Solidarity, empowerment, voice, representation, inclusivity/inclusiveness, motivation, justice, equity…

Just some of the words used by volunteers, partners and attendees when asked to describe how they felt about being part of the Bristol Women’s Voice’s International Women’s Day event on Saturday 11th March.

Bristol Women’s Voice’s mission is to create a movement that unites all women in Bristol to campaign together, celebrate our achievements and find support and information. They listen and make heard the views and voices of women from across Bristol’s diverse communities, empowering them to influence decision-makers.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Embrace Equity’, the quality of being fair and impartial. Women all around the world are still fighting for equity to become a part of every society’s DNA.

Carole Johnson, Bristol Women’s Voice Co-Chair emphasised the importance of challenging gender stereotypes to collectively drive this change and that everyone is responsible. Women take responsibility for themselves, but women need allies to stand with them to make a collective change; change in misogyny, change in patriarchy, change in gender stereotypes.

At AgencyUK, we share the same drive to ensure there are equal and inclusive opportunities for women in and outside of the workplace. It’s important to join the conversations, be a part of social advocacy and highlight the importance of change in society. We were proud to attend, support and raise awareness for Bristol Women’s Voices at their ‘Celebrate Together’ International Women’s Day event in Bristol. 

The day’s programme was put together and driven by the women of Bristol and there were over 50 thought-provoking, celebratory and inclusive events to attend. These included passionate talks by sociologist and feminist campaigner Finn Mackay, Maryam Namaziea, an Iranian born communist and human rights activist, and Chief Constable for Avon and Somerset Police, Sarah Crew. Immersive workshops of singing and poetry, yoga and crafts (to name just a few) also joined the agenda, and panel table discussions regarding subjects such as ‘Women in the workplace’, ‘Women in Leadership’ and ‘Keeping Women Safe in the City’.

This year’s event came at a poignant time when budgets for child care are expanding to allow for 30 hours free childcare for children over the age of nine months, alongside boosts to subsidised childcare for parents on Universal Credit. Bristol Women’s Commission, Diane Bunyan, led a panel discussion on how investing in childcare and adult care, both paid and unpaid, will improve well-being and life chances, and lead to a fairer and better functioning economy.

As well as talks and workshops, food was supplied by women-led catering companies and brought delicious cultural eats to the event, including Latin American and Somali.

Events like these are so important to highlight the change and hard work that is still required for gender stereotypes to be quashed and equity to be fully embraced, but it’s also a time to celebrate and speak loud and proudly of the determination and empowering nature of women all over the world, and in your local area.

Change doesn’t require you to change who you are, it allows you to be who you are.

At AgencyUK, we are proud to:

• Have a female and working mum co-founder
• Advocate women’s health and diversity through ‘Champion’ schemes
• Promote pro bono charity work that supports female-first charities (such as Breast Cancer Awareness)
• Be educated in diversity awareness provided by Representation Matters
• Support a female Syrian refugee catering startup business – we hired them for an office event, created content for them and connected them to contacts of ours who enabled them to access free office space and wifi
• Offer female health focused talks including Breast Cancer Awareness, and we have a regular nutritionist who specialises in menopause and female health
• We have enhanced maternity and paternity policies and offer hybrid working, a child care voucher scheme, and flexible start and end times to support our parents. Our breastfeeding policy includes the provision of a discreet room to allow women who are nursing to either breastfeed or express.
• Be one of the first companies to sign up to the Good Employment Charter showing our commitment to security, flexibility, well-being, and development
• Attend round table events at the West of England Combined Authority to discuss the Good Employment Charter initiatives including improving work environments and opportunities for women
• Be B Corp Certified, which focuses on ensuring we increase our diversity in the workforce and ensuring fair pay for both genders

And we won’t stop there…

If you’d like to know more, reach out to us at hello@agencyuk.com.