What is extreme poverty? That was the question answered by Dawn Marie Lemonds with a definition of “extreme poverty”, as she explained how the Millennium Development Goals were directly related to the new 2007-2011 Programme Focus.

Soroptimist Else Larse, UN (retired), presented an overview of the UN’s approach to poverty and the responsibility of civil society organisations to work in partnership with the UN.

Patty Pina, Women for Women International, said that social exclusion had a much larger impact on poverty than mere economics alone.

Penny Veness, SIGBI APD, emphasised the importance of fair trade, through which workers are paid a proper wage for the work they produce, to which Soroptimists could contribute through their spending power.

It was time for Soroptimists to band together on behalf of women and girls and take them out of social isolation and into active citizenship.

Our tour guide was Louise Bustart, who told us some interesting facts about the Palace and plants.

The gardens were originally the University Physic gardens, they moved to their present place in 1841. The Kibble Palace is named after John Kibble of Coulport, who donated the glasshouses from his country estate.

The garden is now owned by the council and is used for educational projects. There was a variety of plants some used for medicinal purposes including the treatment of cancer and HIV/AIDS.

Seeds from a new species of tree discovered in Australian in 1995 have now been promulgated and sold to Botanic gardens around the world.

The dye garden had amongst its plants several wood plants, blue dye was made from this and in the middle ages Scottish soldiers used to paint there faces blue to scare the enemy, what a sight that must have been!