Conference 2006 – A conference that showed our strengths!
This years Conference presented the organisers with a number of challenges during the two and a half days.
Firstly on the way to Cheltenham our Training Director, Pam Bellis, fell boarding the train in Scotland and very badly damaged her shoulder joint. However she made it into Cheltenham before collapsing with the pain. BPW Members already at the hotel, met her at the train station and rushed her to hospital and stayed with her during the next couple of days as she underwent various exploratory investigations. Pam said “It was like having my family around supporting me even though I was hundreds of miles from home. Mary Southerton, BPW Cheltenham, was an absolute angel of mercy and to me personified why BPW is such a great organisation to belong to!” Subsequently Pam has had a brand new shoulder joint and now is our very own bionic woman!
This along with Nikki Bennett-Willetts, International Director, having to miss Conference due to being in hospital under going tests which lead to heart surgery certainly meant we were keeping the regions hospitals busy. Nikki took advantage of the situation though and asked for membership packs to be sent, so she could hand them out to the nurses. What dedication!
Unfortunately our Gordon Holmes Key Note Speaker, Elizabeth Davies, Head of Policy, Planning & Partnerships for the National Patient Safety Agency was unable to make the conference due to the sudden serious illness of her son. Also Annette Lawson, of the European Women’s Lobby, due to speak during the International session on Saturday was also taken ill but we were very lucky her alternative representative Sue Webb was able to step in, more of that later.
For the key note speaker session, the Board Directors and Past National Presidents stepped into the breach and members had an unexpected treat!
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Each of the Past National Presidents, spanning 30 years of the organisation, gave a presentation on BPW UK’s illustrious history and pledged their support for the future of the organisation.
Past National Presidents (left to right):
Sylvia Perry, Janice Bancroft, Edwina Bicker, Stella Rule, Ann Swain, Pat Lunn, Norma Huddy, Sue Brown, Joan Simpson.
Photographs supplied by Black Tie Portraits
Stella Rule (1977–1979) related that 30 years ago, when there were no computers or website, she was working as a Head of School for 350 infants. Every Friday she would get the ‘House’ magazine and go through Government business for the next week. She mentioned the sheer slog of long journeys by train to London and gave examples of the MPs who had been valuable contacts. In Cornwall at that time there were clubs covering three constituencies and those three MPs needed to be lobbied. She was at pains to say that there was also a lot of fun intermingled with the hard work, like the time when hats were always worn at conference and one of Stella’s hats was so stylish she was mistaken for the Queen!
Edwina Bicker (1985–1987) said that she was 41 when elected, the youngest elected National President at that time. There were 1100 people at her first conference and by the end of her term of office a computer complete with ‘bugs’ had been installed. Her aim was to get women's organisations together, so she worked to revive Five-O. The collective voice of the organisations was louder than those of the individual groups, providing better coverage and more powerful lobbying. She mentioned specific parliamentary contacts such as David Trippier and Angela Rumbold whose germane phrase was ‘Linking us together and getting us into
Parliament’.
Pat Lunn (1987-1989) took over office at the new Conference Centre in Glasgow. Pat worked hard to cement an association with both Houses of
Parliament. BPW had an exhibition for a whole week in the Commons and an article in the House magazine. She got to know many MPs such as John Major, John Patten and Angela Rumbold. Pat launched 'Women into Public Life' but her main
strength came from her long experience in Agriculture and Education which proved useful when 0.2% of MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries) were women.
Sylvia Perry (1989–1991) worked at developing the political liaisons built by the previous Presidents. She said ‘we could access any department that we wanted and we were also involved in many consultations for WNC’ (Women’s National Commission). The President did it all; there were no specialist directors so we quickly learned that we must be ahead of the game. Sylvia Perry hosted a meeting in Westminster Hall entitled 'Women's Political Agenda'. She also got to know politicians such as Shirley Williams and Lady Howe.
BPW UK is very proud of the fact that Sylvia went on to become BPW International President 1996 – 1999.
Ann Swain (1991 -1993) continued the theme and cited Anne Widdicombe as her main parliamentary contact. Ann presided over the change to Company status moving away from the constitutional debates that threatened BPW’s progress. Ann said that her regime worked on pensions mostly but in other areas always building on what had gone before and not trying to reinvent the wheel.
