Celebrating Women’s History Month

Port Sunlight’s star: Sophie Somers

by Catherine Hindson, Professor of Theatre History, University of Bristol

Photograph from Sophie Somer’s retirement event. Port Sunlight News, volume 25, February – March 1947, p.20. Reproduced with kind permission of Unilever plc and group companies.

A twenty-five-year-old Sophie Somers (1890-1950) came to Port Sunlight for the first time in 1916, following up on an advert Lever Brothers had placed for someone to run their factory’s business and welfare committees.

Her career at Port Sunlight was to last for over three decades and saw her become a well-known leader at the firm, a long-standing village resident, and a popular local personality. As The Liverpool Echo headlined in 1965, in Sophie Somers we can find ‘one of the most outstanding figures in Port Sunlight history’.

Reports of Sophie Somers’s retirement and obituaries published on her death tell us that she represented Port Sunlight’s ideals. It was no coincidence that when the King and Queen of Afghanistan’s meticulously planned royal visit to the factory and village took place in 1928, the ‘model dwelling’ they toured was the home Sophie shared with her sister Ethel (longstanding Lever Brothers Senior Clerk and librarian). A model dwelling, with model inhabitants who embodied the Port Sunlight spirit.

Sophie on Stage

Being a model Port Sunlight citizen involved work and play. For Sophie, most of that play took place on- or back-stage. The village dramatic society had been based at the Gladstone Hall since 1894. In 1921, they renamed themselves The Port Sunlight Players. She became an important member of the group, writing, performing, and organising performances and serving as the society’s Chair. Reviews of her stage roles, including […]

Read the spring 2024 issue of the Port Sunlight Gazette

The Port Sunlight Gazette is a seasonal magazine made for everyone who is part of Port Sunlight’s community, whether you visit, live, work or volunteer in and around this special village.

In this spring issue, you’ll find:

• Spring events in the village
• Insulating Port Sunlight’s homes
• Your Port Sunlight – a new feature celebrating the village’s community
• Meet PSVT’s new Chair, Andrew Bowden
• The Port Sunlight Photographer of the Year competition
• Lever’s links to Freemasonry

Read the spring issue of the Port Sunlight Gazette here or download a digital copy here.

To celebrate 25 years since Port Sunlight Village Trust was founded, we’ve also created a special publication. This will be delivered to village households, but you can also view it online here.

If you require a large-print version, please email [email protected].

Let’s Talk update: Join us for open meetings in March

In 2023, PSVT asked consultants Paul Kelly and Catherine Simmons to develop the first Resident Engagement Strategy for the organisation. Over the autumn, they undertook a survey of village residents and held workshops to gather people’s views on how they would like to be involved in the work of PSVT. Draft proposals were then developed which were tested out with residents at a couple of further workshops, and discussions were also held with the committee of the Port Sunlight Residents Association.

What’s new?

A draft resident engagement strategy has now been produced and discussed with the PSVT Board in January. Catherine and Paul would like to now share their exciting proposals to change how PSVT involves village residents in the work it delivers.

Open meetings

Before the final strategy is approved for implementation by the PSVT Board in March, Catherine and Paul are holding two open public meetings to share the opportunities PSVT want to implement to involve residents in the work of the organisation. These will take place on:

• Monday 4th March, 6pm, in the Church Hall, Bridge Street
• Tuesday 5th March, 2pm, in the Church Hall, Bridge Street

The new chair of PSVT, Andrew Bowden, will attend the Monday evening session. Director of Operations Lin Whalley will also attend both meetings.

Register to attend

Please let us know if you can attend by either ringing the Port Sunlight Village Trust Office on 0151 644 4800 or emailing [email protected]

The open meetings will be advertised via PSVT’s social media and in the spring edition of the Gazette, but please do share this information with your neighbours too so that they can join […]

Family fun in Port Sunlight this February half term

Looking for something to do this February half term with the family? Look no further than Port Sunlight, where there’s something on every day for kids both big and small to enjoy.

Go on an adventure with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s Tropical Time Machine at SoapWorks, discover the science of soap with Professor Suds, have a go at science-themed crafts or explore Port Sunlight’s birds and amazing animals on The Twitchers Museum Adventure trail.

The Tropical Time Machine at SoapWorks

22–24 February, 10am–4pm
£3 child, £5 adult (or free with a Port Sunlight Museum ticket)
SoapWorks, Bridge Street 

This half term, we’re opening the doors to SoapWorks and giving you the chance to go on a science adventure with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s Tropical Time Machine! Located inside the Lyceum in what was once the Port Sunlight’s schoolroom, SoapWorks is an interactive exhibition which explores why we need soap, how it gets made, what we like to buy and why, and all the different ways we use it.

Come explore the science of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and be transported into the past to learn about its early years and visit ‘behind the sciences’ of its present-day laboratories and herpetarium! You can also chat to some of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s scientists and learn more about the work they do as the institute celebrates its 125th anniversary.

Don’t forget! Entry to The Tropical Time Machine and SoapWorks is […]