Wow! What a great day for Soroptimist International London Chilterns Region.
On Sat 12 Oct it was the AGM, with inspiring speakers PLUS we celebrated SI Greater London’s Centenary – what a wonderful achievement!
President Kate Belinis, Deputy Lieutenant for Hertfordshire presided over the occasion and the AGM business was run through efficiently with the support of our new secretary Joanna Swift. Papers had been sent to attendees ahead of the meeting. If you need copies please email silondonchilterns@hotmail.com
The Soroptimist Vision and Mission was read by Yemisi Opanaye, co-President of SI Greater London (see photo above). She also thanked everyone for coming to help celebrate the centenary of the Club and thanked the Region for hosting the event.
Sadly, we heard that Jean Maunder from SI Aylesbury, Lois Webb from SI Bedford, Valerie Cole from SI Hertford and Phyllis Sigsworth from SI Slough Windsor and Maidenhead had all died in the last year, and we held a minute’s silence to remember them. We also had lots of long service certificates to give out – including one for Pam Lee at SI Oxford – she has been a Member for 50 years now!
It was a lively meeting with almost 50 people in attendance, including some Members of the London Collective whose Clubs are in different Regions. Members of the other Regions commented how interesting it is to see how other Regions function, because they all do things differently.
Clubs were thanked for their contributions to the Region’s special brochure “Inspirational Clubs and their Projects”. Two printed copies were given to each Club and the electronic version has been emailed to Clubs and is also available on the Region’s website – just click here: https://sigbi.org/london-chilterns/brochure-2024/
President Kate said how proud she is of the Region, and we are all fortunate that she has agreed to be our President for another year. Her theme for 2024/25 is “Impactful Women”. Please click here to read President Kate’s Message for the year 2024/25: https://sigbi.org/london-chilterns/president/
There was a card to sign for Rita Beaumont who has been the Region’s secretary for more years than is good for anyone… Joanna Swift is stepping into Rita’s shoes. Please see this photo of the Region’s Officers who were present, with SIGBI President Ruth Healey. L to R we have Joanna Swift, Helen Byrne, Kate Belinis, Ruth Healey, Pamela Robertson and Jane Slatter. The officers for 2024/25 are on this page of the website: https://sigbi.org/london-chilterns/region-officers/. Members of Clubs in the Region are encouraged to join the “team” in creating an interesting programme for the year ahead.
Speaker: Pat Dale: Commonwealth Representative, Soroptimist International
Pat has been a Member of SI Croydon since 1996. She began her talk by introducing herself and the skills and knowledge that she brings to this important role. Pat is pictured here with Pam Robertson who was fielding questions for Pat. In this role, Pat reports to the SI Programme Director Leigh Ellwood Brown who is based in Australia. She informed us that The Commonwealth produced the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – a great nugget of information for everyone! She explained that the Commonwealth is there to make trade between the different countries straightforward, aided by the fact that they all use the English language for communication. CHOGM – the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be held in Samoa this year. The SI President Siew Yong Gnanalingam will attend and the SI Programme Director Leigh Ellwood Brown. With women at the table, gender is now included in climate change impact reporting. Pat told us that STEAM is now a frequently used acronym in place of STEM – where A is for Art, as it is important for women to be recognised and obtain equity in this field as well as in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths/Medicine.
“Number 63” the Soroptimist Hotel at 63 Bayswater Rd – Pat is also very involved with supporting the hotel. She encouraged us all to buy shares and participate in the “500 Club” monthly cash prize draw https://number63.co.uk/support-us/
Our Programme Action Speaker was Shelley Coradine from HERA. Shelley (pictured here) is a Member of SI East London and is a volunteer Mentor with HERA. HERA stands for Her Economic Rights and Autonomy and was founded in 2005. You can click here HERA UK Charity Presentation for SIGBI London Regional Conference Sat 12 Oct 2024 to download the presentation that Shelley delivered. This charity works with vulnerable women, often survivors of international trafficking and asylum seekers and refugees fleeing conflicts. They are taught how to start their own businesses and the programme includes mentoring. Before you can start the programme, you have to attain the standard of English language level two. HERA has support from Birkbeck College as well as other organisations. Clarisse Muzozona was with us and is testimony to the programme’s effectiveness – she escaped Congo DRC with her daughter and now has her own business. She also has a charity supporting children in DRC. She is now a Member of SI East London and is also now a mentor for HERA students.
During lunch Members were encouraged to buy items brought to the meeting. Sushila Sadarangani brought her beautiful silk scarves to sell – she has lots of stock because displays have not been possible for her at the London or Edinburgh Conferences. Click here to find out more and order directly from her: https://sigbi.org/london-chilterns/shop/. Profits go to SI Greater London’s charities.
The time after lunch was dedicated to the Celebration of SI Greater London’s 100th Anniversary. Scroll down to see the original Charter which you can usually see on the wall at “Number 63”.
We were welcomed by Yemisi Opaneye and Angela Elkholy who are the joint Presidents of SI Greater London (see photo).
Our special centenary speaker was Amelia Hawes, great-great niece of 
Elizabeth Hawes MBE (1888-1966), a Founder Member of SI Greater London. Amelia is also now a Member of the Club, following in her great-great aunt’s footsteps.
Please read the final chapter of the Region’s brochure. SILCR Brochure 2024 Pages 21-25 are dedicated to SI Greater London and explain the great good fortune of the Club in being contacted by student photographer Amelia Hawes, in this, the Club’s centennial year.
Amelia has been researching her great-great aunt’s Soroptimist history with Irene Cockroft – SI Greater London Club’s historian. Amelia is pictured here with Irene. Irene Cockroft is an independent exhibition curator, author and lecturer specialising in the story of women’s involvement in the late 19th and early 20th-century Arts & Crafts and Suffrage movements. Irene is the great-niece of suffrage artist and enameller Ernestine Mills (1871-1959), so you can see they have had much to talk about!
Amelia gave a presentation about the book that she created for her final university project – it is recommended that you view on a large screen if you can: https://www.ameliahawes.photography/elizabeth-hawes
Elizabeth Hawes, known as Bess, was a keen photographer which gives her even more of a connection to Amelia. She had a 16mm cine camera which Amelia now owns. The family uncovered cine-film footage from 1938, when Bess, with other Soroptimists sailed from England to Atlantic City, USA, to attend the SI Quadrennial Convention. The book includes stills from the film that Elizabeth took and the transcript Elizabeth wrote to go alongside the International Convention.
Amelia played the film for us after her presentation. It was amazing to see the 1938 Soroptimists brought to life!
There is also an article about Bess that was produced for the SI centenary in 2021 – click here to download and read it Elizabeth Hawes MBE WhoIsShe.
Celebratory Cake: we were delighted that our Federation President Ruth Healey was able to join us for this special occasion. Ruth said a few words about how proud she is of Clubs like SI Greater London for reaching this significant milestone. She encouraged us all to look forward to the future with optimism. There is a photo here of Ruth cutting the cake with the Members of SI Greater London who were at the meeting.
The design of the cake was very beautiful, and it seemed a pity to cut it up! Once shared everyone agreed that it tasted as good as it looked!
The meeting was rounded up by SI London Chilterns Region President Kate Belinis DL. She thanked everyone who had made it such a special day and wished everyone safe homeward journeys. Everyone was invited to have a final cup of tea before heading off.
Please note that the date of the next Annual General Meeting is Sat 11 Oct 2025.
The next SILC Region Conference is on Zoom 10am to 1pm on Sat 7 Dec 2024, Celebrating Human Rights Day.
Please click here for more dates https://sigbi.org/london-chilterns/programme/