The club programme of meetings for 2025/26 has been structured on the theme of
‘Making a Difference’.
Planned meetings:
20 April 2026– ‘Talk on Tanzania’ by club member
All are welcome to attend. Meetings take place at Chamberlain Court, 77 Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 8BS.
All meetings are from 7.30pm to 9.00pm.
If you are interested please email us at situnbridgewells@yahoo.co.uk
Recent Meeting Reports:
March 2026: A wonderful evening with club member Idske.
From IT to intricate miniatures, Idske shared her inspiring journey and passion for creating beautifully detailed dolls’ houses. Her creativity, skill (and love of tools!) truly brought her work to life.
We also loved hearing about her Mayfield girls’ group and the amazing community work of MAYFACS Shed.
May 2025: SITWD Supports Imago Dei
In May we welcomed representatives from Imago Dei to our club meeting. The charity, Imago Dei was set up in 2016. It supports and encourages women through a range of rehabilitative courses and mentoring whilst in prison and upon their release. It works in four women’s prisons in the Southeast alongside chaplaincy departments, supporting women of all faiths or none. There are currently four projects: the Prison Ministry, ID Essence, working with young women aged 18-25, Grace House UK, opening in the summer in Maidstone as a pilot scheme offering housing and life skills training for women leaving prison, and #She Matters, a community based initiative with a charity shop in Tunbridge Wells offering work experience for women coming out of prison.
Tracy Sickel, CEO and founder of Imago Dei and her colleague, Immy, Community Fundraiser and Communications Officer, gave an informative presentation about the charity’s work. This was followed by a Q&A session.
July 2025: Tunbridge Wells supports Soroptimists’ Fight for Justice for Sub postmasters
The Post Office Horizon story has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK history. Between 2000 and 2014, the Post Office prosecuted 736 Sub postmasters, based on accounting anomalies. In April 2021, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of 39 former Sub postmasters for theft, false accounting, and fraud with hundreds of others potentially on the way. It has proved to be a lengthy battle to prove that the Horizon IT system, on which the convictions were based, was flawed. The TV drama, ‘Mr Bates v The Post Office’ transformed a long running but relatively underreported scandal into a national reckoning. However, for victims of the scandal, the ordeal is far from over. SITWD wanted to know more.
Forensic accountant, Dr Kay Linnell OBE and her business partner, Barbara Jeremiah JP MSc, longstanding Soroptimists from SI Winchester and District, spoke very powerfully to SITWD members about the Post Office Horizon IT scandal and their part in the long fight for justice. Their involvement began when Barbara supported their local subpostmistress, Jo Hamilton, who was wrongly convicted in 2007. Barbara introduced the case to Kay, eventually persuading her to apply her forensic accounting skills to the campaign in 2012. They have unrelentingly, pro-bono, dedicated years to gathering and analysing financial evidence to provide justice and redress for the victims. It was a great privilege to hear how Barbara’s initial concern sparked the investigation and Kay’s financial expertise, and campaign momentum then helped form the legal and evidentiary foundation of the postmasters’ fight. They continue to be actively involved, heavily criticising the compensation frameworks.
Club members were shocked that justice has still not been served, and public concern has moved on. In honour of two outstanding women, the club donated £50 to a charity of their choice. Many members also brought the book written by Jo Hamilton, Why Are You Here, Mrs Hamilton? In it, she acknowledges Kay and Barbara saying, ‘Kay Linnell and Barbara Jeremiah are two unsung heroes and there is no doubt that without your forensic skill, expertise, determination and the thousands and thousands of free hours you dedicated to this cause, we wouldn’t be where we are today.’