Norma Huddy (1993 -1995) spoke about her role in getting the BPW Company started with Joan
Simpson as Company Secretary (using the strengths within BPW membership). Norma oversaw big
organisational changes by moving national conference from conference halls to hotels and
introduced coffee breaks to encourage member networking and companionship. One of the most
progressive changes Norma made was to remove the constant debate over affiliation fees. Norma’s
declared aim was to always build on previous work by taking it forward and she reiterated what Ann
Swain said about not trying to reinvent the wheel.
Janice Bancroft (1995-1997). told of the United Nations Conference in Beijing. BPW enjoyed category one consultative status with the UN and Janice attended with Sylvia Perry. The issues were the same as today with an agreed Platform for Action, and getting governments to honour promises. Now with Beijing +10 there is still not a lot to celebrate.
Joan Simpson (1999-2001) followed Pat Zadora who was not able to attend this year’s conference. She says that she will ever be remembered as ‘the President who sold Ansdell Street', the BPW Headquarters building. Everything had been rented before and so selling the property came after much heart searching. The financial situation was very critical at the time but the sale enabled BPW to go forward
The Past National Presidents received a standing ovation and members were inspired by their stories. It made them realise how far the organisation had come and how much had been achieved, is was a sobering thought that there is still more to do. Their dedication was awe inspiring and members thanked them most sincerely for that.
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The Green Agenda
The Future of the Planet is in our Hands |
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Jonathon Porritt, Co Founder and Programme Director of Forum for the Future gave us good news and bad.
The good news is that the environment now has a broader base of ‘goodies’ to
care for it. The moral high ground is shared by the Greens and Eco-warriors with business in all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately this is not reversing trends, climate change statistics are depressing and there is not sufficient improvement in social justice as it is the poor whose livelihoods are most affected.
So how do we get out of this downward spiral? There is room for manoeuvre with new products being invented and more of us being aware of our social and environmental responsibilities. Even ASDA, as part of Wallmart, after very bad press on labour exploitation and a general lack of concern for the rest of the world, is brushing up on its ethics. If we want to cut down on vegetable air miles and improve the lot of the poorer parts of the world – we have to get involved and make our voice heard.
Anuradha Vittachi, a Journalist from Sri Lanka, told us how she set up the Oneworld website with a partner. It has become a vast network and is a catalyst creating platforms around the world to enable people to exchange ideas and make changes to help their current situation.
The free exchange of information has allowed the people who should be benefiting from development funds to discover whether they have received and what they should have. In India official reports said bridges and schools had been built using development funds. However, local villagers knew they did not exist, so where had the money disappeared to? The information helped them to find out how much money had not received and a village movement started which grew to a state-wide movement and eventually to a national campaign to cut out the corruption.
Anuradha stressed that we have to change our way of life to ensure that the rest of the world gets a fair share. We have to show we care and push change forward through the power of numbers.
The web site is www.oneworld.net
Women & Water, Health & Hope
Jane Fide divides her time between being Lead CNS Breast Care in Gloucestershire and active at the ‘Hospice of Hope’ in Romania. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women with 35,000 being diagnosed in England and Wales in the year 2000.
Worldwide the incidence of the disease is growing and although the mortality rates are beginning to
fall in the UK other parts of the world are not so fortunate. The improvement is mainly due to screening and education, which are not yet universally available. Jane described how care available to women in this country is in marked contrast to the situation in Romania where the survival rate is only 60%.
Unlike women in the UK, Romanian women were rarely offered a prosthesis following a astectomy. Their missing breast was often replaced with a sock or piece of fabric and as a result they often had great difficulty in coming to terms with their altered body image. Therefore when an opportunity presented itself for Jane to help she did not hesitate and her first two weeks in Brasov were spent setting up a prosthetic clinic. Since then she has sent out many thousands of prostheses. Importantly she has also assisted in an education programme for doctors and nurses helping to spread good practice, although sadly the clinics are only available in the cities meaning that many women face a long journey to receive any treatment.
