By Natalie Ratner, Ward Link Worker for NHP
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
This year the theme was Inspire Inclusion which got us thinking about how we can enable all women who live and work in North Halifax to feel more involved and included in our communities. After all, empowered women, empower women!
More than 20 women came along to celebrate the day together. We started with an inspiring workshop delivered by Anna Wilby around confidence and how women can be particularly affected by low confidence and the reasons why. This stimulated a whole group discussion around the way confidence affects our everyday lives and the pressure we feel as women. Anna gave us all some helpful ideas and resources so we can all feel more confident in every area of our lives.
Anna Wilby – Speaker at IWD Event
“I really enjoyed the event and was very pleased with how much everyone there contributed to the workshop on women’s confidence, it made it really interesting and fun! I think it’s very important that women get together to support each other and to feel more and more empowered to be themselves, protect their own boundaries and resist expectations that society has on what their role is and how they should act. This event helped to do that for those of us who were there – thank you!”
During the lovely afternoon tea buffet, we joined one another to discuss what we love about being women, what challenges women face, what our hopes are for women in the future and shared our ideas about what needs to happen and what is missing in our communities to support women.
Some of the things we said:
‘I love my capacity for kindness and love’
‘Women are empowering’
‘Being able to be so many different things’
‘It is challenging to be heard’
‘We’re expected to do everything, juggling family and work’
‘Society tells us how to be and act’
‘You feel like you can’t ever say no’
‘I hope women will stand up for themselves’
‘I hope one day women will be accepted on their ability, not just their looks’
‘I hope that women can be themselves and who they are with no judgement or expectation for them to be a certain way’
Here are the fantastic ideas we came up with:
•           Classes for interview and CV skills
•           More workshops / meetings where women can talk and support
•           Workshops on confidence, anxiety, and overcoming barriers
•           DIY workshops
•           Maternity empowerment workshops
•           Safe spaces, warm banks, support services for women and children
•           Events for fun, getting to know other local women
Our final speaker was Melanie Robinson a local resident who delivered a presentation about the history of women’s rights and IWD. Melanie is keen to see new groups to support women in the area.
Everybody left with a gift bag having enjoyed an uplifting and empowering afternoon and feeling more confident!
Here’s what we had to say about the event:
‘It was lovely to meet everyone and hear what they had to say. I’d love to do more workshops looking at women’s issues’
‘I’d like to see more women’s groups. It was helpful to find out how to be more confident’
‘It was a nice day, with lots of ideas plus it was nice to meet new people’
‘I met local women who are interested in improving socialisation in the area. We need more groups and activities’
‘I gained confidence from the event. I’d like to see more group settings for women’
‘I felt empowered by the event. I’d like to start women’s groups’
‘The event helped me to reflect on my life’
This has really helped bring into focus the need for more support and social groups for women locally. The Neighbourhoods Team are listening and keen to work with local women to make this a reality.
So over to you, what do you think we need in North Halifax to support and empower women? Please get in touch and let us know.
IWD may just be one day, but we think women deserve to feel confident, included, supported and celebrated every day of the year!
