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e Milton\u00a0Keynes Soroptimist Club (St Albans hosted last year). The Milton Keynes Soroptimist Club was only started a year ago, and they did a brilliant job on creating an inspirational day for everyone who attended!<\/p>\nThe June Soroptimist Regional Meeting\/Women’s Conference was hosted this year by the Milton\u00a0Keynes Soroptimist Club (St Albans hosted last year). The Milton Keynes Soroptimist Club was only started a year ago, and they did a brilliant job on creating an inspirational day for everyone who attended!<\/p>\n
The MK Dons Ladies Football Club<\/strong> team (pictured here with Regional President Pam) were there to mingle with us and show us the trophy that they had received for being the South East Division winners of the Berks and Bucks Football Association for the third year running.\u00a0 Food for thought \u2013 the men get paid to play, the ladies have to pay to play!<\/strong><\/p>\n Sakura Japanese Ladies Choir <\/strong>The meeting opened with 6 Japanese Ladies singing some quite haunting Japanese Folk songs.\u00a0\u00a0 Their beautiful voices and obvious enthusiasm and passion really set the tone for the day ahead.<\/p>\n Jackie Chappell<\/strong> \u2013 The first woman CEO of British Rail, Ambassador for Women in Business, awarded life time Woman of Achievement in 2015 and is an Ambassador of national charity Sue Ryder.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Jackie had a successful career in the rail industry where she rose from being a part-time employee selling tickets to become the Chief Executive of the Industry’s Training and Competence Company,\u00a0making her the first ever women CEO in the British rail industry.\u00a0\u00a0 She started her talk with a quote attributed to Marilyn Monroe \u2018Any woman who wants to be equal to a man, lacks ambition\u2019 and ended it with \u2018You don\u2019t have to be the best but be the best you can be\u2019.\u00a0 A very entertaining speaker, she had a vulnerability that touched us all.<\/p>\n Open Council Meeting\u00a0<\/strong>Reports from around the region including Yinka on Program Action and a member from SI Milton Keynes who enthusiastically shared with us her own reasons for joining Soroptimists and what she gets from\u00a0 being a member.Our own Jane Slatter nominated for the office of Website Administrator which was accepted with alacrity!<\/p>\n Lunch\u00a0<\/strong>We had a beautiful buffet lunch in the large and airy Atrium at MK College \u2013 which was a superb venue for such an event.<\/p>\n After far too much lunch and just when we thought we might slip in 40 winks, SI Milton Keynes had different ideas!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We started the afternoon session by doing a \u2018Wake and Shake\u2019 session lead by the MK Dons Ladies to the very aptly titled \u2018Sisters are doing it for themselves\u2019 sung by Annie Lennox.\u00a0\u00a0 I can only hope that no one was videoing this and proposing to upload it to YouTube.\u00a0\u00a0 Judging by the Ladies amusement we must have been a hilarious sight.<\/p>\n Ruth Dearnley OBE and CEO of Stop the Traffik\u00a0<\/strong>Ruth has been Chief Executive Officer of STOP THE TRAFFIK since May 2008, and was a founding member since its inception in 2005. Ruth’s leadership of the campaign is about building original global initiatives to engage and empower local communities to prevent the trade, protect the victims and prosecute the traffickers. With a law degree and a background in education, Ruth has spent the last 20 years communicating creatively and inspiring and facilitating others to transform the world around them, starting in their local community.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ruth was one of the most amazing speakers I have ever listened to and the audience were captivated by her energy, expertise and often humourous approach to hold her audience.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She challenged us to qualify \u2018What is Power?\u2019\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018What does Power look like?\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 Human Trafficking is a hidden crime and we can\u2019t stop what we can\u2019t see.\u00a0\u00a0 She made us more aware of what to look out for in our Community and how we can report anything suspicious.<\/p>\n Alison Bird Ambassador for the Buddy Bag Foundation\u00a0<\/strong>This foundation was created in response to the rising number of children who enter emergency care after fleeing violent situations at home often with just the clothes they are wearing.\u00a0 A Buddy Bag is a backpack that contains all the essential items a child needs including toiletries, pyjamas, socks, underwear and most importantly a comforting teddy or knitted toy.\u00a0\u00a0 This item particularly caught my attention as one of the main charities we support is of course our local Refuge.<\/p>\n
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ield \u2013 Children\u2019s Commissioner for England.\u00a0<\/strong>To round off the day we watched a video message from Anne Longfield \u2013 The Children\u2019s Commissioner for England.\u00a0\u00a0 She works with and on behalf of all children in England to dramatically improve their lives.\u00a0 She has a statutory duty to promote and protect the rights of all children in England in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. (Ed – she has been on TV this week\u00a0calling for a radical rethink of the way children are interviewed in abuse cases).<\/p>\n