Lesha Witmer, Chair of the BPW International Task Force Women for Water, member of the Steering Committee ‘Women for Water’ and Chair of the Commission on Sustainable Development of the Netherlands Council of Women, spoke eloquently about the importance of water stressing that fresh water is one of the basic essentials of life. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations recognised its importance when he said ‘In this new century, water, its sanitation, and its equitable distribution, pose great social challenges for our world. We need to safeguard the global supply of healthy water and to ensure that everyone has access to it.’ Women play a very important role in ensuring that this is the case. BPW International members passed resolutions relating to water at the Congresses in both Melbourne and Lucerne which resulted in a task force being set up. As Chair of the Task Force Lesha works closely with the members of the Committee on the Environment and the Regional Coordinators. BPW International uses its influence through representation on other bodies such as UNICEF, World Health Organisation, the International Labour Organisation and UNESCO to help ensure that clean water is available for all.
Lesha vividly brought home the importance of saving water in our everyday lives.We were shocked to discover how much water is wasted by leaving the tap running while brushing our teeth or taking a shower which can use up to a gallon in less than twenty seconds. Simple measures to reduce water use can have a very beneficial effect. In concluding Lesha said 'We have to change our focus, take responsibility and act locally whilst joining forces globally'. Lesha’s presentation can be downloaded from the website: http://www.bpwnl.nl/water/arc/0604-bpwuk.pps
Europe – The Female Agenda
Baroness Royall, as Head of the European Commission Office in Wales from May 2003 to September 2004 and prior having worked for the European Commission in Brussels from 1995 has a deep understanding of how the European Union affects all our lives.
The European Union was formed in 1945 and has maintained constant ideals, with the result that the 450 million population of the 25 member states live in areas where democracy, the rule of law and human rights are fully respected. It has had a major impact on our lives in the areas of discrimination, environmental and consumer protection to name but a few.
It was with sadness that she spoke of the lack of understanding about what the European Union has delivered, particularly amongst women. It is vital that the EU shows that it is capable of meeting the needs of the populations in the member states if it is to thrive. To do this it must reconnect with women and men throughout the 25 states because at present it is often seen as being remote and out of touch, all too often there has been a gap between rhetoric and reality. The recent enlargement has reunited West and East and helped to support fragile democracies that had suffered under years of dictatorship. Several countries are waiting to satisfy the entry criteria and be allowed in, not least Romania, the subject of Jane Fide’s presentation on Friday.
Acknowledging that the UK has never really been comfortable with membership of the EU, Baroness Royall strongly believes that we are stronger if we work with our partners in the EU as ‘it is clear that the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts’.
Sue Webb, Annette Lawson’s alternate at NAWO for the European Women’s Lobby, European Director of Policy at the Community Development Foundation and Chair of Women Connect then talked to us about the European Women’s Lobby (EWL).
The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) was formed in 1990 and its membership consists of women’s organisations from the twenty five member states and seventeen European and International nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). This makes it the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the EU with contact with about four thousand women. BPW Europe is one of those organisations and is represented on the Board of Administration by Eufemia Ippolito of BPW Italy. The EWL’s core mission is:
- To work together to achieve equality between women and men;
- To promote the empowerment of all women;
- To combat all forms of violence against women and to ensure women’s human rights are taken into consideration in all EU policy.
The EWL has been involved with the EU Road Map for Gender Equality 2006 – 2010 producing a model for the official text of the Commission. The Road Map recognises that women continue to experience exclusion, injustice and systematic discrimination in many aspects of their lives. The EWL and EU share a common vision on equality:
- Recognises that gender inequalities persist: access to resources, rights and power are unequally distributed
- Unequal sharing of family responsibilities combined with unbalanced tax and benefit systems lead to women being disadvantaged;
- Gender equality is a necessary condition for the achievement of the EU objectives of growth, employment and social cohesion;
- Recognises the necessity of a dual approach: gender mainstreaming and specific measures.
Although the EWL and EU have common objectives the preferred methods of implementation do not always coincide. Violence against women (VAW) is an issue where the emphasis differs. The Commission proposes the establishment of a system for comparable statistics on crime, victims and criminal justice, support for member states and follow-up communication on trafficking. In contrast EWL proposes to identify the legal base to ensure that VAW can be addressed, to produce a Directive on VAW, to have a Europe wide action plan and monitoring centre, to address the demand side of the purchase of sexual services and to establish a support network of women’s organisations and NGOs.
