Dr Helen Pankhurst is coming to visit the island this week.

While she is here she will be speaking at Ballakermeen School on Friday, April 21, on several issues, one of which is her great, great grandmother, Sophia Goulden.

Manx-born Sophia was the mother of Emmeline Pankhurst the world famous suffragette and Sophia introduced her daughters, Emmeline and Mary to the fight for women’s voting rights.

Dr Pankhurst is Emmeline’s great granddaughter and continues the family legacy as she is a women’s rights activist and writer.

She is a senior adviser for Care International, a trustee of Water Aid, Farm Africa and Action Aid, as well as the Patron of the Friends of Sophia Goulden.

Helen will be touring the island over the following weekend and then visiting several schools to talk to children about the issues that are still relevant today.

It is a unique opportunity to meet a lady of considerable influence on the world stage of several issues including Ethiopia and gender equality and broader educational opportunities.

Helen has recently been involved in deciding which sculptor should be commissioned to undertake a statue of Emmeline which is to be erected in Manchester in 2019.

There was a competition in 2016 when the people of Manchester voted overwhelming that Emmeline should be the subject of the sculpture.

The Friends of Sophia Goulden are hoping to emulate this project.

Tickets are £10 each including a glass of wine. Telephone 803246 for more information.