Frome celebrated International Women’s Day 2026 with theatre, discussion, tea, cake, cycling – and a 32-foot American school bus named Susie.
On Saturday 7 March, town councillors gathered at the Saturday market for their monthly ‘meet the councillor’ session from 10am to 12pm. This month, they were accompanied by performer and influencer Lu Featherstone, aka ‘Lu in Luland’ and members of the councils’ White Ribbon group, talking about the positive role of male allyship and encouraging market-goers to take the White Ribbon pledge to ‘never use, excuse or remain silent about violence against women and girls’.
On Sunday 8 March, Frome Community Bike Project hosted a friendly drop-in session for women starting or returning to cycling at their base at Station Approach between 10am and 1pm, with tea, cake, advice and low-cost bikes and equipment on offer.
That evening, a screening of the Emma Rice Company’s 2024 production of Blue Beard at the Merlin invited the audience to explore issues of violence and domestic abuse through the prism of the 17th-century French folk tale. The screening was followed by a lively Q&A featuring cast member Katy Owen, Kerenza Robinson-Barton of The Nelson Trust and Joel Bubbers, a coach and facilitator who works extensively with men and boys, led by Cllr Sara Butler-Bartholomew.
Still to come, the annual Lightning Talks event will take place on Thursday 12 March at the Cornerhouse, with a series of five-minute pitches, on an IWD theme.
Cllr Anne Hills said “International Women’s Day is a moment to celebrate the achievements of women across the globe and to note that unfortunately, the United Nation’s focus on ‘Rights, Justice and Action’ exists because there is still so much work to do. We enjoyed lots of great conversations about the activities we’re planning for the council’s White Ribbon accreditation and, of course, we enjoyed a brilliant night out thanks to the generosity of the Emma Rice Company, who allowed us to screen Blue Beard to mark the occasion. Thank you also to Lu Featherstone for bringing her huge energy and colourful persona to amplify the cause! We’re looking forward to the annual ‘Lightning Talks, too, on 12 March at the Cornerhouse, to round off this year’s IWD events.”
One of the council’s planned areas of activity is the implementation of WalkSafe, a free app that enables users to share their location with trusted contacts, plan journeys and plot their estimated time of arrival, alerting their contact should they not arrive. During 2026 the council will be working with local businesses in Frome’s nighttime economy to create a geofenced ‘safety map’ for Frome within the WalkSafe app. This element of the app allows users to navigate to local designated safe spaces, where staff have received training to help them support anyone feeling unsafe, with facilities such as phone chargers, water and sanitary products. Businesses will pay an annual subscription to appear as a safe space in the app, with this element planned to launch by the summer.
Find out more about the WalkSafe app. Attend the Lightning Talks at the Cornerhouse, Frome on Thursday 12 March at 7pm.
