{"id":4632,"date":"2022-01-02T19:20:48","date_gmt":"2022-01-02T19:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/south-east-england\/?page_id=4632"},"modified":"2022-01-02T20:13:37","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T20:13:37","slug":"where-it-all-began","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/south-east-england\/where-it-all-began\/","title":{"rendered":"Where it all began…"},"content":{"rendered":"

IN THE BEGINNING<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We probably have the First World War to thank for the birth of Soroptimism.\u00a0 During this conflict, women for the first time had to take key jobs, many entering the professions or running family businesses.\u00a0 By 1920 women were holding positions of importance, gaining degrees from university, and meeting each other in a professional capacity, not just socially.<\/p>\n

Journalist, Ethel Parr, reported on the formation of a new Rotary Club in Bristol and suggested that a similar women\u2019s club be formed.\u00a0 As a result, the first Venture Club was formed in Bristol in 1920 with objectives similar to Soroptimists today.\u00a0 Around this time, Quota Clubs were being formed in Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

In 1921 Stuart Morrow, a professional organiser of men\u2019s service clubs, facilitated the creation of the first Soroptimist Club in Oakland, California.\u00a0 Unaware of Venture Clubs, Stuart Morrow came to London in 1924 and persuaded Lady Falmouth to charter the first UK Soroptimist Club in Central London.<\/p>\n

Soroptimism continued to grow and in 1928 the Federations of America and Europe were formed as the International Association.<\/p>\n

In the UK Soroptimist and Venture Clubs merged in 1930, adopting the Soroptimist name and retaining the Venture Clubs\u2019 motto \u201cLooking Further\u201d.\u00a0 Our Federation, Soroptimist International of Great Britain & Ireland (SIGBI) was formed in 1934.<\/p>\n

In 1937, the first Australian Soroptimist Club was chartered in Sydney, from the Quota Club.<\/p>\n

The Second World War led to many more clubs being chartered. The United Nations, which was to be hugely influential to Soroptimist thinking, was created in 1945 to prevent war, maintain international peace and security, promote social progress and better standards of life through friendly international co-operation.<\/p>\n

In the immediate post-war years, there was a great need for Soroptimist service, and the number of UK clubs increased from 58 in 1938 to 120 in 1946.\u00a0 Many European Clubs, forced to close during the war, were beginning to re-open too.<\/p>\n

REGALIA<\/h3>\n

Members may be interested to know the origin and meaning of the regalia worn by our Region President.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The insignia comprises a 40-bar silver collar, with a Tudor rose and white rose on the collar, from which hangs a silver lozenge.\u00a0 The design is a diamond (lozenge) shape because a woman, in heraldry, bears her arms upon a lozenge and not upon a shield.<\/p>\n

The inscription reads \u201cFederation of Soroptimist Clubs of Great Britain and Ireland, South Eastern Divisional Union\u201d.\u00a0 The three devices on the small shields shown on the lozenge, and the Tudor rose, and the red fleur-de-lis, are taken from the coats of arms of the counties from which the division drew its membership at the date of its foundation in January 1958:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The white horse of Kent<\/p>\n

The martlets from East and West Sussex<\/p>\n

The ermine from Surrey<\/p>\n

The Tudor rose from Hampshire<\/p>\n

The fleur-de-lis from Dorset<\/p>\n

The Tudor rose carries the initials S.I.A., standing for the Soroptimist International Association.\u00a0 The three blue lines represent the water that surrounds the area of the Division \u2013 the Thames Estuary, the North Sea and the English Channel.\u00a0 For the purposes of the design, one symbol had to take precedence by being placed at the apex of the lozenge and the honour went to the Kentish horse, Invicta, since the first president of the new Divisional Union in 1958, Miss Diana MacDonald, was from Medway in Kent.\u00a0 Miss MacDonald designed the insignia, and it was made by Highley\u2019s of Chatham, Kent in 1959.<\/p>\n

When the Divisional Union split in 1966 to form the Southern and South East Regions, it was agreed that the regalia would stay in our region.<\/p>\n

Celebrating the Region’s Diamond Anniversary<\/h3>\n

In 2019 the Region celebrated their Diamond Anniversary with a lunch at Tenterden attended by Sue Williams, Federation President along with many past and present members.<\/p>\n

A presentation<\/a> was shown reflecting on past Regional Presidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IN THE BEGINNING We probably have the First World War to thank for the birth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":730,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4632","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere it all began... - SI South East England<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/south-east-england\/where-it-all-began\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where it all began... - SI South East England\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IN THE BEGINNING We probably have the First World War to thank for the birth...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/south-east-england\/where-it-all-began\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SI South East England\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-02T20:13:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/south-east-england\/files\/2022\/01\/Regalia-silver-lozenge-2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/south-east-england\/where-it-all-began\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/south-east-england\/where-it-all-began\/\",\"name\":\"Where it all began... - 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