EWL will monitor the implementation of the Road Map and continue to lobby to accelerate the rate of change. Sue concluded by talking about the Lisbon Strategy resulting from the recent European Spring Council where the EU Head of State and Government reaffirmed gender equality as a fundamental right and the European Social Model.
The reconnection and understanding between Europe and women had certainly been enhanced by both Sue Webb and Lady Royall.
The local region in focus
The Thursday evening at Conference has traditionally been a look at the local region hosting the event for that particular year. 2006 was no exception with a fascinating presentation from a local girl Clare Gerbrands – Made in Stroud
Early in their marriage Clare and her husband took three of their four children on the hippy trail around Southern Europe, busking around markets in Tuscany, living in a tipi in Southern Spain and
picking apples in France. Returning to England, and inspired by ideals such as the ‘slow food’movement in Tuscany, they organised a series of Made in Stroud craft markets in the town
centre and then in July 1999 ran the first farmers market in Gloucestershire.
Today Made in Stroud runs fourteen certified farmers markets every month, on five sites in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, with over 120 local businesses selling through the markets, from organic growers to livestock farmers, basket makers to potters.
The award winning markets have become a lifeline for the businesses involved and customers flock to the markets throughout the year to buy fresh, local produce. Local school children have been introduced to the markets through a series of projects designed and run by Made in Stroud. They have increased the weekly footfall in Stroud by over three and a half thousand and supported the local economy with a 30% increase in local trade. From the success of the markets have sprung the Made in Stroud Shop, a co-operative of local makers and now, more recently, Made in Gloucestershire, both town centre shop fronts for the cream of local arts and contemporary crafts.
Clare talked us through the process of starting the organisation, when her early vision and entrepreneurial enthusiasm was almost dashed by the insistence of local backers on ‘feasibility studies’ and business plans. However her persistence overcame the hurdles and supported by her local authority the vision became a reality. Her organisation has provided a great sustainable contribution to the local economy and as an extra incentive her presentation was followed by an opportunity to purchase tasty local goodies, as well as lovely local craftworks, including handmade bags, scarves, ceramics, jewellery and turned wooden artifacts.
Aided by her husband and youngest son Moses their stall was inundated by delegates eager to
spend money.
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BPW Europe XII Congress in Stockholm
Opening Ceremony
9 June 2006
Members and guests gathered in the Aula of the splendid Norra Latin for the opening ceremony of BPW Europe's XII Congress, with the equally impressive theme of ' Women Making a Difference - for Women and Men' . Gabriella Canonica, BPW International European Coordinator, welcomed members of the Swedish Royal Family, the authorities of the City of Stockholm, Ambassadors and Consuls, Chonchanok Viravan BPW International President and other BPW International Board Members, Presidents, members and guests.
The Congress marked the 25 th anniversary of BPW Europe's European Coordinating Committee and last year's 75 th anniversary of BPW International. In Gabriella Canonica's opening speech she spoke of 'what we can promote today, in the PRESENT with the knowledge of the past'. The power of the 75 years of BPW International has been built by small steps rather than big ones that end on nothing. We must learn from the past, but adapt to the present and be ready for the future. Gabriella's wish for that future is to 'Make our Members visible'. One of the main ways of making this happen is for members to enter their details on the Members Directory which is available on-line world wide. She encourages us all to take part by entering our business, professional or personal details. Describing the Congress as offering 'the best opportunity to plan new strategies and methods, project our aims and most importantly, to empower us to becoming a major player in the formation of the European culture where all citizens share equal opportunities and status' she declared it open.
Chonchanok Viravan (Nok) BPW International President picked up on the Congress's theme tying it into the current BPW International theme of ' New Dimensions of Leadership' . Nok also spoke of the achievements of women within BPW to help other women especially based on the 'Beyond 2000: Helping Women Help Themselves' initiative which has positively affected 45,000 women over the past decade. If women are to become leaders we need to demonstrate the benefit to businesses and society. Case studies help, but also there is a great need for the disaggregating of data on women and men. We need to prove that it is advantageous for women to be decision makers in all aspects of life.
Very appropriately the Swedish Secretary of State for Equality Lise Berg addressed the audience next. She spoke of women in the labour market and how this was perceived as a challenge for men but it should be looked on as a new opportunity for everybody. Sweden has a low birth rate so to encourage people to have children parental leave of thirteen months has been introduced split between the mother and father.
