Page 33 - BPW UK ANNUAL REVIEW 2021-2022 - PART I and II

After another difficult year, again dictated by COVID 19 restrictions, we have managed
to continue our monthly meetings via zoom.

We began the year with our AGM last April, when we welcomed as our guest speakers,
Jessica Spinoza (BPW Cologne) and Conny Zelic (BPW SYNE). Jessica and Conny spoke about
the BPW Cologne initiative, which seeks to change attitudes to gender based violence through
education in developing countries. The initiative, called XOCO (SHO-co) the Aztec word for
little sister, is a digital model of education as a way for girls to escape from sexual exploita-
tion, slavery, gender based violence all of which are thought will increase because of the Pan-
demic.

We originally began our monthly meetings to allow SYNE members to keep in touch
with each other, although we cover a wide geographical area. These meetings have given us
the chance to air our views on a number of topics, which have included;

• C OP26,

• Transgender Issues,

• The nature of Feminism,

• Comparison between central and devolved government responses to the pandemic.

Although all our meetings are based around very serious topics, we have discussed them in an
informal and friendly way with large injections of humour. Members are encouraged to do
their own research so that discussions are current and relevant to the two countries where we
all live, Scotland and the North of England.

• What is a loose translation of the word mistletoe?

• In what year is it thought, that the Christmas carol service began?

Our Christmas meeting was less serious and we all arrived on line with our own choices
of seasonal refreshments to enjoy a quiz. Some of the questions were easy; others had us hav-
ing to evoke “the little grey cells”, and some induced great hilarity;

The main benefits of these monthly meetings are that we keep in touch with each
other, we update on personal situations, have a greater understanding of current issues and
improve our general knowledge.

We are now in the midst of war in Europe and with awful news coming to us from
Ukraine. Our thoughts are with all of the innocent people who have been devastated by re-
cent events, including fellow BPW members.■

Anne Greener
Chair BPW SYNE

BP W U K - AN N U A L R E VIEW 2 0 2 1 ~ 2 0 2 2