June 23, 2020

FfW celebrates Women in Engineering Day

On 23 June 2020, Futures for Women are proudly celebrating Women in Engineering Day. This day is special to us. Women in engineering have and continue to define and shape society as we know it today. Let’s consider, for instance, the role of engineering in infrastructure. Infrastructure attracts significant investment from the UK government to fuel the economy. According to the National Infrastructure Delivery Plan 2016 – 2021, energy and transport infrastructure will amount to £117.4 and £88.4 billion respectively during this period. The scale of the investment importantly reflects the scale of the infrastructure projects, their duration and complexity. In these roles, engineers not only address the technical tasks, but also inform governance, engage with communities and key stakeholders, set priorities and lead teams. Women are key to each of these types of roles within engineering. However, according to the Women in Engineering Society (WES), women in engineering amount to only 12% of the engineering workforce. This means that there is much more scope for women to support the delivery of infrastructure, which can ultimately help to secure and multiply the outputs and outcomes of government’s investment. With more women in the field, the UK can better accelerate the delivery of infrastructure, from new power stations to high speed rail, whilst ensuring that growth is holistic and addresses the needs of the workforce and communities it serves.

FfW’s charitable purpose is to support women with the costs of professional and vocational training, and our trustees will shortly be considering making more grants to support those working in engineering and technology.

Photo: Unsplash/ThisisEngineering

July 25, 2019

Futures for Women welcomes a new Chair

Futures for Women welcomed a new Chair of Trustees in June 2019 when Rosie Parr took over the position from Joanna Murray.

Rosie, who runs her own law firm that specialises in advising charities, has been a Trustee for 9 years.   Commenting on her appointment Rosie said:

“This year marks the 160th anniversary of the foundation of our charity and I am very proud to become its Chair at this exciting time in our history when we have adopted a new strategy to support the education and training of women. Our grant to The Sharan Project in March, to fund its two-year programme in Birmingham to support women from South Asian communities into work, is our first step in partnering with other women’s organisations, and our grants will continue the mission of our founder Jessie Boucherett to help women into employment so that they can achieve economic independence. I look forward to developing our project programmes with my co-trustees during my tenure as Chair, to help disadvantaged women in our society to find the rewarding and fulfilling employment which is so vital to the security and well-being of them and their families”.

Joanna Murray has assumed the role of Vice-Chair after 4 years in the role of  Chair.

November 16, 2018

Futures for Women Trustees review expressions of interest in working with us

Following our strategic review, held in the first half of 2018, Futures for Women Trustees decided to cease the awarding of interest-free loans and seek to work with a partner organisation to support disadvantaged women into the workplace.  A request for expressions of interest from charities who wanted to work with us in this regard was advertised and several charities responded.  The Trustees are now reviewing the expressions of interest received and will be undertaking a short-listing and due diligence exercise over the next few months.  It is expected that we will announce our new charity partner in March 2019.

 

September 25, 2018

Are you a charity that helps women in to the workplace?

Futures for Women is looking to change direction in how it helps disadvantaged women in the UK attain their career ambitions and become financially independent.   Established in 1859, we have a long history of supporting women into employment. We are now seeking to part-fund a project led by a partner organisation and have up to £30,000 available over two years (2019/20 and 2020/21).  The project should help disadvantaged women gain paid employment and we are flexible as to how this support is offered, the location and the type of employment attained.

Expressions of interest in working with us are invited from UK registered charities, with details of the proposed project, including target beneficiaries, set out in no more than 500 words. In addition an outline budget should be provided.  Please send expressions of interest to our Secretary, Jane Hampson, on futuresforwomen@btinternet.com by 9 November 2018.

If you have any queries about our new direction please contact Jane Hampson by email.

June 22, 2017

Grantees awarded loans in June 2017

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.

May 12, 2016

Radio drama about Jessie Boucherett is available on BBC iPlayer

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.

 

 

November 26, 2015

Radio Lincolnshire play highlights the work of Jessie Boucherett

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.

 

 

 

 

August 12, 2014

FfW grantee is short-listed for a design award

After graduating from her MA in Womenswear from the Royal College of Art FfW grantee, Camilla, was selected as one of eight finalists of the H & M Design Awards and was flown to Stockholm for an exhibition and catwalk show.    At the show Camilla’s knitwear was judged by fashion and celebrity judges including actress Michelle Dockery from “Downton Abbey” and two fashion editors from “Vogue”.   Camilla’s collection takes inspiration from the dystopian vision of the future found in the 1988 movie They Live, resulting in graphic metallic knits matched with fuzzy knits inspired by white noise.
Camilla is now working as a Design Assistant for a knitwear supplier who supplies high street stores such as Monsoon, Top Shop and Dorothy Perkins.
camilla1 camilla2
July 3, 2014

Annual General Meeting for 2014

Our 2014 AGM was held on 11 June when over 30 Trustees and members met at ING Banking in London who, once again, provided complimentary meeting space and refreshments as part of their support for the work of FfW.

Following the formal meeting we welcomed  three speakers.    Firstly Dr Pam Hirsch, who is a Lecturer in English Literature; and Film History & Theory at the University of Cambridge and member of FfW, gave everyone an update on being interviewed for the BBC2 programme “Shopgirls – the true story behind the counter”.  Dr Hirsch was featured on the programme on 24 June 2014.    Members were informed how, in 1862, FfW founder Jessie Boucherett argued that there were far too many governesses and dressmakers and women should consider other areas of employment, such as saleswomen in shops.   However, there were many objections to the employment of women in retail, including the belief that they would not be able to stand for the required number of hours and that ladies disliked being waited on by ladies!  But Jessie Bourcherett believed that the main obstacle to the employment of women in shops was their ignorance of accounts, as in many schools girls were not offered the opportunity to study arithmetic.   There was also a lack of public conveniences for women which impacted on their ability to become independent from the home.  Jessie established the Society for the Promotion of Employment for Women (now Futures for Women) and was one of the pioneers of the women’s movement in the nineteenth century.

The second presentation was from Victoria Lenzoi Lee, an ex-grantee of FfW who is now employed as a Design Adviser by the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment at the Design Council.    Victoria told members how she helps to ensure that sustainable communities are created through good design practice via collaboration with key stakeholders.  Victoria’s role is particularly crucial in light of recent plans for growth, such as London’s 2020 vision.

Finally current grantee Sarah Rhodes, who is studying for a practice-based PhD, brought along some of her hand-made silver jewellery that is inspired by the African culture.  Members heard about how Sarah is working with communities in Africa to ensure that there is true collaboration between all parties involved in the process.

Everyone present agreed that the diverse presentations had all been fascinating and the three speakers were thanked for sparing the time to join the meeting.