It was with great sadness that we learned that Elspeth Richards, Futures for Women Trustee and former Chair, had passed away at her home on Monday 7 August.

Elspeth became a Trustee of FfW in 2005 and held the position of Chair between 2011 and 2014.   Whilst in the position of Chair she worked closely with our current Secretary, Jane, during her induction period.  Elspeth also organised our 2013 fundraising literary lunch in Bruton where Award-winning Biographer, Critic, Broadcaster and Novelist Victoria Glendinning came along to deliver her talk “On Women and a Few Men”.

Elspeth spent her childhood on a hill farm in rural Wales. This gave her a life-long love of the countryside. At 18 she went to study drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.  After graduating she taught English and Drama in a range of secondary schools in both the state and independent sector in London and the West Country.

Much of her more recent work was with newly qualified teachers who frequently develop voice problems early in their careers. Elspeth helped professional voice users with presentation and vocal skills. She was also a Diocesan Voice Consultant and ran voice workshops for newly ordained clergy, an increasing number of whom are now women.

As the mother of two daughters, Elspeth believed that educated and qualified women are valued in the work place, in the community, and that they are a powerful influence in their families.   She therefore became interested in the work of FfW precisely because we help women to fulfil their ambitions by completing their courses and becoming self-supporting.  In this regard Elspeth took a special interest in selecting our candidates for interview and was a member of our short-listing panel.  Her contributions to our discussions were always informed, perceptive and constructive. Elspeth also secured, through her son Simon, the invaluable support of ING in making rooms and refreshments available for our meetings in London.

Elspeth’s input to our Trustee meetings will be missed greatly. Our thoughts are with Elspeth’s husband Dan, and their family and friends, as they adjust to life without her.

Our Trustees’ report and accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 are now available for download.

SignedAccounts2016

Former Futures for Women Trustee and Chairman, Dr Carolyn Boulter, has made history by becoming the first female Master of the Clothworkers’ Company.  Carolyn is the 498^th Master of the Clothworkers’ Company and was elected at a ceremony in London on 7 June 2017.  She will take the oath and be installed on 19^th July and will serve for one year.

Founded by Royal Charter in 1528, the original purpose of The Clothworkers’ Company was to protect its members and promote the craft of cloth-finishing within the City of London.  The Company’s role today is essentially philanthropic and the Clothworkers’ Foundation makes annual grants of £5 million per year.

Dr Carolyn Boulter served as a Trustee of Futures for Women for 35 years and held the position of Chairman of the Board for several years during her tenure.   She was instrumental in introducing new, more efficient, administrative processes for the charity and also instigated the annual Development Day meeting which gives Trustees an opportunity to discuss a specific issue.  Our lunch at Englefield House in March 2015 was masterminded by Carolyn who worked tirelessly to promote the event to her contacts in her local community.

Commenting on her appointment as Master of the Clothworkers’ Company Carolyn said: “Clothworker blood flows in my veins and I am honoured and delighted to carry on the family tradition of service to the Company as a scientist, educationalist and especially as a woman”.

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.