Obituary: June Bridgeman CB 26th June 1932 – 19th April 2026
June Bridgeman CB was a distinguished public servant, community leader, and tireless advocate for women’s equality, safety, and education, whose life was marked by both national achievement and deep local commitment.
June began her long association with the Tunbridge Wells Soroptimists in 1966 while working at the Prices and Incomes Board. Her career in public service went on to include senior Whitehall appointments, notably within the Cabinet Office Think Tank and as Transport Director for London. In recognition of her national and international contributions to road and vehicle safety, she was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).
Her dedication to equality was evident in her role as Deputy Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, where she built strong relationships with women’s organisations across the UK and beyond. In 1995, she represented the Fawcett Society at both the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York and the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. She later served as one of three Commissioners on the three-year BSE Public Inquiry.
In 2001, June received a Women of Achievement Award from the European Union of Women, recognising her outstanding contribution to pan-European understanding and progress.
Before her marriage to Michael Bridgeman and the arrival of their five children, June also served as a Territorial Army Signals Officer, driving heavy lorries and developing expert rifle-shooting skills. Her commitment to public and community life extended into the Church, where as a Bishops’ Selector for the Advisory Council on the Church’s Ministry, she was involved in selecting the first women to train as deacons.
A passionate advocate for girls’ education, June served as a Council member of the Girls’ Public Day School Trust, a governor at several schools, and was made an honorary Fellow of Queen Mary Westfield College.
Within Tunbridge Wells, June’s impact was profound. As President of the Soroptimist Club (1996–97) and long-serving Programme Action Officer, she applied her public policy expertise to advance the work of Soroptimist International. Through the Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society and Town Forum, she championed women’s perspectives, notably leading a pioneering Southeast Region Rail Project that examined personal safety in rail travel through women’s experiences, resulting in national improvements.
Her evidence-based approach informed influential reports on public safety and community wellbeing, addressing issues such as car park and taxi safety, spiked drinks, facilities for teenagers, recycling provision, public lavatory design, and litter reduction. She was also a founder member of the Kent Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence.
June’s lifelong passion for local history led her to help found the Edenbridge Historical Society, the Friends of Woodbury Park Cemetery, and the Friends of Tunbridge Wells Cemetery, fostering historical, environmental, and educational engagement, particularly among local schoolchildren.
In 2021, June was one of one hundred women who were recognised as part of the #WhoIsShe celebration of the first centenary of Soroptimist International as having ‘made a noteworthy contribution to society in the furtherance of the aims and objects of the organisation’.
In recognition of her exceptional service, June was awarded the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Civic Medallion in 2022. The award acknowledged her outstanding contribution to community life and her ability to bring people together across backgrounds and interests to improve the town she loved.
Those who knew June remember her as astute, driven, and deeply thoughtful. She had a remarkable ability to anticipate emerging issues, ask probing questions, and inspire others to act. A gifted speaker and natural connector, she combined intellectual rigour with warmth and a strong sense of civic duty.
June Bridgeman’s life exemplified the belief that individuals can make a lasting difference through service, insight, and determination. She leaves a legacy of progress, community spirit, and opportunity for others, truly embodying the sentiment that “women hold up half the sky.”
Caroline Auckland 24/04/2026
Volunteer Hours: 35 hours. How much raised / gifted: £330
Lendwithcare is a revolutionary way to help people in low-income countries to work their way out of poverty with dignity. Through Lendwithcare, it is possible to lend as little as £15 to fund a small business. Once the money is repaid, the loan can be recycled to support more low-income entrepreneurs. This empowerment programme is centred around providing loans to people to start or expand planned business ventures that enable them to pursue long term livelihoods. It is the initiative of the charity; Care International UK and the micro-financing work currently operatesin eleven countries. SITWD have supported the provision of loans to women through this scheme since March 2023.
Why
It is estimated that 1.9 billion people, nearly 25% of the world population, survive on less than $4 day. 700 million live on less than $2.15 a day, the majority of which are women and girls. Empowering women to build better livelihoods, increase their income, and create businesses that provide jobs and boost local economies, has a significant impact on reducing poverty and promoting social justice. Studies have also shown that women are often the change agents of the family. As a direct result, the overall status of the household, particularly the children, is more likely to improve. Targeting women also makes commercial sense because they have been proven to be more reliable borrowers and are more likely to repay promptly.
What did it involve
An account has been set up with Care International’s Lend with Care programme. A sub-committee of the club handles the month-to-month decisions as to which women and projects are funded. During the last year, £330 has been lent. This includes money re-lent which has previously been repaid.
Result
SITWD has, this year, helped 22 female entrepreneurs (who are the main support for 41 family members), in the process creating 48 jobs. In total, 111 people have been helped.
Tunbridge Wells members making items for Comfort Cases
At the March 2026 SISEE Region meeting there was an excellent presentation from Sarah Jacoby, CEO of Comfort Cases, a charity which provides filled backpacks/holdalls for children in and young people in care, to provide them with essentials as they go into care initially or subsequently move between foster homes. The Comfort Cases, intended as a better alternative to bin bags, and would be the children’s own to keep, and can be used by them to move their possessions when changing foster homes or moving to other accommodation.
At the meeting Sarah invited Soroptimists to make and donate drawstring bags, lined with waterproof fabric, to hold toiletries, to be added to the Comfort Cases. The bags were to be made up in different fabric designs to suit both boys and girls, and also younger and older children. For those bags for older girls, fabric ‘Period SOS’ pouches, where girls could keep spare sanitary pads or tampons, were also requested.
A group of club members – initially five, later joined by others – from SI Tunbridge Wells set to with a will and embarked on producing the toiletry bags and period pouches. The intention is to produce as many bags as possible by the time of the June club meeting.
