It was great to all be back together, albeit virtually, for our first Club meeting of 2021! We inducted a new Member to our Club and welcomed Regional President Helen Byrne to speak about the 100th Anniversary of Soroptimist International this year.
It was a special evening because we officially welcomed our new member, Louise Marron (pictured here), to our Club and to the worldwide Soroptimist movement. Louise enjoyed attending Soroptimist meetings and events on Zoom last year and as a result decided to join. She works for the HCF Training and Development (HCF stands for Hertfordshire Community Foundation) and has worked with lots of the local charities that our Club supports. Louise was introduced to us by SI East London through work she was doing for one of the charities they support. Louise said “I have been looking to join an organisation like Soroptimist International, I am passionate about women’s rights and I look forward to working with you all”.
Launch of the Soroptimist International Centenary Year – Next we heard from Helen Byrne, our Club Member who is also the President of Soroptimist International London Chilterns Region Soroptimist International is 100 year old this year! Click here to view Helen’s presentation 2021 Our Centenary Year and click here to read more about the centenary celebrations being organised by our Federation, Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland www.sigbi.org/soroptimistcentenary2021
Club President Barbara Saunders asked us all to think about the Programme for the year ahead, and Helen asked us also to think about the fact that this year is the centenary of Soroptimist International – and gave us a few bullet points in her presentation to think about:• Honouring the foundation of SI 
• Remembrance of substantial achievements
• Hundred years in existence
• Centenary as a time to reflect
• Celebrate Centenarians
• Taking our Centenary conversation outside…
• Centenary Target
• Centenary Celebration
In the Club meeting we also had an update from the Club’s Executive and a report from the last Regional event. You can read all about the Regional Human Rights Day conference/meeting last December by clicking here www.sigbi.org/london-chilterns/2020/11/09/hr-day-2020
What a great start to 2021!
Click here to see the events and dates for the year ahead in the Club Programme: www.sigbi.org/st-albans/club-programme