Five members of Soroptimist International St Albans and District went to Harrogate and joined 1400 women from around the world at their fabulous annual Soroptimist Conference www.sigbi.org/harrogate2014 .
The five from the St Albans Club were: Hilary Ratcliffe OBE who is also the Programme Director of Soroptimist International (SI), Laura Redhead Assistant Programme Director for Environmental Sustainability of Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI), Jane Slatter Director of Communications SIGBI,
Denise Powell Club President and Ameeta Sabharwal Club Secretary. The Conference theme was “Women Leading Change Together” and had inspirational keynote speakers including Dame Jenni Murray OBE. Clubs across the organisation shared information about their work – many Clubs like St Albans work in innovative ways to address all forms of violence against women and women’s health issues. This year a member from our Thames Valley Club, Rose Simbo, who manages a charity supporting the Kori Chiefdom
in Sierra Leone asked for donations to help Ebola victims on the ground in her homeland and £8000 was raised in two days, enough to send two shipments of essential supplies.
This year marks the 80th Anniversary of the formation of SIGBI. Although 80 years have passed, today’s members are still passionate about the same goal; working to achieve equal rights through the education, empowerment and enabling of women. Since its birth in Oakland, California, in 1921, Soroptimism has spread to more than 100 countries with in excess of 3,000 local clubs. Our 80,000 members worldwide make Soroptimist International (SI) the biggest and most influential women’s voluntary organisation in the world. We also consult with the United Nations to ensure that women’s voices are included in international decision-making processes.