Gestamp celebrates International Women ’ s Day in style
GIRL POWER
The International Womens Day ( IWD ) event at Gestamp , organised by the IWD working group Leah Johnson , Martha White , Sara Wilkinson , Lynn Garnham , Ellie Smith and Amy Hill . PICTURES BY CHRIS BOOTH
Gestamp celebrates International Women ’ s Day in style
BY SARAH WALKER
Newton Aycliffe ’ s biggest employer has been commended for supporting its employees as well as the local community during its second annual International Women ’ s Day celebration .
Gestamp invited all the women who work at the plant , including core staff and agency contractors , to come together for networking and afternoon tea during the event , which also included guest speakers .
Michelle Cooper , CEO of Poverty Hurts , which Gestamp proudly supports , spoke to the women around this year ’ s IWD theme of equality versus equity and how people in poverty experience this .
Helen Dent from Aspire , who is working with Gestamp on its mental health and wellbeing training , also gave a talk on the role of women in society , with some insightful personal experiences .
Plant director Jonathan Phillips said the event had been a great success , both in terms of raising funds for Poverty Hurts and Great Aycliffe Cancer Support Group and helping to promote the wellbeing of women in the organisation . It also fitted in perfectly with Gestamp ’ s important health and wellbeing strategy for its
1,000-plus workforce . “ It was a great event with a couple of very inspirational speakers ,” said Jonathan . “ We intend to make it an annual event – it ’ s great for morale and fits in with our overall aims for helping to improve the wellbeing of our staff .
“ It was great to have a couple of people from outside of the organisation sharing their feelings on how things are in terms of equity and equality in society .”
He added the event gave the women throughout Gestamp a chance to take a break from work and sit together and have a chat in a less formal environment .
“ This is something which is very important to us from the perspective of looking after our staff and also supporting staff to feel like part of an inclusive and supportive team at Gestamp , as well as part of the wider community that we operate in ,” Jonathan said .
“ We also raised some money for charities which are close to our employees ’ hearts as part of the event .”
Tara Whitworth , HR operations manager , said Gestamp was keen to support campaigns like International Women ’ s Day long into the future . She said : “ Over 90 attended , with women supporting the organisations that we invited
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