It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole month since the JCI European Conference in Lyon, France. It was an inspiring four days and great to be part of such a large UK contingent. It was fantastic to have JCI Southampton represented in force with 7 members attending making us the largest local chamber in the UK delegation. We also had several members attending their first European conference.

For those of you who’ve not been to an international conference before, the JCI European Conference is a bit like a national convention only much bigger!

JCI members come together from across Europe as well as from further afield, attending keynotes, training sessions and workshops. The theme of this year’s conference was about inspiring members to start a Commitment Revolution to help achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

And let's not forget the competitions; following on from their success at last year’s UK National Convention in Doncaster, Sophie, Fee and Ed represented the UK in the English Debating Competition and what’s more, they only went and won it!

There are also fantastic themed parties each night culminating in Saturday's cinema-themed gala dinner and awards. It was great to have our #BeBetter training shortlisted for skills development programme and there was wider success for the UK on the night.

And finally a big thank you to our very own Sophie who was the UK international director this year, for all her hard work and organisation in ensuring it was a fantastic conference for the UK delegation.