This was the first Club meeting of 2025 and it was great to be in brand new meeting hall back at St Albans URC Greenwood.
Helen Byrne, facilitator of the Planet Team chaired the meeting because of the really interesting speaker the team had booked (see below). Helen had to start the meeting on a sad note because of the passing of our dear Soroptimist sister Jean Eaton – please click here for more information https://sigbi.org/st-albans/jean-eaton
The next part of the meeting lifted our spirits, because it is always a special event when we officially welcome a new Member to our Club, and the evening was even more special because we gave a warm Soroptimist welcome to two new Members – Nonhlanhla Nyathi (Nono) and Sue Rayment. The pictures are of Jane Slatter leading the induction, and of Helen Byrne with Sue, Nono and Jane extending the Soroptimist “hands of friendship”. Nono was a Soroptimist in Harare, Zimbabwe before moving to St Albans. She is an 
International Tax Adviser. She is particularly interested in education and is keen to encourage girls into careers in finance. She has already volunteered as a career adviser and is doing peer support. Sue lives in Abbots Langley and is originally from Scotland. She enjoyed a rewarding career in primary education as a headteacher and ultimately as an education advisor for Herts County Council. She also developed a dedicated special needs nurture class in a mainstream primary school. Since retiring two years ago she has committed to supporting the Steve Sinnott Education Foundation as a trustee (our Club Member Ann Beatty is the Chief Executive of the Steve Sinnott Foundation). Sue also works as a volunteer for a Sue Ryder shop where she supports volunteers with special needs. We’re really looking forward to getting to know Nono and Sue and we know they are looking forward to getting involved and getting to know us. WELCOME BOTH!
Georgia Willits – St Albans City and District Council Greener Together Community Engagement Officer, was our first speaker in our brand new meeting hall – making use of the fantastic A/V facilities. Georgia is an inspirational speaker and everyone agreed they had learned a lot from the evening. Georgia first gave her own background and then with the support of slides explained the aims of the initiative, what they have done so far, how local businesses are involved and the plans for the future. The project is all about “Community Led Climate Action” it is a district wide project which aims to empower and enable local residents, community groups and businesses to come together to create a more environmentally sustainable future. She explained that St Albans is a hive of sustainability activity, and many local projects were started by individuals wanting to do something positive. St Albans Greener Together encourages and facilitates these activities by inspiring ideas and providing advice, support, and funding to bring forward practical community-based sustainability solutions. A key focus is on ‘sharing stories’ to get everyone talking about what they are doing and learning from each other. Georgia gave an excellent and interesting presentation. Her slides can be seen here St Albans Greener Together Soroptimist presentation 13-Jan-25 and the video she showed can be viewed here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp4vlSqz7b0
Georgia ended by suggesting that we can all sign up as individuals (there is no cost) – just go to the St Albans Greener Together website www.stalbansgreenertogether.org/join-us
There was a Q &A session and our Members as always had plenty to ask.
Allison asked about actions that the council themselves have taken within their properties. She also mentioned that HCC are looking a various actions including using solar power for bus stop displays and ‘greening’ the roofs of the shelters.
Given the poor quality of LED street lights in the area Jane asked about women’s safety.
Denise asked about recycling scheme for medication blister packs.
Helen Byrne, Planet Team Facilitator, has shown Georgia the Club’s Sustainability Plan, and now Georgia wants to share this as best practice with other local groups.
After coffee we had some Club Business, including sharing Christmas cards and gifts from our friendship links and making sure everyone had all the dates from the Club Programme in their diaries https://sigbi.org/st-albans-and-district/club-programme/.
On Wed 22 Jan it was St Albans Girls School (STAGS) Year 11 Mock Interview Day for GCSE year students. St Albans Soroptimists Helen Atkinson, Linda Middleton and Nono Nyathi (pictured here) joined thirty + interviewers at the school for the morning. Helen said “we had a good day with the Year 11s again. A tight schedule but very well organised. It was both tiring and energising speaking with so many of the girls and our participation was appreciated.”
As part of the careers programme at St Albans Girls’ School, they offer a mock interview to every year 11 student on one morning. Each student has a 20 minute interview based on CV’s they have prepared in school and receive verbal and written feedback.
The students find the feedback very helpful – for some it is the first time they have produced a CV and had an interview. Providing an encounter with an employer/employee like this one is hugely beneficial and has been shown to help improve student outcomes and increase their aspirations for the future.
The event has been running for the past 12 years, Soroptimists have been involved for the last 10 years and have found meeting the girls a real inspiration – a win win for everyone!