Soroptimist International St Albans and District has had a busy February and March and we’ve still got the quiz to go on 28th March https://sigbi.org/st-albans-and-district/quiz26/ which will have an orange theme because it’s close to the 25th March – the 25th being the date in every month designated to “Orange the World to end violence against women and girls”.
The 9 February Club meeting was an opportunity to do some forward planning for the Club’s 70th year which will start after the Club’s AGM in in April, the “birthday” itself is 27 Apr 2027.
On the same evening, Club Members also had a really interesting group discussion about Women in Science, led by the Club’s People Team. The 11 Feb is the UN Day for women and girls in science. Members highlighted notable women in science with careers ranging from Victorian women to the present day. The women’s areas of expertise covered geology, mathematics, engineering, computing and pharmacy.
We were introduced to Beatrice Shilling OBE who was an aeronautical engineer. During the Second World War Shilling designed the vital RAE Restrictor, a simple device that overcame the problem of the Rolls-Royce Merlin aeroplane engines losing power during negative-g manoeuvres.
Tu YouYou is the first female citizen of China to receive a Nobel Prize when she received the award for medicine in 2015.
Charlotte Hugonin was a geologist whose work was completely subsumed by her husband Roderick Murchison.
Dr Emma Davis, a leader in the research of infectious diseases.
Dr Grace Hopper American computer scientist who developed COBOL programming language (still in use today). She lectured in science and continued to encourag women into STEM careers until she died age 86.
Dame Kathleen Lonsdale attained several firsts for female scientists, including being one of the first two women elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, first female professor at University College London, first woman president of the International Union of Crystallography, and first woman president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
We also heard about “The Matilda effect” – a bias against acknowledging the achievements of women scientists and inventors, whose work is consequently attributed to their male colleagues. This phenomenon was first described by suffragist and abolitionist Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826–1898) in her essay, “Woman as Inventor”.
Club Member Jane Slatter spoke about the obstacles that she encountered as a woman in her career in information technology.
Everything we heard on the evening was really interesting and shows how important it is for Soroptimists to continue to support women and girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering Maths/Medicine) subjects so that the full diversity of minds are applied to everyone’s future.
The Home-Start Pancake Race in St Albans on Shrove Tuesday is an event not to be missed. This year it was really busy because it was 17 February which was during half-term. Ahead of the Pancake race Barbara and her husband and Debbie helped with leafletting businesses which paid off because there were more Pancake Race teams and sponsorship from local businesses this year. Debbie and Jane sold £500 of raffle tickets on the day to the general public in the street where the Pancake Race was being held. The event raised £8,000 in total and Home-Start were very grateful as always for our support https://www.home-startherts.org.uk/
On 23 February we had another excellent Club event – this time run by the Club’s Planet Team on Zoom, where we learnt about all things “compost” from the amazing Soil Squad. We also had news from Chiswell Green Community Garden and found out more about how to twin your garden and support a family in Africa with the charity Ripple Effect! Please click here for the full report https://sigbi.org/st-albans-and-district/compost
On Friday 6 March three Members of Soroptimist International St Albans & District, Helen Atkinson, Debbie Tankard and Jane Slatter were at St Albans Girls’ School (STAGS) for their International Women’s Day Inspiring Women Careers Event for Year 8 and Year 12 Students. The photos of the event were taken by the school. The 
students are told that the purpose of the careers networking event is to provide them with the opportunity to meet with and learn about a variety of different careers, hearing about the journey that different people have made into their chosen profession, the qualifications that they have gained and the various different routes into careers today. They are encouraged to ask lots of questions to the women they meet with. These girls all have a great future – we hope we helped to inspire them! Soroptimists have been participating in this annual event since its inception.
It was the Mayor’s Civic Service on Sunday 8th March 2026 at St Albans Cathedral. We were invited because The Mayor, Councillor Teresa Heritage’s theme for this year is “Volunteering”. Club Members Diana Kingham, Anna Barrett and Janet Audley-Charles represented the Club and said that the service was really lovely with words and music reflecting that “united we are strong.”
The Club marked International Women’s Day with a special event on Monday 10th March. The theme for 2026 is “Rights. Justice. Action for ALL Women and Girls.” It was wonderful to have Her Honour Judge Lana Wood with us in person at this event led by the Club’s Peace Team. Please click here for the full report https://sigbi.org/st-albans-and-district/iwd26/
Six Club Members attended the outstanding SI London Chilterns International Women’s Day event in London on Saturday 14th March. Keynote speakers 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.” Barbara is a past President of SI London Chilterns Region and Kay was Treasurer for many years. These two activists used their professional expertise to play a key role in the prosecution of the infamous British Post Office Horizon Scandal case. Their story is almost unbelievable and can be listened to in a Soroptimist International podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1231769/episode_players/18231103-justice-restored-soroptimists-behind-the-horizon-scandal.
We also heard from the amazing Lidia Put whose talk was titled “Resilient by Choice: Ukrainian Women and the Power of Hope”. Lidia spoke about women and children remaining in Ukraine and the difficulties they suffer. See below for more about Lidia. Region Programme Action Officer Pam Robertson led the group discussions around Programme Action and there was plenty of time for networking over lunch. Please click here to read more about the event: https://sigbi.org/london-chilterns/2026/01/25/iwd26/
Club Member Ann Beatty went to the UN Headquarters in New York to attend CSW70 (2026) the seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women from 9 to 19 March. Ann was there as one of the Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) Delegates. She is in this photo that includes the Soroptimist International President and other Soroptimist delegates from around the world. The priority theme for this year is: “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers.” The review theme was: “Women’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.” We’re really look forward to hearing about Ann’s experience first-hand.
Club Members have been truly inspired by their active support for United Nations Campaigns in February and March.