Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) Ltd held their 82nd General Meeting with a packed auditorium.
Margaret Emsley opened proceedings by recapping on the year, which has been very eventful, with the introduction of Associate Membership, two new Clubs being chartered, SI Tororo in Uganda and SI Brighton and Hove in SI South East England, and Membership Month which was a resounding success.
She spoke about the Meru Women’s Garden Project, for which SIGBI have already raised £30,000, and all the Club projects which have been visited by Members of the FMB. Sue Williams went to Nepal, Margaret Emsley went to Cameroon and Sierra Leone, and SIGBI also had representation at SI America’s Convention and SI South West Pacific’s Conference.
Margaret finished by thanking all the Members for their unswerving dedication to being Soroptimists and their hard work.
There were four Resolutions to be discussed, which led to a very lively debate, with Members queuing to have their say. The results were:
- SIGBI to be allowed to apply for Charitable Status with the Charity Commission in England and Wales – this Resolution was carried.
- SIGBI to set up a separate trading company to separate the profit-making sections of the Company from the non-profit making ones – this Resolution was carried.
- The Board to be reduced by removing the Immediate Past President from the Board – this Resolution was lost.
- Fees for younger Members (between 16 and 25) to be introduced (£11.50 for Band 1, £12.00 for Band 2, £13.00 for Band 3 and £20.00 for Band 4) – this Resolution was carried.
The General Meeting finished just after 16:00 local time, and was followed by a presentation on Membership Month by Sue Williams, at which certificates were presented to the winners of the photo competitiion (SI St Albans and SI San Fernando) and the winner of the video competition (SI Pune Metro East). The winning video was shown and was met with much applause.