Our Annual General Meeting for 2017 was held once again in the magnificent Pavilion Suite in PricewaterhouseCooper’s office in More London.  Our thanks go to Emma Whalley Hands for arranging the meeting room for us.

After the business of the meeting had been concluded AGM Chairman Lady Appleyard paid tribute to retiring Trustee, Karen Goldie Morrison.  Karen has served as a Trustee on Futures for Women for 7 years and during that time has worked with two Secretaries to improve administrative efficiency of the charity, arranged complimentary meeting space and donated office equipment.

Following her retirement Karen will remain a member of Futures for Women but will be spending more time with her new grand-daughter.

International Women’s Day – an annual world-wide event to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women – takes place on 8 March.

This year the campaign theme is #BeBoldForChange – to help forge a better working world.

The work of Futures for Women – giving interest-free loans to women to help with the costs of further education and training – could not be more relevant to this year’s campaign.   After graduating from a wide range of post-graduate degrees and other types of training our grantees go on to forge successful careers in sectors such as medicine, architecture, journalism, environmental protection and law.  But we are oversubscribed with applications and can only assist 10% of the women that approach us for a loan.

Please consider supporting this year’s  campaign by making a pledge to #BeBoldForChange

And please consider supporting the work of Futures for Women.

In 2017 International Women’s Day is being held on 8 March.  This is world-wide day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women.

As part of the 2017 campaign people are being asked to make a pledge for parity.    As a charity that supports the further education of women via interest-free loans Futures for Women is delighted make a pledge to help women and girls achieve their ambitions.

Please consider making your own pledge via the link below and help women all around the world to achieve parity.

Futures for Women is a charity that encourages the further education of all women in order to improve their career prospects and allow them to become financially independent.  We were therefore pleased to hear from an inmate at HMP Bronzefield that a new library is being established at the prison which will give the female prisoners the opportunity of borrowing books that will increase their knowledge of the law and other areas of education.   The prison has been given a small budget for the establishment of the library and is also being supported by local companies who have donated shelving, lockable cabinets and educational books.    But more support is required.  Do you have any law books or educational books in subjects fields within the national curriculum that you could donate to the library?   The inmates involved with the project are working hard to source books, establish library book processing systems and stock the shelves so that the women in the prison can access educational resources that will improve their knowledge and allow them to self-educate and hopefully open up a new life after release.

If you are able to help with the establishment of the library please send your books to:

Caroline Alford, Head of Education, HMP Bronzefield, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, TW15 3JZ

Thank you.

We were delighted to hear that ex-Futures for Women grantee Zoe Hooton has been made a director of Harrison Pitt Architects in Lancaster, which she joined in 2012.

Originally from the Lancaster area, Zoe studied at Newcastle University and Kingston University in London.  After having worked on a number of projects in London Zoe returned to Lancaster to work with Harrison Pitt Architects once she had qualified as an architect.

Zoe said: “I’m really proud of this achievement.  Qualifying as an architect was a special experience and now to be invited to become a director of this practice is an exciting opportunity.  We’ve worked on some great projects together here and I’m looking forward to many more.”

Whilst at the firm Zoe has worked on projects as diverse as the restoration of the Grade-1-listed St Peter’s Church in Heysham to the new multi-million-pound advanced manufacturing technology centre at Furness College.  She is currently working on a major project for a luxury hotel extension in the Lake District, due to open in 2017.

Zoe is also a member of the Lancaster and Westmorland Society of Architects and is currently working towards an MA in historic building conservation.

Congratulations Zoe on this fantastic achievement!

Futures for Women Trustee Amy McVittie (left in the photo) completed her half iron man triathlon in Arizona on Sunday 16 October clocking up a fantastic time of 7 hours 24 minutes – beating her target time by 6 minutes!  The distances were a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile cycle ride and a 13.1 mile run – double the length of the Olympic triathlon.  We would like to offer our congratulations to Amy and wish her a well-deserved rest by the pool.  And thank you Amy for selecting Futures for Women as one of the charities to benefit from your fundraising – MacMillan Cancer Support is the second charity.  You can make a donation on Amy’s Virgin Giving page.

With the help of an interest-free loan Mary Anne was able to train as a music therapist.  Now working in her desired career she has recently established a choir for people with lung disease.  Singing has proved to be very beneficial for people with breathing problems and also provides a sense of camaraderie between the participants.  You can read all about one of the singers here, and also hear the choir in action!

Thank you for getting in touch Mary Anne – it is great to hear from ex-grantees who are now contributing so positively to society.

On Sunday 16 October Futures for Women Trustee, Amy McVittie, will be taking part in her first Half Ironman distance triathlon in Phoenix, Arizona.  That’s a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile cycle and then a 13.1 mile run!  Amy hopes to finish in about 7.5 hours.  Having taken part in a number of shorter distance triathlons, this is a big step up for Amy and is double the Olympic distance!

To help motivate herself Amy has decided to raise money for two charities, Futures for Women and Macmillan Cancer Support.

To donate towards these two excellent causes and help Amy along her long journey please visit her Virgin Giving fundraising page.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=AmyMcVittie

Good luck Amy and thank you for your support – we are totally in awe of you!

At our 2016 AGM Trustee Amy McVittie made a presentation on statistics relating to Futures for Women grantees.  Did you know that:

• only 9% of our applicants are successful in securing a loan
• 56% of our grantees are under 25 years, and 11% are over 45 years
• 10% of our grantees have dependents
• 38% of our grantees are studying for a Masters, but we also fund other types of study
• 94% of our grantees are studying full-time
• 32% of our grantees are studying to be either a doctor or a vet, whilst other grantees want to work in law, the environment or the arts
• 29% of our grantees repay their loan in one instalment, and the average time taken to repay the loan is 15 months?

But the one thing that all our grantees have in common is that they are determined to carve out a successful career, become financially independent and make a positive contribution to society.