the skills, education and experience needed to manage water resources and eventually obtain jobs in water – related professions. President Mariet also pointed out that as more than 40 percent of the world’s farmers are women, educating women in efficient and sustainable farming practices has the ability to produce effective leaders in water management to the benefit of communities world – wide.
The other key note speaker was Maggie Lennon, Director of the Bridges Programmes. This Glasgow based charity, Scotland’s only agency of its type, helps refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and anyone for
whom English is a second language access employment, education and training, enabling them to become become integrated into Scottish society.
Clients can enter main-stream education, or receive vocational training. The Agency also assists with job applications and writing CVs and runs courses, in partnership with employers, so that clients secure appropriate employment when their course of study ends. 20 of the Agency’s refugee Doctors are currently undergoing retraining in Scotland.
For female clients who describe themselves as “just housewives”, the Agency runs courses and workshops to reinforce their innate skills and abilities and, later, organises work placements. Employment gives these women, who had previously been dependent on their husbands or family, a sense of empowerment.
The Agency also undertakes Advocacy on behalf of its clients, particularly those for whom English is a foreign language. The Bridges Programme is recognised as an example of “Best Practice” not only in the UK but also in Europe.
Break Out Workshops
There were a range of break out workshops including one on the Scottish Older People’s Assembly (SOPA) which aims to give a strong voice to older people. Their local campaigns cover many parts of Scotland from Oban to Dalkeith and beyond and their campaign action involves many concerns particularly relevent to older people including the high costs of funerals and the State Pension not being as good in the U.K. in comparison to other countries. Their website includes newsletters, information on local meets and the Annual Assembly, research reports and details on how to get involved.
We also heard about the Generations Working Together Project and specifically about a pilot project based in Perth and Kinross. It uses volunteers who are 50 and older to support primary and secondary students in small groups or one-to-one sessions in reading, maths, German language and other projects such as creating a community garden. The website features a short film shot at Perth Grammar School and gives a good flavour of the work being done by the intergenerational groups.
StoryBoard!
A special feature of the day was the story board created by Graham, a graphics artist, who captured the themes of the day including the participants’ ideas, thoughts and passion. The following are a snap shot of those images.
