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.

Paulina Gillespie: everybody wants you to succeed!

Bristol Woman team talks to the woman who has been waking up Bristol and the South West every week day morning for the past 14 years.

In my early days, I spent 10 years in America but after that I got really homesick and wanted to see my family. I then joined my husband in Bulgaria. This was 24 years ago, and it felt slightly odd going from the glamour of the US to the realities of post-Socialist life in Bulgaria! I had always loved Bristol and I kept coming back time and again! My family is from Bath, but I prefer Bristol because I feel I can be more anonymous.

So what is life like for me as a public figure and local celebrity in the South West area? Well, I have 3 daughters – one works with me at Heart, one works for an estate agent, and one has just gone to university this year – so this is going to be a time of transition. It’s going to be just me, the dogs and my husband. It’s great to have the dogs jump with joy and greet me when I come home. My working life can get quite manic! I get up about 3:30am every morning, and I leave the house around 5am. As soon as I get to work, it is full on straight away … what are the latest news items, how’s the traffic, how is weather, who is going to say what on our breakfast programme and so on! If I want to go to the loo, I get a minute to do that. So you can see that by having a chance to walk my dogs in the fields after work, I get that essential quiet time for me, the bit of time that returns me to myself. Being close to nature is amazing. I also have some chickens in the back garden – and I love it!

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.

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.

#GEW : Skating to Success

Happy Women’s Entrepreneurship Day!#WomenseDay #WED ! In today’s blog post, we show how one female entrepreneur has brought Bristol quite literally a breath of fresh air! Bristol born and bred, Sharon, explores with us her passion, energy and enthusiasm for skating as well as her mantra for a successful business.

 

My parent emigrated here from Jamaica in the 1950’s. I was born in Bristol in the 1960s and grew up in Easton, then Eastville as the youngest of 3 children. We were one of only two families of colour that lived on our street at this time. On the weekend, I would roller-skate into Easton to the local roller-disco at the sports centre.

During primary school, I participated in St Pauls Festival, sat on one of the floats during the procession with my friends, waving at the crowds.  We loved every minute of it! Attending this festival is ingrained in me – I am so proud to have seen the carnival grow and evolve over the years.

#GEW : In the Business of Building a Better Life ….

In this article, straight-talking speaker, author, business growth specialist and former engineering officer in the RAF, Katie Diacon, gives us hot tips on how to give your business a real boost! If you’re thinking of starting up a small business, then read on. It could be the first important step you take on your pathway to business success!

Starting out in business can be one of the most daunting experiences of your life.  It can also be one of the most liberating of experiences.  It really doesn’t matter if you don’t yet know quite what you will do. All you need is a strong belief that you CAN do it!

Campaign group lobbies politicians to support women in business

Words by Angela Brennan

Yvonne Bignall, founder of Launching Women in Business (LWIB)

A CAMPAIGN group has released a manifesto calling for greater support of women in business.

Yvonne Bignall and Helen Farmer, who work with businesswomen across Bristol, have also lobbied politicians to take action.

They are part of Prowess Connect, an organisation pushing to get women a better deal in business, which has highlighted five key points to be put on the agenda ahead of the General Election next year.

The team believe women in business could be more successful if politicians addressed the following areas: leadership, skills, childcare, social security and investment and funding.

Helen, founder of VoicebyVolume in Stoke Gifford, set up her own business after she was made redundant last year.

The mum of two said: “I know first-hand the challenges and opportunities of running my own business.

 “I believe we need action on many levels – from government improvements to more local support. It’s important to help women help themselves and other self-employed people with similar challenges.”

Yvonne Bignall, holding a manifesto for greater support of women in business.

Single mum Yvonne Bignall, who set up Launching Women In Business (LWIB) two years ago, said: “The main challenges women face in business are confidence in their abilities, financing and childcare.

“I am backing this manifesto wholeheartedly. I believe if these issues are addressed we will see more women thriving in business.”

The move follows her Yvonne’s visit to number 10 last year for a roundtable discussion with the Prime minister’s aides.

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), women are now starting more new enterprises than men. Since 2008, there has been a 30 per cent increase in female self-employment, compared to seven per cent for men.

Prowess has put forward steps to help support women in business. It includes looking at increasing the number of women in business and political leadership, tailoring training, reviewing childcare support, offering a safety net for the self-employed and providing a fair share of government business investment.

Jack Lopresti, MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, has responded to the manifesto in a letter.

He said the government aimed to encourage women into work and business by “tackling the barriers to equal opportunities and social mobility.”

Mr Lopresti said various measures had been put in place to improve gender equality in the workplace.

He said: “One of the main barriers to work for women can be childcare, which is why the government wants to encourage more good quality, affordable and reliable childcare to give working mothers and families more childcare provision choices.”

For more information on the manifesto, visit http://www.prowess.org.uk/manifesto-women-in-business