I thought it would be fun to have a President’s blog for my year of office. It might give you an idea of what the job entails; maybe it will lead some of you to realise that you could do it too! We are currently looking for a vice president for 2010/11 and nominations have to be in by next Spring, so now is the time to start thinking about it. If you think someone in your club is presidential material, why not have a word with her or with one of the current SIMER officers.

So far my presidential duties have extended to attending the Cardiff conference with 16 of my SI Nottingham Club members (some of whom are shown here - ed) - an amazing number and a humbling experience to be so well supported.

The highlight for me was the Sparkling Banquet and Change of Insignia at which I was accompanied by my elder son James who did me proud. On my return from conference I had a gratifying number of cards wishing me good luck. The postman must be ondering what is going on as some of them were addressed to the president!

I have now presided over my first officers meeting and things seem pretty well in hand for the first Region meeting. The speaker is a personal friend which is a relief - I know she is likely to turn up and she will do a good job. The officers are a very bright and supportive group and came up with a number of really helpful suggestions for the meeting. Being President is really a case of leading a team, not doing it all yourself. I have been a bit concerned because not everything is finalised for the remaining meetings for my year. The meeting in March will include workshops and will be on the theme of ‘peace’ to tie in with my theme for the year ‘women creating peaceful communities’. It will also involve storytelling in some form, but the details are not yet finalised. I will not be able to finalise them until 26 November, 2 days before I have to announce the details at the Region meeting.

I also had to confess to the officers meeting that I did not yet have confirmation of a speaker for the September meeting but am very relieved to report that finally a couple of days ago I had confirmation that a charity based in Nottingham which works all over the world to improve maternal health is sending a speaker. Now all I have to do is get the entertainment sorted out for the change of insignia lunch in May, and I can relax. I have also been a bit anxious about combining the role with working. I work 4.5 days a week as a partner in a busy commercial law firm in Nottingham and some soroptimists have questioned if it is possible to do both. However I feel very strongly that if soroptimism is to survive in the 21st century, we must attract working women of all ages and we must find ways of allowing working women to play a full part in the activities of the organisation. Only time will tell, maybe you will find out in my final blog of my year whether it has proved possible!

Claire.