INSPIRING
PoW-erful message – Power of Women events empower girls and boys .
Impact – PoW has reached 1,500 young people in the last year .
We want to show young people in this area that you can be anything you want to – irrespective of gender .
Another said : “ Never felt more empowered and appreciated by such an amazing group of women !”
Jane Armitage , PoW ’ s chair , who has enjoyed a successful career in law , said : “ You can clearly see the positive impact our ambassador programme and our secondary and sixth form programme is having on the young people we work with .
“ Our area has some massive opportunities in which young people have the chance to develop successful careers , but that doesn ’ t work for the local community unless they have the aspiration and the belief that those jobs could be for them .
“ A lot of the young people we work with have never been in an environment that ’ s aspirational outside of school and nobody has said to them , ‘ If that ’ s what you want to be , you can be it ’ – and that ’ s where we can help .”
Jane adds even today , young people still have limiting beliefs about what is a “ boy ’ s job ” or a “ girl ’ s job ”.
“ We want to show young people in this area that you can be anything you want to – irrespective of gender ,” she says .
For that reason , PoW is looking for more organisations across Teesside to take part in its various school programmes .
Jane said : “ We would like more
businesses to get involved and we are very grateful to all the businesses who have believed in the programme and enabled us to scale it as far as we have . “ These include PD Ports , Teesside University , Johnson Matthey , px Group , Tracerco , BTS Fabrications , HR2day , 3M , Reign Accounting , C + A Embroidery and Print .”
This year , Thirteen Group has also been named as PoW ’ s partner for the primary school programme .
Other supporters include Bentley ’ s , Intelect , Recruitrite , Jacksons Law Firm , Masfix , Northumbrian Water , OOK , New World Financial , HR Alchemy , Sass Media , University Centre Middlesbrough , Ward Hadaway , AbacusBean , Tees Business , Spark , The Digital Gene , KINSHIP and Yellowbox .
Sophie added : “ We believe it ’ s important that young people have relatable role models and one woman who has a very relatable journey which she speaks to young people about is Rachel Burke from Tracerco , who is really inspiring .
“ We also have PD Ports , which has been a supporter of ours from the very beginning and we have Kirsten Donkin involved in our events , who has an incredible story about her career .
“ Kirsten has a relatable career journey which resonates with young people , and is now the head of PR , marketing and communication at PD Ports , and they continue to support us year on year .” PoW started after a 2016 report highlighted Middlesbrough as the worst place in the UK to grow up as a girl .
The PoW would like to commission new research to understand the lived reality for girls growing up in Tees Valley and are keen to hear from businesses interested in funding this work .
The late Professor Jane Turner OBE DL decided something had to be done about this appalling headline for our region – and began to develop a programme to help achieve greater equality by elevating aspirations and showing young people what ’ s possible , irrespective of their gender or background .
Now , PoW is shaping young people ’ s future aspirations , developing the next generation of leaders and building confidence among young women and girls .
The organisation also involves young men and boys , as PoW believes it has the power to help to change the way society views gender and masculinity .
It also believes that through men and boys becoming allies and collaborating with girls and women , they can help challenge the practices , beliefs and systems that create inequality .
For more information on PoW , visit powerofwomen . org . uk
The voice of business in the Tees region | 81