SI Geraldton – A Soroptimist in Yorkshire – May 2011

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As some members know I am currently in the UK on sick leave having had surgery done to my hand (makes it difficult to work in my job). I arrived on 10th May and the weather has been delightfully rainy and grey since I arrived – no wonder Yorkshire is green! My connection with Soroptimism goes back to 1980 when I was in my 3rd year of a dentistry degree in Leeds and rented a flat from SI Leeds as well as a family friend who was a member of the Leeds club After that I was a founder member of SI Selby chartered in 1987

Last weekend, 13th – 15th May, was the Region Conference or Soroptimist International of Yorkshire – this is their 75th year of existence.
On Saturday 14th May the conference was held in North Yorkshire in the very pretty town of Helmsley (even in the rain) at the Arts Centre. We had three invited speakers. Jane Walton who runs a social enterprise “Creative Minds” which promotes and supports enterprise amongst young people. We then had breakout groups and lunch. In the afternoon we had Julia O’Hara, a judge specialising in employment and discrimination law, speak about the law relating to clubs and businesses. Julia was at Oxford, where she was a Rhodes scholar – she also taught us a little Yoga. The final invited speaker was Sally Robinson who runs an internet business known as “Ample Bosom” which supplies underwear and swimwear worldwide from 28A to 56J. This has proved very successful – the attached photo shows Sally holding a 50L. The conference concluded with a short speech from Liz Morgan-Lewis, President of SIGBI.

On the Saturday evening a Conference Banquet was held at The Worsley Arms, Hovingham – Hovingham Hall is the childhood home of HRH The Duchess of Kent (Katherine Worsley) . This was held in a Marquee in the garden as we were too numerous for the Dining Room. We had our brilliant saxophonist, Matt Stacey, who had been playing for us during the day. Liz Morgan-Lewis was present as well as the three SI Yorkshire honorary members Mair Pinnell (Leeds), Elizabeth Hughes (Ilkley) and Thelma de Leeuw(Bingley). All three are former presidents of the Yorkshire region and Thelma de Leeuw is also a former Federation and International President. A delightful evening was had with Elizabeth Hughes lighting the Friendship Candle. On Sunday some members went onto Castle Howard for the dedication of a tree to celebrate 75 years of Soroptimism in the Yorkshire Region. Since then I have attended a meeting of SI Selby and will be going to the meeting of SI Bingley next week – this is one of our Friendship Links and I will be doing a short presentation there on Soroptimism in WA.

What a sick leave.

Fiona Robinson
President SI Geraldton