Leader of Southampton City Council hosts event to mark International Women’s Day 2025
International Women's Day on Saturday 8 March is a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2025 is #AccelerateAction. On Monday 3 March, Southampton City Council will mark the occasion with the International Women’s Day flag being raised at the front of the Civic Centre and a guest speaker event, which will bring together inspiring women who are either from Southampton or have contributed to the city in a positive way.
Guest speakers are from industries such as the arts, fostering, community work, education and events.
Speakers are:
- Jillian Kay – Southampton City Council's new Chief Executive Officer
- Jo Monteiro – local fostering advocate
- Julianne Watling-McCarthy – Southampton Pride event organiser
- sarah filmer – Southampton-based artist
- Tia Binstead – Easy Tz Meals – local Community Interest Company
- Sanidhya Shetty – Vice President of Education at Solent Student Union
Residents can join the event virtually using Microsoft Teams, via this link.
In addition, the International Women’s Day flag will be flown at the front of the Civic Centre for the week from Monday 3 March as the Council pledges to #AccelerateAction both on International Women’s Day and beyond.
Councillor Lorna Fielker, Leader of Southampton City Council said:
“I look forward to International Women’s Day every year. The campaign is incredibly inspiring and it’s fantastic to see people take part from across the globe. Locally, it’s a fantastic opportunity to come together and celebrate the incredible local women that are doing extraordinary things to help make our city the great place it is.
I’m proud to be hosting an event again this year and have an incredible line up of speakers. Events like these bring women together from across Southampton, of all ages and backgrounds, to hear inspirational and inclusive stories, whilst all sharing the same goal of achieving equality.”
Many other events and activities are taking place across Southampton, including:
- Central Library will be marking International Women's Day and Women's History Month with a front of house book display.
- To find out what is happening across the city at God’s House Tower, Solent Student’s Union, John Hansard Gallery go to the Visit Southampton International Women’s Day page.
Jillian Kay – Southampton City Council's new Chief Executive Officer
Jillian will shortly join Southampton City Council as Chief Executive.
She is joining from BCP (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) Council where, as Corporate Director for Wellbeing, she leads a portfolio of services to promote healthy and fulfilled lives for residents.
Jillian’s career has spanned central, local and devolved government, with senior roles in the civil service and at London councils. She is passionate about partnership working to make a difference for communities.
Jo Monteiro – Fostering Advocate
Jo has been a foster carer for Southampton City Council for over 10 years.
Being a foster carer was always a dream of Jo’s, and she was lucky enough to meet someone who shared her passion for helping others. Jo comments: “Our family has been enriched by the children we have cared for. Supporting babies, children and young people on their journey and creating positive experiences and memories has been a joy.”
She is now Southampton's first Mockingbird hub carer, which is an extended family model to support other fostering families - strengthening relationships and increasing stability of fostering placements.
Julianne Watling-McCarthy – Southampton Pride
Julianne was born and raised in Southampton. After studying at Drama School in London and working across the country, she settled back in her hometown and opened The Stage Door in 2015.
The Stage Door is an independent cabaret venue in the heart of the city, playing host to many shows including live music, musical theatre, comedy, drag, burlesque and more.
In 2016 Julianne founded Southampton Pride and has gone on to deliver the now two-day family festival each year since, working with a small team of six volunteers to welcome over 25,000 people to the city over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Julianne is mum to three boys and wants Southampton to be the best, most vibrant and inclusive town it can be for them to grow up in and somewhere they are proud to call home.
sarah filmer – Southampton-based artist
sarah is an artist, vet, and educator – these three practices bleed into each other, and across each, she is interested in how we can live more equally and equitably across gender, species and socio-economic divides.
Through her art practice, sarah has long been concerned with the representation of women within the historical context of this city, working for seven years on ‘knit the walls’, a reparatory project created with a wide cross section of our city’s community. ‘Knit the walls’ worked to re-establish the importance of women’s stories in the recorded history of Southampton through conversation and knitting.
Photo by Dev Place 2025.
Tia Binstead – Founder of Easy Tz Meals – local Community Interest Company
Tia is a proud first-time mother to a son, and the managing director of a CIC (Community Interest Company) based in Southampton called Easy Tz Meals, which is using surplus food to create home cooked meals that was started during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns.
Her vision is to build a team with the confidence to utilise leftovers, confidently cook, and fight food waste before it goes to landfill, to empower the team with life skills, and to provide food security to the community.
Easy Tz’s mission is to empower their volunteers to be confident around food with kitchen training, and the chance for them to develop other life skills and to give the opportunity to anyone in the community to access Easy Tz Meals, receive a home cooked meal, and reduce food waste.
Sanidhya Shetty – Vice President of Education at Solent Student Union
Sanidhya is from Mumbai, India, and holds dual bachelor's degrees—one in Engineering (IT) and another in Music Performance and Production.
As the Vice President of Education at Solent Students’ Union and the only female officer on the team, she plays a key role in ensuring the voices of all students, including female-identifying students, are heard, and represented.
She has actively worked on initiatives that address gender inequality in education, advocate for safer campuses, and support female students facing academic or wellbeing challenges. Through her role, she continues to champion policies and conversations that promote equal opportunities and tackle issues affecting women in higher education.
