CHANGE OF INSIGNIA – a message from our new Regional President Sharon Richardson
Change of insignia for Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland as the 87th Virtual Conference comes to a close. And what a great conference it was.
Thank you Mell Robinson for the past two years, I can only hope that over the next two years London Anglia Region and its ten clubs will continue to grow in strength.
My theme is Caring for Ourselves, Benefits Others. We all work together to improve the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and internationally.
We tackle subjects that embarrassment makes others shy away from like FGM, forced marriage, domestic violence, MDS and the menopause, planting trees to fight climate change, championing recycling being just a few of the things our clubs campaign, support and raise awareness and funds.
With all this in mind please remember each member is an important part of your club and the region. We must look after each other, cherish our members and encourage other like minded women to join us as we move forward into the next 50 years for London Anglia and the next centenary of Soroptimist International.
STANDING UP FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS IN AFGHANISTAN
Soroptimists world wide are standing up for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan to be educated so they can fulfill their potential and positively contribute to the social and economic aspects of their country. They bring unique skills that should be valued and would make a real difference to their country, as has already been proven
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Celebrating London Anglia Region’s 50th Anniversary.
At last we were able to meet in person at Newnham College, Cambridge. Saturday 7th August 2021 was a great celebration of our Region’s longevity. It included our AGM for the year 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021 followed by our Regional Council Meeting. Our President, Mell Robinson, gave every member of our Region a beautiful coaster, hand painted coaster showing the Dynamic S. Thank you Mell, it was a wonderful gesture.
We had two speakers – Professor Joanna Brewis from The Open University who spoke via film on Menopause in the Workplace, a subject that she had researched and is passionate about. This was followed by discussion on our own experiences.
Sadly due to inclement weather our celebratory picnic lunch could not be held in in the beautiful college gardens but instead was in the Iris Cafe. The sun shone briefly so we nipped outside and were able to raise a glass of bubbly and cut the fantastic cake made by a Soroptimist member from East London Club who themselves are celebrating their 90th anniversary this year. 
At the same time our current Regional President Mell Robinson and President Elect Sharon Richardson who will take over at Conference end October, unofficially presented SIGBI President Cathy Cottridge, a member of SI Southend-on-Sea with her Regalia. 
Finally an interactive talk from Janet Porter on How to Teach People How to Do Things as opposed to learning facts which was both fun and enlightening. 
We then ate the Cake!!!!
It was a very enjoyable event and together we raised over £300 for the Diamond Education Grant, in memory of SIGBI President Johanna Raffan who recently passed away. 
About London Anglia Region
There are 10 Soroptimist Clubs in the London Anglia Region, stretching from Kings Lynn in the North down to Great Yarmouth and Ipswich in the East, Southend in the South East, East London & Enfield in the South and Cambridge in the West and with Norwich, Colchester and Chelmsford in between.
Each Club meets once or twice a month – check out their websites for more details about what they do (see links below) – and we come together 3 times a year to share knowledge and experiences, undertake joint initiatives and benefit from hearing excellent speakers. In November 2020 we were very privileged to have a talk from Dame Vera Baird, Victim’s Commissioner (an account of her talk is on this website), a sister Soroptimist. There is a lot of communication between the meetings.
Since mid 2020 our Regional and Club meetings have been online and we are very proud of the projects we have managed to keep running during the Pandemic.
But our meeting home in ‘normal’ times is Newnham College, Cambridge, an excellent venue and place of learning; one of only a handful of University’s that is for women only. Go to:https://www.newn.cam.ac.uk/
If you live in East Anglia and ‘East’ London and would be interested in finding out more about each Club then go to the website for the Club(s) that suits you best geographically.
https://sigbi.org/chelmsford/?
https://sigbi.org/colchester-and-district/?
https://sigbi.org/east-london/
https://sigbi.org/great-yarmouth/
https://sigbi.org/ipswich-and-district/
https://sigbi.org/southend-on-sea-and-district/?