On a mild summer’s day, in a busy farm shop near Wakefield in West Yorkshire, two friends and sister Soroptimists sit with us to discuss their upcoming trip to Dublin. Linda Davis, Joint President SI Dewsbury & District and Programme Action Chair for SI Yorkshire, and Susie Westwood, President Elect of SI Yorkshire, have organised a week-long coach tour for 46 Soroptimists from across the Yorkshire district.

“It was originally Linsday’s idea. We all wanted to go [to the SI Convention] but we were aware that Dublin is expensive, there aren’t many hotels and then there’s flights – it was a lot to organise!” Susie explains. With a desire to go and to help others who might be daunted with the same task, they started to look for other options.

The Soroptimist they’re speaking of is Lindsay Green, Programme Director for our SIGBI Federation, who at a networking event was put in touch with tour company, Airedale Tours, who turned out to be local to Linda and Susie.

But how easy was it? As Linda says, “Flash, bang, wallop!”

“It’s been great!” Susie adds, “[Airedale Tours] took the names, they took the money, they’ve done the bookings – everything was sorted!”

The tour company even managed to source a coach based in Scarborough, in the east of the Yorkshire region, meaning that various stops across the district to pick up all the Soroptimists booked on to the tour can easily be serviced before heading west to Holyhead in Anglesey, Wales, where they board a ferry to Ireland.

Once the details were sorted, such as elongating the trip by a couple of days to get some extra excursions booked in solely for the coach-goers, Linda and Susie went about promoting their trip.

Linda explains, “We mentioned it at the Regional Meeting, and we sent out an email with a date for people to apply. We wanted everyone to apply on the same date as we didn’t know how popular it would be.”

As it turns out, it was a very popular idea, and with the tour company organising the bookings, it has been relatively stress-free for the two Soroptimist planners. Putting on a coach trip has also been an excellent way of providing accessible travel to those with mobility issues. Linda and Susie highlighted that there were a number of Soroptimists joining them, who wouldn’t have been able to fly.

“One of the ladies joining us is 91 this year, and she’s so excited about the trip! She knows she’s got mobility problems but she’s not afraid to ask for help. She said, ‘Right! I want to go to Convention; can anyone help me?’” Linda tells us.

Susie adds, “She’s been talking endlessly about songs for us to sing on the coach! She’s wonderful.”

Inclusivity aside, there are many other benefits to coach travel, including being able to take a large suitcase for no extra cost, being environmentally friendly (around six times greener than driving or flying), being a safer way to travel and being able to enjoy the view!

Why not get in touch with a tour company near you, and see about putting on your own SI coach trip for you, your Club and Region to the 2023 Dublin Convention?

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For £849, the SI Yorkshire coach trip included:

• Coach travel to and from Dublin
• Return ferry crossing
• Travel from hotel to and from convention
• 6 nights bed and breakfast at a 4* hotel
• First night’s dinner included
• 2 excursions on Sunday and Monday after Convention

Please note, delegate registration for the Convention is not included within this, and needs to be factored in as an added cost.

Options for 1-, 2- or 3-day registration are now available. More information can be found here.