On Saturday 14th March more than 30 Members and friends of Soroptimist International London Chilterns Region Celebrated International Women’s Day at the Lancaster Hall Hotel.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2026 is ‘Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls’ – click here to read more on the UN Women’s website: https://tinyurl.com/426ykexa
SI London Chilterns President Rita Beaumont’s theme for the Region 2025-2027 is “Good Health and Wellbeing – the Right of Everyone” .
The day really hit the spot for both themes!
Pictured here left to right are Kate Belinis SIGBI President-Elect and Member of SI Hertford Club, Barbara Jeremiah, Rita Beaumont, Lidia Put, Pam Robertson and Kay Linnell.
Our keynote speakers for the morning were – Barbara Jeremiah and Kay Linnell: “A Hobby That Got Out of Hand : our part in getting justice for the Sub Postmasters in the scandal of the Post Office fraud.”
We were particularly delighted to welcome Barbara and Kay who are active Soroptimists in SI Southern Region. Barbara is a past President of SI London Chilterns Region and Kay was Treasurer for many years. These two activists and humanitarians used their professional expertise to play a key role in the prosecution of the infamous British Post Office Horizon Scandal case.
The British Post Office Horizon fraud, is possibly the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history, in which thousands of UK Post Office branch operators (Sub Post Masters) were wrongly accused of theft and fraud. Their story is deeply connected with real innocent people’s lives that have been devastated by Post Office company fraud and a lack of supervision by the Government as shareholder. Barbara has toiled on this for 21 years and Kay for 14 years now (an estimated 100,000 unpaid hours) and they are still continuing to seek justice and compensation. The Post Office has now paid £2.3 million in legal fees to Group Litigation Order Sub Post Masters, when the compensation for GLO SPM group would have been less than that…
Barbara and Kay were interviewed by Hilary Ratcliffe OBE for a Soroptimist International podcast and it can be listened to here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1231769/episode_players/18231103-justice-restored-soroptimists-behind-the-horizon-scandal
They recommend people read the book “Why are You Here Mrs Hamilton?” written by Jo Hamilton who was their local Post Office branch operator and the reason they got involved. In 2005 Jo told Barbara about her problem of owing the Post Office more and more money. She had paid them a lot of her savings and borrowed money but at the time of her prosecution for theft the Post Office Limited said she still owed £36K. In 2007 she pleaded guilty for a lesser sentence for 14 counts of false accounting so she would not have to go to prison and could go home, but with a criminal record she couldn’t work. Many of Jo’s former customers employed her as a cleaner to keep her afloat financially. Barbara and Kay reflected that it was ironic that Jo had the keys to many people’s homes even though the Post Office had given her a criminal record…
Please click on this link for information about the TV drama “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” and how Barbara and Kay were involved: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/the-real-people-and-cast-of-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office/
Any donations from Barbara and Kay’s talk will go to ‘Lost Chances’, the charity set up by the children of the Sub Post Masters (SPM), who are victims themselves, suffering hardship and distress as a result of the Post Office scandal.
Please click here to read more about Barbara Jeremiah: https://www.brickkilnindustries.co.uk/
Please click here to read more about Kay Linnell: https://www.klca-forensicaccountancy.co.uk/
After a break and chance to catch up with everyone over a lovely lunch, we heard from our speaker: Lidia Put. Pauline Panter from SI Bedford introduced Lidia. When the war began in Ukraine in 2022 Pauline and her husband David knew they wanted to help and were introduced to Lidia at the Association of Ukraine in Great Britain (AUGB) in Luton. There they met a lovely group of Ukrainians, some of whom were transporting various loads of equipment into Poland which was then transported into Ukraine. 4 years later and they continue to support and provide various items on a monthly basis (e.g. first aid kits, analgesics, warm clothing for the elderly and for children, food, tea, coffee and chocolate). They receive a list of things needed and work towards getting friends, family, colleagues and ex colleagues to assist.
Lidia’s talk was titled “Resilient by Choice: Ukrainian Women and the Power of Hope”. She spoke powerfully about the roles of women as part of the war effort in Ukraine and the horrors of living through a war. Please click here to download and view Lidia’s presentation: Lidia Put Presentation IWD Ukraine. The mental health toll on women is heavy – 20,000 children have been abducted to Russia. There are elderly women who survived WWII when millions died from starvation and are now suffering again. Lidia is proud of Ukraine’s President and First lady – President Zelensky gave a speech for International Women’s Day:https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/privitannya-volodimira-zelenskogo-z-mizhnarodnim-dnem-borotb-81501. The First Lady Olena has an initiative called “How are you?” addressing mental health problems stemming from the war: https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/ti-yak-u-mezhah-iniciativi-oleni-zelenskoyi-ukrayincyam-rozk-81777
Please see below for more about Lidia:
This is how Lidia Put introduces herself: “My name is Lidia. I am Ukrainian.
In my private life, I am a partner, a mother, a daughter, and a sister. I love animals and respect nature.
Professionally, I work as an International Sales Manager and I am also a community activist. A significant part of my work is dedicated to supporting and developing the Ukrainian community in the United Kingdom. I am the Director of a Ukrainian School, the Director of United Hub Razom, and a member of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain.
Through these roles, I actively support Ukraine and help build strong connections between Ukrainians and British society. A key focus of my work is supporting women — empowering them to pursue their goals, build strong networks, and raise the next generation.
Together with both British and Ukrainian partners, we continue to stand with Ukraine, because there is nothing more devastating than losing peace, one’s home, and a sense of security, and being forced to live with constant stress and trauma. I believe in hope, and I am deeply proud to be surrounded by people with open and warm hearts.”
The Region will be making donations to the charities of our speakers.
SI London Chilterns Region Programme Action Officer Pam Robertson then gave us all a Programme Action update.
Clubs are encouraged to get involved with the SIGBI 12-month Women’s Safety social media campaign, starting May 2026, to raise awareness and involve men and boys in the debate – highlighting the tools and practical support available. Included are:
• Campaign Document with full details
• 12 monthly social media posts
• Suggested text
• Ready to go graphics
Click here for resources: https://trello.com/b/vExIz77A/womens-safety-12-month-soroptimist-social-media-campaign
Clubs and Individual Members are encouraged to invest in Microfinance with “Lend With Care” to support female entrepreneurs for as little as £15. There is all the information you need in the SIGBI Hub – if you search for Microfinance in the Library.
SI Milton Keynes gave an update. Their International Women’s Day afternoon tea event had raised £1000! The programme they have been working on about Healthy Relationships training for boys and young men by men has now been picked up by the Open University who want to pilot it with 2/3 schools in Milton Keynes before it goes on the Open Network. The 50p’s being collected at the October Region meeting went up to a total of £400!
SI St Albans spoke about their successful International Women’s Day event when they heard from Her Honour Judge Lana Wood – click here to read more: https://sigbi.org/st-albans-and-district/iwd26/
SI High Wycombe gave notice of a Conference they are organising at Bucks New University on 17 October to engage men in ending the abuse of women and girls. This is in partnership with Bucks Council and Thames Valley Police,
The Conference ended with SI London Chilterns President Rita Beaumont thanking everyone for their active participation in making the event such a great success and encouraging everyone to come to the Region’s Summer conference on Saturday 20th June at Wycombe Wanderers Football Stadium – please click here for more information: https://sigbi.org/london-chilterns/jun2026/.