In 1975, the United Nations declared March 8th to be International Women's Day. According to the BBC, that date was picked to commemorate an event in 1917 when a group of women in Russia held a four-day strike to demand peace, bread, and the right to vote.

At Layston Grove we are surrounded by a lot of very special women, women who have led rich and interesting lives, women who have experienced war time and rationing, who have raised families and forged careers whilst doing so. We love to hear their stories, the way in which we live our lives has changed considerably over the last 50 years and we learn a lot from listening to our residents.

For International Women’s Day we wanted to showcase the amazing stories and achievements of the women who both live and work here at Layston Grove, we asked about their greatest accomplishments and their proudest moments and took photographs to remind us of the great contribution made by women everywhere. Their pictures speak louder than any words I could write