International Women’s Day is on Friday 8 March, today Zest held an event to celebrate women.

Zest is a community enterprise based in Upperthorpe which works to tackle local inequalities and works closely to support women in the community. 

The event included crafts, poetry, an international traditional dress fashion show, international food and dancing.

Rachel Mills, organiser of the event, said: “It is a cultural and diverse celebration of women, in particular, Zest is based in Upperthorpe and there’s a lot of different cultures that are represented.

“We want to celebrate that as an organisation and the richness that they bring to Zest.

“Relationships with women in the community are really important and we want to empower women to do even more in the communities.”

International Women’s Day is a global movement to unite and celebrate the social, cultural, and political achievements of women worldwide and rally for women’s equality.

Miss Mills explained what challenges most impact women today from her experience working with women at Zest.

She said: “Being respected and seen as equal is something women struggle with, being appreciated for their skills including leadership or skills not traditionally associated with women.”

“So the event is important for seeing the strength of women and how much they have to bring.”

Freyja Pearman,19 , campaigning for student women’s officer for the University of Sheffield, explained that International Women’s day events like Zests are important to showcase the leaps and strides that women have achieved.

She said: “the main challenges are that women are unheard and their problems are played down in terms of societal expectations.”

“Especially coming from a place of neurodivergency, like I am with my campaign, a lot of women with autism and ADHD are not listened to properly.”

Zest’s event took place earlier this afternoon at Shipton Street Hall.