The Deputy Mayor of Stockholm then spoke rather appropriately after the last speaker before dashing off to pick up her children from school. Stockholm has its first female mayor and indeed all six parties are led by women. The Council itself is made up of 53 women and 48 men. The key word for the Council's work is 'equality' especially in the schools.
We were then treated to a wonderful musical interlude by an opera singer Catherine Setterberg and her accompanist Professor Matti Hirvonen.
Victoria Popescu, member of UN CEDAW committee and Ambassador for Romania to Sweden, spoke of the work of the committee and some of the current issues affecting women. CEDAW has been ratified by 183 of the Member States and the Optional Protocol by 78. There have therefore been great achievements, but there is still a long way to go. She highlighted a couple of areas that adversely affect women, pay and labour segregation, whilst stressing the importance of education and the media in changing attitudes.
The Captain of the victorious Swedish Women's 2006 Olympic Curling Team encouraged us to have courage to set ourselves goals, but it is important that you also enjoy what you are doing. In her professional life she is the Chief Notary of Nordea Bank and personally a mother, a good example of women being able to multitask.
We then heard from Solveig Staffas, President of BPW Sweden and Ulla-Liza Blom, Immediate Past President of BPW Sweden and Chair of the Host Planning Committee.
It was then time to catch up with old friends and make new ones at the President's Reception, after which the Presidents went to their dinner, Friends and Fellows on a boat trip, some went to the ballet at The Royal Opera, Young BPW to 'hit the town' and the rest of us had a leisurely evening to prepare for the Congress ahead.
The full text of the speeches by Gabriella Canonica and Chonchanok Viravan can be found on the website www.bpwuk.co.uk International Page.
Sue Brown
Immediate Past National President
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Women Making the Difference - for Women and Men
Workshop Report by Linda Poole, BPW Billericay
Linking with the BPW International theme ‘New Dimensions of Leadership’, the theme for this congress was ‘Women making the difference – for women and men’.
There were four sub-themes discussed in panel debates and in more detail in workshops.
These were
Women and leadership;
Women as community builders;
Women as inventors and
Women and the labour market.
I attended the workshops on Women as Inventors and Women as Community Builders.
Women as inventors
Annika Collen, inventor and entrepreneur, began with a description of her latest invention ‘Coolit’, a type of mini refrigerator which runs without electricity. We were also able to purchase another invention which is a plastic cap/top/lid for canned/tinned cold drinks so you do not have to waste your drink if you cannot finish it in one go.
Elna Holmberg, Volvo, gave a presentation on the Volvo ‘Your Concept Car’, designed by a team of women. There was also a chance to see an excellent video which showed the car to its full glory. Their remit is ‘If you meet the expectations of women, you exceed the expectations of men’.
The concept car features included:
• Parking – when you find a space you have a feature which tells you if the car will fit. If yes, you can park it yourself or press a switch and THE CAR PARKS ITSELF…
• Security and Comfort – when locked there are safety features which conceal some controls, but when you use your personally designed fob, the seat adjusts to your exact comfort requirements, whilst the steering wheel and other controls also format to your measurements. You can have more than one fob so others can drive it too
• Ease of access – two doors which open upwards but are designed not to take up more space than the conventional opening 4 door models
• Storage – lots of ideas including cinema/theatre like back seats giving you more storage space when you do not have passengers in the back
If there had been cars on show and for sale I think there would have been many takers!
Women as community builders
This was very useful as it was not only very interactive, but links with my work and we were able to exchange experiences and e-mails so we can keep in touch and possibly form a BPW European Focus Group.
Each participant gave a summary of what was happening in their country and we were able to compare, contrast and find some common issues to look at further. These included:
• Condition of Public Housing Stock – I gave an outline of our new legislation for the Decent Homes Standard and what we are doing in England to 2010. This linked with the Swedish approach for the £1million 10 year Strategy and cities in the skies
• Building Sustainable communities – What does this mean and how are residents being involved? Especially women having their say particularly in the planning process
• Anti-social behaviour including drug matters
I am looking forward to taking this work forward.
Linda Poole
BPW Billericay, LASE Region
