Page 1 - BPW-UK - E-news - Edition 114 - July 2023

E-news

Edition 114– July 2023

Dear BPW UK Members,

I would like to start by thanking those members who completed the Google form
concerning our monthly Newsletter, designed by YBPW UK VP Yasmin Knight. Many of you
will be aware that the Newsletter frequency and length was changed to better meet the
needs of members during the pandemic, by PNP Helen Ashworth. It has been a good tool
to keep our members up to date on local, national, and international work within BPW, and
any upcoming webinars or meetings scheduled. However, many of you will understand the
work it takes to put together such a high-quality Newsletter, and I would like to thank
again MM VP Jackie Franklin, PNP Janice Bancroft and Monique Lee for sharing the work-
load with me.

The Media and Marketing Working Group are working on the text, photos, and
presentation of our new website ready to present to our web designer to work the magic
needed to ensure this is a website we can be proud of. This takes time, not only in writing
the text, but unfortunately also at times to chase us to do what is needed; thank you Jack-
ie for the patience shown!

Our website will be our shop window to the world, and a valuable tool to help with
our drive to increase membership. So, with this in mind we will reduce the number of pag-
es we send to you each month, so that efforts can be focused on the website writing and
launch. The Newsletter Team would still like to receive updates from you on events, or is-
sues you would like to see included, but we will need input from you, our members,
please.
I hope this clarifies what will happen in the short term, but if you would like to pro-
vide articles for us all to enjoy, please e mail me president@bpwuk.org.uk .

This month I have attended the meeting of the UK NGO UKCSWA group looking at
issues where we discussed the need for vigilance as stagnation shows in gender biases re-
porting, (https://hdr.undp.org/content/2023-gender-social-norms-index-gsni#/indicies/
GSNI). It seems unbelievable that we still do not value each other equally, and I hope that
many of us will read the report via the link above.

BPW UK along with other UK NGOs co-signed a letter to the chair of the Women &
Equality Select Committee Caroline Noakes MP concerning the troubling case of Carla Fos-
ter who induced an abortion in desperation at her situation, whilst the UK was bound by
the measures surrounding the pandemic. We have asked that the legalities around this
case be looked at, as this highlights yet again the devolved nations’ disparities in law
around a woman’s right to choose. I will of course keep you updated, and we remember
the excellent Wednesday webinar we hosted with Naomi Conner from the Alliance for
choice in Northern Ireland and the knowledge she shared with us on this subject.

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