We were pleased to work with Judson University on our first international fundraising event in support of The Eric Liddell 100 which took place in Chicago on 21st March 2023.
Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan and business leader The Lord Smith of Kelvin KT CH gave keynote speeches and received a warm welcome at the 2023 World Leaders Forum, an event hosted annually by Judson University in Illinois.
The invitation to Chicago also provided the opportunity to meet Gus Noble, President and CEO of the Chicago Scots which represents the vibrant Scottish community resident in the city. Founded in 1845 as the Illinois Saint Andrew Society, the Chicago Scots is the longest running non-profit organisation in Illinois.
As part of the visit, we had the opportunity to visit the Caledonia Senior Living & Memory Care facilities, first established by the Illinois Saint Andrew Society and supported to this day by the Chicago Scots. The non-institutional, residential care homes which support people living with dementia, have strong parallels with the high quality, person-centred care provided by The Eric Liddell Community’s day care and specialist dementia services. The design of the homes is heavily inspired by Scotland and Scottish heritage.
We were delighted that Eric Liddell’s daughter, Patricia Liddell-Russell, and Eric’s niece Sue Caton, joined the Scottish delegation to the Chicago/ Illinois area.
John MacMillan, CEO of The Eric Liddell Community commented:
“We were honoured to be invited to the World Leaders Forum to recognise Eric and his achievements and legacy. Our plans for The Eric Liddell 100 are ambitious, but essential to realizing our vision of a global community that celebrates Eric’s inspirational legacy, values and integrity.”
“The Eric Liddell 100 is a partnership initiative, and we are extremely grateful to all our partners that are supporting the work as we could not have developed such ambitious plans alone.”
Thank you to our hosts and to the sponsors of The World Leaders Forum, which included:
• Dana B. Davidson CPA Company https://www.danatax.com/
• W.R Meadows https://www.wrmeadows.com/
• OTTO Engineering https://www.ottoexcellence.com/
• Dennis and JoAnn Demoss
• TMA https://www.tmaillinois.org/
• Chicago Scots https://chicagoscots.org/
• Village of West Dundee http://www.wdundee.org/
• Anguleris Technologies https://www.anguleris.com/
• Elgin Symphony Orchestra https://www.elginsymphony.org/
• Kids Play International https://kidsplayintl.org/contact/
