The Bridgetown Toastmasters Club can be said to be the ‘mother’ of the other two clubs on the island, the Sunjet Toastmasters Club, and the Cable and Wireless Bartel Toastmasters Club.

CTM Keith Roberts, a then member of the Bridgetown Toastmasters club, formed the Sunjet Toastmaster club in 1986 after an unfortunate dispute that divided the Club.

In 1993, ATM James Corbin formed the first corporate club in Barbados, The Bartel Toastmasters Club. At the time, ATN Corbin was in charge of the Company’s Total quality Programme and saw the need for his team members to be able to make effective presentations. What better way than through a Toastmasters Club?

For close to Sixty years Toastmasters remained a male organization, and it was only in the early seventies that world headquarters decided that women should be admitted into the organization.

The decision to admit women into the club was not an easy one for the Bridgetown Toastmasters Club, The first resolution for their admission, sponsored by CTMs Tony Olton and Ronald Weekes provoked the return of toastmasters who had not seen club in many years, just to ensure that it would be defeated! It was only in 1986 that women were finally allowed to join the club and the first women admitted in 1987 were a Dr. Linda Perry and Ms Lorna Barrow, presently ATM Lorna Barrow.

As is usually the case, the inclusion of women has impacted the Club in ways not foreseen by the male members. The dress code of which was stipulated “no shirts without collars” and “no sandals” appeared extremely limiting and ridiculous when applied to women. The decision to change the meeting time from 8.00 p.m. to the earlier 6.00 p.m. was significantly influenced by the desire of the female members to be home before 11.00 p.m.