Local groups come together to celebrate International Women's Day

Saturday, 26 February 2022 23:43

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) invites the public to join them to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD)

The event will take place at the Guildhall in Northampton on Saturday, 5 March from 11am – 3pm.

The event which brings together local organisations that champion women, is being held to mark International Women’s Day which this year falls on Tuesday, 8 March.

Organised by the WNC Women’s Forum, the event will support this year’s IWD theme which is #BreakTheBias, with local organisations and groups on hand to talk to the public about the unfair treatment women can face day to day and what support and advice is available.

The organisations taking part include Northampton Domestic Abuse Services; Northampton Community Foundation; NLive Radio; United African Association; Rights of Women; Doddridge Centre; Sikh Community Centre and Youth Club; VCSE Assembly; Peak Empower; Crimestoppers; NN Journal; The Co-op; Belling Community House Sewing Group; Neals Yard remedies; Albanian Cultural Association; Moldovian and Romanian Community and Collingtree Park Care Homes.

There will be recorded interviews played over the big screens in the Great Hall throughout the day, including co-chairs Cllr Anna King and Pauline Woodhouse who will be talking about their time on the Forum and the Inspirational Woman Awards which are now in their 10th year.

The Northamptonshire Police and Fire service will also be at the event promoting the role of women in both services along with GamCare who will be highlighting the harm gambling can cause specifically for women.

Cllr David Smith, WNC's Cabinet Member for community safety and engagement, and regulatory services, said: "We are delighted to have so many local groups joining us for the day to help spread the word about the support that is available and also the work that is being done to breakdown the prejudices that many women face each day – either at work or home.

"On the day we will also be celebrating the many inspirational women in West Northants as we announce the winners of this year’s Inspirational Women Awards and recognise the many women playing hugely important roles across our communities and workplaces."

The Inspirational Women Awards ceremony will be live streamed from 2:30pm on screens in the Great Hall and on the Council’s YouTube channel.

The awards aim to publicly recognise and promote those women who inspire and have a real impact on the lives of others in the community or the workplace.

There are two categories this year – The Business Award and The Community Award and the judges will be joined by last year’s winners Teresa McCarthy-Dixon (Community) and Dolores Sanders (Business).

This year the shortlist includes Angie Kennedy, Maisie Summers-Newton and Cllr Rufia Ashraf for the Community Award and Milly Fyfe and Jo Burns-Russell for the Business Award.