We have just held our June set of interviews and awarded loans to five inspirational women.

The first is undertaking an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Oxford, as a foundation for her planned career as a criminal Barrister.

Our second grantee is a former professional actress who is now undertaking a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling.

We also awarded a loan to a student of Contemporary Crafts who will shortly be moving to Edinburgh College of Art to take up her place on an MA Glass degree.

Our fourth grantee is working as a Research Scientist in planetary physics but is due to return to university to study an MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering in order to pursue a career in the renewable energy industry.

Finally we met a musician studying a DPhil in Music at the University of Oxford where she is researching how contemporary opera is being shaped by digitization.

Yet again Trustees were delighted to be able to assist such dedicated and hard-working women attain their chosen career.

A fantastic radio drama about our founder, Jessie Boucherett, that was first broadcast by BBC Radio Lincolnshire at the end of 2015, is now available on the BBC website

The play is called “The Forgotten Suffragette” and was produced by Proto-type, alongside the University of Lincoln, supported by Arts Council England.   As Jessie was born and lived in Lincolnshire the University was keen to highlight the important work of a daughter of the county and bring knowledge of her important work to a wider audience.  If you have a spare hour please listen to the drama – we are sure you will enjoy it and be fascinated to hear more about the work and life of a remarkable lady.

A radio play that features the work of our founder, Jessie Boucherett, is being serialised on Radio Lincolnshire during the week commencing Monday 23 November, with the full play being aired on the Friday of that week.  Afterwards the recording will be available on BBC iPlayer.

“The Forgotten Suffragette” has been produced by Proto-type, supported by Arts Council England, who worked alongside University of Lincoln and the BBC in creating a radio drama concerned with women’s rights, with a specific focus on access to education, employment and the right to vote.   They were particularly interested in telling the story of Emelia Jessie Boucherett as the company is based in Jessie’s home county of Lincolnshire and they were keen to highlight the important work of a daughter of the county and bring knowledge of her important work to a wider audience.   The piece forms one strand of a broader body of artistic work concerning human rights, citizenship, state power and individual action that the company is currently engaged with.

At our 2014 AGM on 11 June the Trustees and members present said farewell to Gillis Burgess, who has been a Trustee of Futures for Women (and SPTW) for forty-one years and is also an ex-Chair of the Board.  Gillis has decided that now is the time to retire from active duty although she remains a member of the Society and will continue to be a supporter of our work.

After announcing Gillis’ decision to retire from the Board Chair Elspeth Richards gave a vote of thanks to Gillis for her fantastic devotion to the work of FfW.  Elspeth Richards said “I first met Gillis in the early nineties. She was chairing a meeting of Trustees. I was impressed by her clear thinking, plain speaking, excellent diction, and her air of authority. This was a charity I felt was well managed and I wanted to join it.

“Gillis became a Trustee in 1973, vice-chair in 1989 and chair in 1993. She was a real asset to SPTW as we were then. She brought considerable administrative experience from her work with the PCAC. Her knowledge of the antiquarian book trade proved invaluable when it came to reorganising our archives. Because of her work our charity was able to hold Trustee meetings at the offices. Anyone who has tried to hire a meeting room in London will know what a benefit that was to our funds.

“Our charity, founded in 1859, has a rich historical archive. When Mrs Golding, Secretary for 50 years died it was Gillis who organised the removal of the files and records from Mrs Golding’s home to the offices of PCAC thus preserving our archives. These documents are now held at Girton College, Cambridge, where they are often consulted by students and historians as they contain fascinating details of women in the workplace from Victorian times onwards. Gillis organised a bursary for a research student to examine the archives. That student, Dr Anne Bridger, is here today and she with Ellen Jordan, co-wrote our history ‘Timely Assistance.’ And what a benefit that has been for us and for many students.

“We thank you, Gillis, for forty-one years of commitment to Futures for Women as Trustee and Chair. We will miss your wise counsel in Board meetings your knowledge of our history and you sense of humour. Your attention to detail is meticulous you quickly spot our misspellings and grammatical errors. Your dedication to our charity has not only helped countless grantees, but in it you have furthered the cause of women”

Following the Chair’s vote of thanks to Gillis all members present shared a cup of tea and farewell cake.

The first few months of 2014 have been a busy period for Futures for Women.  You can read all about an exciting forthcoming BBC programme featuring our founder, Jessie Boucherett, and the current activities of ex-grantees in our latest newsletter.

FfW Newsletter Spring 2014

Our Trustees were once again impressed with the quality of potential grantees short-listed for interview on 18 March 2014.  Firstly we met a jewelry designer who is in the final year of her practice-based PhD and saw some examples of her African-inspired work.  We then heard from a young woman who will be studying an MA in Critical Theory at the University of Sussex.   The candidate who will be studying Russian at the University of Oxford gave us some background information on the current situation in Crimea and finally we met a woman whose career ambition is to work for the United Nations on international development issues.

On 14 January 2014 the Society for Promoting the Training of Women officially changed its registered name to Futures for Women following acceptance of a members’ resolution proposing the new name.  We will continue to use the name Futures for Women – the work of SPTW on all stationery to acknowledge the history of the charity.

Futures for Women has been used as a working name for 6 months and was widely accepted by our supporters and members alike.

The name change was proposed by a strategy group to better reflect the work of our charity today.