Support Bristol mum Della in her fundraising bid to help six year old Oskar walk ….

A mum and businesswoman, Della Hudson, is sponsoring a celebrity football match to help raise funds for surgery so a young boy she knows – Oskar – who has severe cerebral palsy may walk.

Della, 46, will sponsor the football kits (see the natty pink footie kits in the pic above showing Della and the team) when ex Bristol City, Rovers and celebrities join forces to play in aid of six-year-old Oskar Pycroft (featured below).

The football legends, mixed with TV chefs and sporting names, will take on a team of donators in a bid to raise £50,000 needed for a private operation. Mum-of-two Della, who runs Hudson Accountants, said: Oskar’s story really moved me and I wanted to do something to help.

“This surgery could help Oskar walk and improve his quality of life. As a mum, I know I would do whatever I could to help my child.”

The move comes after lifelong City supporter Ross Simmons (below with Della) was inspired by Oskar to organise the match. And Ross, 31, who has already personally raised £1,500 for the cause, has been delighted with the response.

The DJ from Emersons Greens said:

“It’s great to see a local firm like Hudson Accountants getting involved in such a fantastic event. It will help raise much-needed funds and awareness to run the event.”

A surgery called Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) is Oskar’s only chance to walk. It would also reduce the pain and spasticity in his legs. It is available on the NHS in Bristol, but consultants have said Oskar doesn’t meet their strict criteria – and going private costs £50,000.

The local celebrities are expected to include TV weatherman Alex Beresford, This Morning chef Dean Edwards, Somerset cricketer Peter Trego, boxer Danny Butler, Bristol rugby player Sean Marsden, Cockneys vs Zombies actor Ashley Thomas and X Factor boyband Overload.

Bristol City fan Della, who has played for ladies’ football teams, added: “I love football but I think it sometimes has a bad name. I think this match will show how it can bring people together in aid of a good cause. “It also promises to be a special day for Oskar and he will be the centre of attention.”

To date, over £30,000 has been raised for Oskar, who also has gastric reflux, asthma, occasional fits and also shows signs of autism.

Della, whose firm sponsored a charity match with Scott Murray’s All-Stars at Manor Farm last summer, hopes to auction the kits after the match and raise more funds for the cause.

And Ross is also taking part in a Zero to Hero boxing match, which involves an intense ten-week programme that culminates in a boxing bout in front of more than 1,000 spectators. It is set to take place at Bath University this summer.

The match will take place at Bristol Manor Farm’s Ground on Sunday, February 8. The kick off will be at 3pm and tickets are £3 on the gate.

For more information, call Ross on 079444 045 49 or email ross_simmons@hotmail.com

To make a donation, visit https://www.justgiving.com/ross-simmons/
All photography by Flynn Guard

Going Digital in 2015! Your story contributions required …. !

Yes, you heard it right! This year it’s all change at Bristol Woman and exciting times!

After a lot of thought we have decided that the most engaging and contemporary way of getting our Bristol Woman stories and messages out is by going digital. We will still be covering women’s stories and providing updates on key topics relevant to women in Bristol and beyond. The only difference is that we will be putting these online which will mean we can reach our Bristol Woman audience quicker, faster and in a more relevant way. And do to that we need YOU! Send us in your ideas for stories and topics, your own stories, poems, cartoons, photography. Our core areas of topic coverage, as with our earlier printed magazines, will continue to cover Equality, Business & Leadership, Motherhood and general Lifestyle subjects. If you want to contribute or have some ideas – they don’t need to be limited to our core topic areas – just get in touch with Bristol Woman by emailing editor@bristolwoman.org.uk.

In terms of our plans for a print version of Bristol Woman magazine, we have come up with a plan. We are going to produce one bumper issue of Bristol Woman each November (which marks our birthday – November 2015 is our 2nd birthday). This will be launched on the 25th November – the International Day for the Elimination of Violence – which is also the first day of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence international campaign.

You may also have read that we are considering the possibility of a Bristol Woman magazine app. Watch this space for further updates!

In the meantime, PLEASE send us your story ideas and your stories. All ideas and stories welcome. If you are a photographer, film-maker, illustrator or cartoonist, please also get in touch. We would love to talk to you!

Onwards and upwards! Please help us get Bristol Woman to go digital big time in 2015! Your stories and ideas are what we need! Get in touch! And many thanks for being a Bristol Woman supporter. Cezara, Sian and I really appreciate your stories, engagement, support and ideas.

The Bristol Woman team can’t wait to hear from you! Let us have your stories and ideas!

Bernie Ritchie, Editor-in-Chief, Bristol Woman (2015)

Advancing the cause of women at Davos – A quick roundup of WEF 2015

So …. There may only have a been a staggeringly under-representative 17% of women present at Davos 2015 last week, but they certainly made their presence felt across the four days of the World Economic Forum. Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief of news website the Huffington Post proved a veritable tour de force and a prolific tweeter and Facebook poster direct from the Microsoft-HuffPost Café at Davos. When she wasn’t interviewing the likes of Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg at Davos for HuffPost Live, she was hosting and taking part on a variety of panel discussions and attending numerous events and dinners. Many women (and men) were also seen brandishing their newly acquired copy of Huffington’s latest book – Thrive – and espousing the book’s values of sleep and mindfulness.

Inspiring Women

Amanda Kerin talks about changing the mindset when runnign a business

Creativity comes out of pain – for me at least. I’ve figured this out now I’m 37.

I’ve had two life changing experiences up until now. I was 24 when the police knocked on my halls of residents door and told me my mum had died. Life has not been the same since. At 36, I hit burnout and I wasn’t able to physically move one morning as my body was a dead weight. I wouldn’t wish either of these experiences on my worst enemy, but without question, it has shaped who I am today, and created the work I produce for my business.

