It was special for us, since one of our members, Cathy, was to be installed as President of the region. She held a reception on Friday evening and practically everyone from the region who was attending Conference came along – we only missed three members, we think! Our pic shows Incoming LAR President Cathy, with out-going President Linda and President Elect Dilly.
2019
A return visit to Bournemouth. 
Our new SIGBI Federation project was launched – Empowering Girls in Nepal. Conference speakers expanded on our theme of mental health by talking about their own experiences or through their work supporting others or researching brain activity.
2018
We were in the fabulous city of Liverpool this year. A fun, vibrant conference with plenty to think about. We had words of wisdom from Terry Waite and an amazing presentation by Ellie Bird Lenawarungu, a former UK police officer, about empowering villages in Africa to enable themselves
2017
We returned to Cardiff in 2017 in the lovely surroundings of Cardiff Bay and enjoyed a wonderful conference full of inspirational speakers like Michael Kauffman, founder of the White Ribbon Campaign. We also heard from Mandy Hickson, ex RAF fighter pilot & Dame Katherine Grainger, Olympic Gold Medal winning rower. These 2 ladies were honest, funny and incredibly motivational.
2016
This year, it was off to Malta! Sunshine and special friendships and …. resolutions about concessionary fees for younger members (16 – 25) and charitable status, which will enable us to move forward as an organisation.
The members who attended came back full of enthusiasm, having heard from a range of excellent speakers and from clubs across the Federation about their projects. The place to search for more information is the SIGBI website or the Soroptimist International GBI facebook page!
2014
This year, six members arrived in Harrogate for an exhilarating Conference. The information about speakers and events is elsewhere on the SIGBI website – there were thought-provoking and informative speakers, with updates about our work around the world. We met lots of friends and had a great time.[/vc_column_text]
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The Southend club members who attended the Harrogate Conference were absolutely delighted to represent the club in congratulating Cathy on becoming Regional president for the London Anglia Region.
There was an excellent summary report from Janet Hodgson, about our Programme resolution about Relationships Education in schools, which was proposed and adopted at the Belfast Conference in 2012.
2012
Six members took the ‘plane to Belfast for the Federation Conference in October.
We travelled early and used every minute of our time – we were exhausted! Tommy and his taxi ensured that we arrived at our hotel in time for breakfast, so we had a whole day to fill before the Conference started.
We took a ‘bus tour of Belfast – well worth the effort – and we saw places that evoked strong memories – Stormont Castle, the murals in the Falls Road and the Shankill Road and the other historical buildings in this hospitable city.
The evening’s opening event was, as usual, colourful. We were warmly welcomed to Belfast and we thoroughly enjoyed the young musicians and the male voice choir who provided the entertainment.
Apart from the speakers, highlights for us were the anti-Trafficking Rally, which was spectacular and presenting our own programme resolution.
The LAR reception, which everyone seemed to enjoy, and the change of insignia in the Titanic Signature building, when club member Margaret took over from Regional President, Heather for the coming year.
Conference speakers were challenging and encouraging and gave food for thought for our Programme Action work. We were absolutely delighted that our programme resolution about Relationships Education was adopted.