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Regional Meeting and AGM – 2016

Saturday 19 November 2016 AGM and Regional Meeting

Another successful year was celebrated at this year’s AGM and Regional Meeting. President Margaret reviewed a very active year and thanked all the clubs in the region for their hospitality at the various events that she had attended. The continued efforts and hard work of all the clubs in the Region was highlighted by President Margaret much of which had supported the President’s charity, Partners in Education Swaziland (PIES). She presented a cheque for £4478.90 to Lynn Yates, a PIES trustee, which brought the total donations made for the year to £6327.

Regional Officers summed up their year and Grange and Windermere Clubs were congratulated on the recognition they had received at the Conference in Malta for the projects that they had managed this year.

The highlight of the AGM was the transferring of Chains from the outgoing President, Margaret Hammond to the incoming President, Angie Christopher. Angie announced the theme for her year as President as “Making Every Person Matter” and described her own inspiration for standing for President, something she had never expected she would do when she first joined the Soroptimists. President Angie’s charity will be the Meru Women’s Garden Project. Lesley Smyth, the Federation Ambassador for the NW Region and Isle of Man for the project shared photographic images of the project and described her plans for the coming year.

Elizabeth Haworth from SI Windermere shared her thoughts as a first-time attendee at the Federation Conference, held this year in Malta. Clearly inspired and enthused by her experiences Elizabeth said she was impressed by the ceremonial entry of the national flags of Federation members, the calibre of the speakers at conference and the length and availability of coffee breaks to allow for meaningful networking with colleagues from other clubs and countries!

The meeting received a brief presentation of SI Grange’s Singing for Memory presentation which had been singled out at the Federation Conference for special mention. Technology failures interfering with the sound on the DVD led to the unusual sight of a roomful of Soroptimists, led by Janice Carrick, singing Three Blind Mice, all complete with actions!!

Volunteers Anne Marsh and Danny Holmes from the Alzheimer’s Association were Guest Speakers for the afternoon, delivering a thought provoking and extremely useful workshop on Dementia Friends for attendees at the meeting. The session was enjoyed by all who took part who said that it had given a valuable insight into some of the aspects of Alzheimer’s that are less commonly known. [Furher information available at www.dementiafriends.org.uk.]

There was a photo opportunity for all attendees who had responded to the request to “Orange the meeting”; orange being the colour chosen to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The meeting ended in true Soroptimist style …… with cake! Past President Margaret and President Angie hosted an informal tea and cakes gathering to mark the end of a successful year and the start of the next.

Alison Driver – Regional Vice President (SI Rossendale)

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