SITWD decorates Christmas Tree at local Charity Festival 2025
SITWD took part in the annual Christmas Tree Festival at King Charles the Martyr Church in Tunbridge Wells. The festival featured 28 uniquely decorated Christmas trees, each designed by local businesses, charities, schools, and community groups. Visitors were invited to stroll through the displays and bid on the trees in silent auctions, with decorations included. All proceeds supported charities chosen by the tree decorators.
Club members voted to support the local charity Home-Start South West Kent, a community network of trained volunteers and professional support that helps families with young children through challenging times.
Club member Cherry Whytock, along with seven other members, created the decorations. These took the form of a continuous chain of linked women’s hands from around the world, each one individually made.
The event was joyful and well attended, transforming the church into a festive wonderland that brought the community together while supporting vital local causes. Home-Start South West Kent will receive approximately £125 from the event.
Club members enjoyed creating together, knowing that the tree not only raised funds for charity but also helped raise awareness of the work of the Soroptimists.
SITWD supporting the local Community Safety Partnership
One December evening, two members of the Tunbridge Wells and District Club joined the local Community Safety Partnership (CSP) at Tunbridge Wells Railway Station to engage with the travelling public on safety-related issues. Armed with the Soroptometer—a tool featuring six safety questions—they engaged passers-by and also supported the promotion of the White Ribbon pledge.
SITWD President, Jill Ruddock, and Treasurer Louise Taylor (designer of the Soroptometer) spent a few hours alongside CSP and White Ribbon representatives, inviting commuters to consider the five safety-related questions on the Soroptometer. These questions focused on how safe people feel while traveling on trains and buses, both during the day and at night, as well as whether they view the station as a safe place after dark.
The feedback collected will be shared with public, voluntary, and community organizations to help enhance safety and make the borough a safer place for everyone.
Tunbridge Wells Soroptimists join the Reclaim the Night Walk
The Reclaim the Night Walk is a national annual event that began in the UK in the 1970s in response to widespread violence against women. Participants walk together to demonstrate unity against violence and to challenge the idea that women should have to hide or restrict their movements after dark. The event is open to everyone and sends a strong message in support of community safety and gender equality.
The Tunbridge Wells walk began in 2022 and takes place to coincide with the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG). This international day is observed annually to raise awareness of violence against women in all its forms, one of the most widespread human rights violations worldwide. The walk itself affirms the right of women to move freely without fear of harassment, intimidation, or sexual assault.
This year, nine members of SITWD joined the walk to The Pantiles at 7:30pm on Tuesday 25 November. More than 100 people attended, including police officers from the Tunbridge Wells Community Safety Unit, making it the largest turnout to date. Events like this play an important role in highlighting the need for lasting cultural change.
After the walk, participants gathered to listen to speeches, share information and experiences, and warm up on a chilly evening. Those who attended felt the event successfully achieved its aim of raising awareness and fostering solidarity.
Hedge Planting at Barnett’s Wood, Tunbridge Wells
In December 2025, Caroline, Communications Officer for Tunbridge Wells Soroptimist, spent five hours at Barnett’s Wood supporting the Hedgerow Heroes Planting Project, delivered in partnership with the Kent High Weald Partnership (KHWP). The initiative brought together a small team of local volunteers to enhance biodiversity and strengthen natural habitats in the area.
KHWP’s mission is to connect people with nature through conservation, education, and wellbeing, and this planting session was a strong example of that ethos in practice. The group comprised five community volunteers, supported by two KHWP team members, who worked collaboratively to plant 335 hedgerow saplings.
A diverse mix of native species was planted, including hawthorn, alder buckthorn, field maple, guelder rose, blackthorn, and dog rose. This carefully selected combination will help support local wildlife, improve habitat connectivity, and contribute to the long-term resilience of the natural environment.
The project closely aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals, demonstrating how community-led action can play a meaningful role in protecting and enhancing local ecosystems.
Imago Dei Fashion Show
Imago Dei is a charity which supports the rehabilitation and resettlement of female offenders, working with them both inside the prisons and in the community after their release. They have four programmes of work: a youth programme ID Essence, running development courses in prison aimed at supporting offenders’ efforts to overcome emotional trauma, a charity shop in Tunbridge Wells, #SheMatters and, in construction, the provision of accommodation for recently released offenders, Grace House. This event took place in St. James’ Church in Tunbridge Wells where the vicar, Judi Hammill, is an active supporter of the charity.
SITWD is a long-standing supporter of Imago Dei, assisting them with projects and volunteering in the #SheMatters shop. In response to a request from the charity, club members offered to participate, Cherry Whytock as a model and Carolyn Clutterbuck and Jill Ruddock as helpers behind the scenes.
Carolyn and Jill helped the staff of Imago Dei set things up for the event, welcomed people on their arrival and provided them with their welcome drink. Cherry appeared three times in the parade of models down the catwalk (the re-purposed church aisle), once in an “everyday wear” outfit, once in a set of winter clothes and once dressed for an evening occasion. All the clothes modelled had been donated to the #SheMatters shop and after the show they were all available for sale.
The show was well supported, attracting an audience of about 50 people, including some current and former Soroptimists. The “showroom” where all the clothes were displayed was a hive of activity after the models had “strutted their stuff” which, along with the raffle and the entrance fee, will no doubt have added a nice tidy sum to Imago Dei’s coffers.
Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival – Interview with Dr.Fiona Vera-Gray
In her capacity as President of SITWD, Jill Ruddock was invited to interview Dr. Fiona Vera-Gray, the author of “Women on Porn”. The event comprised a 45 minute conversation and a very lively 15 minute Q&A session and took place on 9th March as part of the Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival in front of an audience of around 60 people.
In planning the line-up for the Festival the organiser made great efforts to ensure that the female voice was well represented across all the different subjects and genres and in support of this ethos women interviewers were chosen wherever possible and relevant. This led to SITWD being contacted with a view to providing an interviewer.
Before the event itself, Jill read the book in question along with other relevant material and had conversations with individuals with first hand experience of the subject ie how women use or consume porn. She also had a virtual conversation with Professor Vera-Gray prior to meeting her in person in order to have an early understanding of her perspective on the issue and what she considered to be the key points emerging from the book.
The event itself was lively as not only did Professor Vera-Gray speak very effectively and passionately about what she had discovered in writing the book and about the porn industry and its impact on women and their relationships but also the audience engaged enthusiastically in the ensuing debate. Primary amongst the concerns expressed was the extent of sexism and misogyny present in the widely available mainstream pornographic material and its inevitable impact on people of all ages, particularly the young. It was concluded that the best antidote to the harm this material can cause is for adults to ensure that they create safe spaces for young people, even children, where they can be helped to contextualise and make sense of what they are seeing. It was also recognised that the large tech companies need to be better regulated so they took part in the efforts to control the availability of harmful material rather than monetising it.
Click here to view the interview: https://youtu.be/hyLDQP9vQPc