I have more strength and courage to take risks than ever before, and that’s because I know first hand, that life can be taken away from you in a heartbeat, and that is painful. So we really do have to live it purposefully.

The working culture in 21st century isn’t healthy for us humans, yet we’re the ones that have created it. We are constantly on high alert with various channels competing for our time. Employers want their pound of flesh, and we do what it takes, as there are plenty of younger, harder working, talented, and cheaper resources on your heels wanting that job.

Top earners

Top business schools produce top earners – if they are men.

Yesterday, we all heard about the new statistics published by free salary benchmarking service Emolument Alumni on the average salaries of graduates from different universities. The top 20 universities, and the average salaries of graduates within five years of leaving, are listed below.

The question we are most interested in is – what does the pay gap look like for these graduates. Emolument Alumni promised to come back to us with more detailed information, but in the meantime we found out that graduates from Imperial College have a huge gender gap – Men £53,000, Women £40,000.

This comes as no big surprise, as last year’s Fawcett Gender pay Gap Briefing “THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW”. According to the briefing, in 2013 the gender pay gap widened. A woman working full-time now earns, on average, £5,000 less a year than a man. In the case of Imperial College London graduates – that is £13,000 less a year.

8 MUST-DO MONEY SAVERS to SAVE you THOUSANDS

by Sarah Willingham, Founder of www.LetsSaveMoney.com   

1. Remortgage

Getting a better mortgage deal is probably the longest job but also the place where you can save the most for your family.  Before mortgage rates start slowing edging up, remortgage and get yourself on a low interest rate.  No matter how much equity you have in your home, there WILL be better deals out there, especially if you are coasting along on your lender’s Standard Variable Rate.  It just takes one quick phone call to a fee free broker like London & Country to start the ball rolling (0800 9530591).  Recent figures from London and Country said that a home owner with £300,000 of debt can reduce monthly payments by nearly £700 by switching to a 2 year fixed rate deal rather than staying on an SVR.

2. Be credit card savvy

The BIGGEST waste of money is paying unnecessary interest on your debts, especially store cards.  Almost half of credit card holders don’t pay off their balance in full each month, which is fine but ONLY if you are not being charged interest.  In fact the UK wastes more than £2 billion a year in credit card interest payments!  We like Barclaycard who have a massive 34 month interest free period along with Halifax who have 32 months.  If you do need a credit card then make sure that you have one that works harder for YOU!  If you buy a lot of petrol, the Santander 123 credit card will give you cashback on fuel and if you like holidays, try a Virgin Atlantic Visa or a British Airways AMEX to earn Avios points.  There are LOADS of ways to earn rewards as long as you are disciplined enough to pay off your balance in full every month.

Life as a child bride

Day three of our #16Days of blog posts to raise awareness, show support and campaign against #violenceagainstwomen and we bring you a moving piece on the stark reality of life as a child bride. Child marriage is a stark reality that 15 million girls face across the world every year – that’s approximately 41,000 girls per day, 28 girls every minute or 1 girl every 2 seconds. It’s not something that happens someplace far far away, but still exists within our society. It is the individual voices who courageously share with us all this year their story, so that they can help change the social norms that enable forced marriage to continue. Do your part to help spread the message and fight to #endchildmarriage this November. #riseupbristol 

I vaguely remember my childhood. I was born in Wales and grew up in Grafton Road, Newport, South Wales. I was called Muna, the youngest of four sisters. Our father Ali was Arabic Yemeni and my mother Mary was British. What I can remember of my childhood was happy.

Our Autumn Issue is out and available

Our Autumn edition of the magazine launched yesterday, and will be available at GP surgeries, libraries, cafes and public buildings across the city over the next few weeks! You will also be able to download a copy onto your iPad or Kindle for digital viewing starting with the 30th of November! Stay tuned for more information.

Beyond outreach: a tough and uncertain world

In our final #GEW14 blog of the week, we leave you with Catherine Dunford, examines what the future holds for women in STEM.

STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – are widely recognised as being strategically important to our technology-based society and yet women remain under-represented in all areas of the sciences, which lie behind and drive those technologies.

We cannot doubt the efforts made to encourage girls into STEM subjects. Forum after forum, debates, discussion panels, symposia, seminars and webinars have discussed the need to get more women into these vital areas beyond the classroom. STEM professionals involved in outreach – both men and women – are some of the most passionate people out there and they do a successful job of translating their passion into inspiring our young STEM leaders of the future. They work tirelessly to bring science to life – putting it in context, and making it attractive to young people generally as well as those in under-represented groups. And not without reward: the good news is that in some areas, girls are taking up STEM subjects at school and university at approximately the same, if not greater rates, than boys. In some subjects, women outnumber men in higher education courses, but at the most senior levels of academia and industry this trend begins to reverse. Why? Where are the women? Many promising students and competent colleagues leave science; some of the brightest and most capable walk away from jobs in subjects they truly love taking with them years of investment in education and priceless experience. So where are we going wrong?

Bristol Women unlocking their enterprise potential ….

In Thursday’s #GEW14 blog, Outset Bristol’s enterprise coach, Amy Morse, one of today’s guest speakers, talks entrepreneurialism and how women in Bristol can get involved.

Have you ever dreamed of being your own boss?  With over 99% of businesses in the UK being small and medium sized enterprises [SMEs], you’re not alone!

Many more people work for small businesses than large ones and many of those small businesses are micro businesses (businesses employing less that 5 people), with 62.6% being sole traders. So, in other words, at least 62.6% of small businesses are run by someone who is self employed.