Projects and Activities

Feeback obtained as part of the Listening Project revealed that women’s health was high on the list of concerns amongst people locally and to address this, club members have put themselves forward to join the Patient Participation Group attached to their GP surgery.  By participating in these groups club members will have the opportunity to draw attention to women’s healthcare by contributing to newsletters and information programmes and help ensure that women’s voices are heard when the  recently published NHS 10 year plan is implemented on the ground.  One surgery in the town is planning to hold an information event about the menopause which a Soroptimist member is helping to organise.

The Listening Project revealed the view that support available to carers needed to improve and as the lion’s share of caring work tends to be  done by women, addressing deficiencies in this area has the potential to make a difference to their lives.  A few club members with first-hand experience of caring for a relative or friend have identified some areas to be investigated and will be engaging with provider organisations in both the private and public sector to take matters forward.

SITWD is represented on the Independent Advisory Group (IAG), a community-led organisation which acts as a “critical friend” to the police and seeks to build a bridge between them and the community.   In this capacity, SITWD has created a Women’s Safety Collective comprising representatives from six women’s organisations in the town to engage a broad cross section of women in the creation of a dialogue of equals with the police on the issue of women’s safety.  The first step in creating this dialogue has been to hold an event (“Women’s Voices”) where 70 women of different ages, backgrounds and ethnic origins heard how best to ensure their own safety, assert their right to be safe and define what safety means for them and the outputs from this event will be used to embark on discussions with the police and associated organisations.

SITWD are also active participants in the 16 day world -wide campaign against gender-based violence (GBV) which runs from 25^th November to 10^th December.  In past years they have held awareness-raising events and in 2025 they are constructing an exhibition at the Amelia Scott in Tunbridge Wells which showcases the work of the Soroptimists, displays information about GBV and provides signposts to organisation which are either fellow campaigners or supports victims.  16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence A display is also being organised at Southborough library about prominent women from Southborough through the ages.  In addition, club members will, as usual, be participating in the Reclaim the Night walk on 25^th November and in a Silent Walk being organised by SI Canterbury on 29^th November.

Each year the church of King Charles the Martyr, Tunbridge Wells’ oldest church,  holds a Christmas Tree Festival in which organisations in the town are invited to “adopt” a tree, decorate it and submit it to auction with the proceeds going to a charity of the “adopter’s” choice.  SITWD is taking part in 2025, with the proceeds going to Home Start SW Kent, a Southborough-based charity which provides early years support to local families.  A group of skilled craftswomen collaborated in the design of the decorations with the theme of women uniting across the world.

As part of the national reorganisation of local government, scheduled to take effect in 2028, where County and Borough Councils will be replaced by Unitary Authorities, the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells is taking steps to ensure that it will be given permission to form a Town Council which will represent the interests of the 500,000 residents of the wards which at present do not have either a Town or Parish Council.  SITWD has secured representation on the group driving this initiative forward, thereby ensuring that the female voice has an opportunity to make itself heard in the forthcoming discussions.