Soroptimist International. What a great name!  But what do they do? I found out a little more last week when I visited Croydon to speak to the local branch at the Shirley Park Golf Club. I met President Patricia Painting and her husband Laurie and many of Patricia’s colleagues, including two who were visiting from the US. Soroptimist International was founded in Oakland California in 1921. The name is derived from the latin soror which means sister and optima meaning best – the term Soroptomist therefore represents “the best for women.”  There were mostly women at the event, an excellent dinner, but there were a number of men present, husbands I think. I took some good questions after I had finished speaking and I was really encouraged by the interest shown in what I had to say about the way our criminal justice system and in particular how our prison system works. One of the visitors from the US was a retired deputy Prison Warden who came up and thanked me warmly. It was such a pleasure to meet such committed women. All strength to them.