The fact that Deborah Garlick is a genius, that Katherine Bellchambers Wilson has a natural ability to read people, that Pamela Smart Windle is the kind of leader who can quietly dynamise and personalise any event she attends might explain Henpicked, The Nottingham Herbalist and the power of Pam’s Facebook powerful nutritional journeys because that’s what they do but they’ve also held spiritual hands with every woman by pooling their energies to produce a great book ‘Menopause the change for the better‘
With a unique strapline: “You’ve been through puberty and survived. You’re about to enter a new phase of your life, and it’s up to you how you approach it”; the book is a fantastic example of co-production of the stories and lives of women. Edited by Kay Garrett, Deborah Garlick, Pamela Smart Windle, Katherine Bellchambers-Wilson and Kathryn Peden, along with Dr Louise Newson, you see women working together making the publication of the book a living campaign, practically helping and guiding women in their day to day lives.
More here: How to Handle the Menopause in The Telegraph!
We’re in the vanguard in Nottingham in the sense that the historic work, the campaigning work of the Nottingham Women’s Centre and the Rape Crisis Centre is at last being understood as a culture of change that we’re all part of. Misogyny is now treated as a hate crime in Nottingham and I think it’s really a testament to the work of black and white women, women in different parts of society with different but similar experiences beating the drum for a new kind of energy around social change. Working together in Nottingham over this long period has produced viable funding structures and networks for the longer term. We can honestly say in Nottingham: “We’re ahead here”.
Nottingham’s a place with an amazing cultural history just below the surface, as a mature woman I can tap into those thirty years and see how the work is now flourishing, how great women help other great women to achieve, communicate and even go back if they want to. Detective Superintendent Jackie Alexander is retiring this year but she’s keen to carry on researching the lives of other women in the police service to find out how their careers developed in the next stage of her life and research. Helping women shouldn’t mean that we’ve done our bit, equalities are about better outcomes, better quality of life for everyone, it’s not a pick and mix where the powerful choose which bit of equalities suits the ethos of their organisations. Equality of access to opportunity is about changing things for everyone for the better and believing that women from every background are capable and worthy candidates.
And Deborah Garlick, Pamela Smart Windle and Katherine Bellchambers Wilson are part of this ecosystem. Deborah is a genius in bringing so many parts of women’s lives together in Henpicked (third birthday last week) and a campaigning business approach to how she works and the work of other women.0115 8243234
Katherine Bellchambers Wilson is extraordinary. Gifted and qualified in herbal medicine, Katherine is a hidden resource to the tired, the grey, the worn out, the jaded in Nottinghamshire. She zings an approach that’s natural but clever and helps you on the journey to take time for what you need. 07786 441574
Pamela Smart Windle, Pamela Ann to some of her clients, is a treasure. Qualified in fitness and nutrition, Pamela has studied across fitness, health and nutrition disciplines over the last thirty years to provide a wholesome and accessible way to thrive at every stage of life. 0115 9475222/07971651698
It’s important to feel you can work, play, thrive and learn throughout your life. I think Mary Portas is doing her bit for fashion, retail and employment of the over 60’s but so are our lot in Nottingham. For me it’s the people who do, for themselves and others, day in, day out. People like Deborah Garlick who’s brought the networking capability of a Julia Hobsbawm (first professor of Networking at Class Business school and creator of Editorial Intelligence and Names Not Numbers where she brings together thinkers and doers from all walks of life to talk about things that matter in work, culture and life (you can find the podcasts on iTunes):
Let’s work together, shall we?
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Cheers! Any ideas for topics, let me know
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This article will be the first of a series to look at how these networks are helping raise the aspirations of people in Nottingham. Great to see how people are solving the problem we all face.
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