The Campaign Against Sexual Harassment in Tunbridge Wells
In October 2021, a young woman was attacked on a street in Tunbridge Wells. This, alongside the tragic murder of Sarah Everard earlier that year, brought renewed focus on the safety of women and girls in public spaces. In response, the Soroptimists of Tunbridge Wells & District (SITWD) took immediate action. They organised a candlelit vigil on the steps of the Town Hall to raise awareness of gender-based violence, and launched a survey to understand how safe local women and girls felt.
The survey caught the attention of then MP Greg Clark, sparking a collaboration that led to the introduction of a Private Member’s Bill, the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Bill. Mr Clark presented the bill for its first reading in June 2022, acknowledging SITWD’s crucial role in shaping its provisions. The legislation creates a specific criminal offence of intentionally harassing someone in public on the basis of their sex, causing alarm or distress. The Bill received Royal Assent in September 2023, and adds a sex-based aggravation to offences under the Public Order Act 1986, allowing for harsher penalties when harassment is motivated by gender.
Normally, enactment—the process that ensures the Act’s provisions are operationalised—would have followed automatically. However, the 2024 General Election delayed this vital step. SITWD raised the issue with their newly elected MP, Mike Martin, who immediately took action. He first raised a Parliamentary question to draw attention to the delay. When that failed to result in action, he tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to commence the Act. Despite securing cross-party support from around 100 MPs, the amendment did not pass.
However, thanks to persistent pressure, the Act came into force on 1 April 2026.
The offence carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
The Home Office said the new law had given police “stronger powers to act decisively.”
SITWD will continue to work with Mike Martin and local police to discuss what changes this will bring on the ground, ensuring the safety of women and girls in Tunbridge Wells is prioritised.
SITWD participates in the Royal Tunbridge Wells Spring Clean
On 27th March, members of SITWD participated in the Tunbridge Wells Spring Clean project organised by RTW Together, the local Business Improvement District. The plan was to collect litter, clean street furniture, and signs, remove graffiti and de-weed pavements and planters.
The litter pickers collected in total 3 bin bags of miscellaneous litter, a large number of (empty) vodka bottles and some discarded bedding. It was a tiring but rewarding experience.
During the two hours spent picking up litter, between them they walked a total of 8 miles!
A Toolkit for Grassroots Activism
Tunbridge Wells members Caroline Auckland and Lorna Blackmore have played an active role in the Women’s Grassroots Activism Project (2023–2025), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project aimed to raise the visibility of leading women’s organisations, highlight their legacy in campaigning for gender equality, and safeguard future activism by preserving local archives and promoting innovative ways of using them.
Grassroots activism takes many forms, from local community action and education to campaigning and influencing policy at national and global levels.
Lorna and Caroline focused on two key areas: environmental sustainability and women’s safety, highlighting the work of the Tunbridge Wells Soroptimists. Environmental initiatives included the collection and recycling of aluminium cans, helping to fund sanitation projects in developing countries, helping Tunbridge Wells becoming a “Toilet Twinned” town.
Caroline’s contributions centred on campaigning against gender-based violence and harassment. She highlighted initiatives such as community vigils, safety surveys, and collaboration with former Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark on his Private Member’s Bill, the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023. The Act, which received Royal Assent in 2023 and comes into force on 1st April 2026, makes harassment in public motivated by sex an aggravated offence.
Working alongside organisations including the Irish Countrywomen’s Association, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, the Federation of Women’s Institutes of Northern Ireland, and Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland, the project represents the activism of over 200,000 women committed to improving the lives of women and girls.
The project concluded with the publication of Women’s Grassroots Activism Toolkit 100+, a resource outlining how women’s activism has shaped society at every level. The toolkit provides practical guidance for those wishing to become activists, encouraging approaches such as storytelling, intergenerational conversations, the use of meaningful objects, and collaboration and networking.
The steering team, led by Caitríona Beaumont, Professor of Social History at London South Bank University, launched the toolkit in March. Caroline participated as a roundtable member representing the Tunbridge Wells Soroptimist club.
The toolkit can be downloaded here:
Women’s Grassroots Activism Toolkit 100+
Tunbridge Wells and District hold an International Women’s Day Event – “Gender Equality through Economic Empowerment”
SITWD organised an event to mark International Women’s Day aimed at raising awareness of the importance of financial literacy as a means of being safe and empowered.
Members of the public were invited, and many club members also attended. Four representatives from Citizens Advice, who provide financial guidance, and an expert from Wave Community Bank worked with club leaders to plan a session designed both to educate participants and to address specific financial situations and concerns.
A panel discussion, led by President Jill Ruddock, explored topics such as the warning signs that someone may be heading towards unmanageable debt, times when women may be particularly financially vulnerable and how they can protect themselves, and initiatives aimed at improving financial education in schools.
There were four workshops covering: recognising economic abuse; budgeting and debt management; managing energy costs; and the role of credit unions and how they can help.
The experts also engaged with participants on a one-to-one basis, offering personalised advice tailored to their individual circumstances.
Feedback from the session was very positive. Participants shared a number of encouraging comments, including: “That knowledge share is going to help people directly in the community and increase the ripple effect of the couple of hours we spent together.” Another attendee noted, “I really enjoyed the event and the speakers were excellent,” while someone else added, “The interactive tasks were fun and helped me retain the information.”
International Women’s Day Event in Southborough: Celebrating Local Women
On Friday 6th March, the Ridgemont Pavilion in Southborough hosted an evening event with Southborough Street Community to honour women’s achievements and strengthen the spirit of support that drives real change.
Club member Kathy Lewis gave a talk about the Southborough Women who featured in the recent display in Southborough Library that marked the contribution of local women to the community, both now and in the past. This display is featured below in the article SITWD celebrates Women’s leadership.
SITWD celebrates Women’s leadership
