THE Iron Lady returned to her old college yesterday to celebrate the talent and diversity of women in Oxfordshire.

Baroness Thatcher, 81, was at her alma mater - Somerville College in Woodstock Road - for the Oxfordshire Women of the Year lunch.

Wearing a bright turquoise jacket and matching skirt, Baroness Thatcher who was Britain's first and only female Prime Minister, arrived at the college before the lunch to meet a number of the nominees.

She joined about 200 women - who ranged from entrepreneurs and academics to headteachers and housewives - for lunch in the college's dining hall. She studied chemistry at Somerville from 1944 before becoming president of the university's Conservative Association in 1946.

She said: "It was an absolute delight to be back at Somerville."

Speakers at the lunch were Dame Fiona Caldicott, principal of Somerville College and a pro-vice-chancellor of Oxford University, and Cath Kidston, a designer who runs her own fabrics and interior designs company with 12 shops nationwide.

As well as celebrating the achievements of women across the county, the lunch also acts as a fundraiser for the Mulberry Bush School in Standlake.

The school provides therapeutic treatment through care and education for up to 36 children aged five to 12 who have been excluded from mainstream schools.

Many of them have suffered severe emotional distress through violence, bereavement, sexual or physical abuse or inadequate care.

Baroness Thatcher said: "The help the school gives to these children who have had a difficult start in life to overcome and benefit from the full rewards of education is an inspiration."

Gina Alexander, chairman of the school's trustees, said the event was "great for the school", adding: "All the things which make the difference to our pupils come out of things like this. The money this generates is more than the icing on the cake, it's the marzipan.

"The children at the school are very damaged and disturbed. Some of them actually manage to return to mainstream education after coming to us.

"They are gradually encouraged to a stage where possibly for the first time in their lives they can learn to trust and respect themselves and others."

The lunch, now in its sixth year, usually raises about £17,000 for the school.

Speakers included Eliza Manningham-Buller, director of MI5; Baroness Scotland, the Attorney General; author Joanna Trollope; actress Maureen Lipman, and Sara Thornton, chief constable of Thames Valley Police.