Cumbria Chamber of Commerce’s International Women’s Day event aims to inspire people to action.
It will be held on Friday, March 7 at The Villa, Levens, near Kendal and its theme is Accelerate Action.
The chamber said: “We’ve a great line up of speakers, workshops and panellists and with capacity of up to 150 and 16 exhibition stands it promises to be an inspiring and uplifting day open to both women and men.”
Guest speaker is Kelly Cornwell. Kelly was the recipient of the Jim Cox Prize, a special award for the most inspirational student, when she graduated from the University of Cumbria in November 2023.
Selected by academics within the Institute of Health, Kelly was chosen after she completed her degree while facing a year like no other.
Her husband Kevin, a humanitarian aid worker, was taken captive by the Taliban in January 2023 whilst working in Afghanistan.
Two weeks later, Kelly had to undergo emergency surgery, spending five weeks at home in Lancashire recovering from her operation.
Once well enough, Kelly began clawing back the 170 placement hours she had missed in addition to the 500 hours of a final professional placement she had to do to complete her degree.
Kevin was released on October 10 2023, and just weeks after his return to the UK, he was able to see Kelly graduate at Carlisle Cathedral.
Delegates will also be able to attend three workshops:
- Freeing our capacities to lead – the neuroplasticity way with Macarena Vergara
- Reframing Menopause In The Workplace: From Challenge To Opportunity – with Lina Mookerjee BEng MA BACP (Senior Accred.) PhD Researcher
- Sexual Harassment with Caroline Rayner from Knights
A panel discussion will also be held and panellists are:
- Julie Clayton, chief executive officer, Eden Valley Hospice
- Sue Howorth, co-director, The Family Business Community
- Gina Pennington, owner and director, Penningtons Tea & Coffee Ltd
- Mark Ebdon, factory general manager, Pladis
- Julie Mennell, vice chancellor, University of Cumbria
Throughout the day there will be breaks and lunch giving plenty of networking opportunities – and there will be a sit down two-course lunch and afternoon tea courtesy of sponsors The Villa, Levens.
The event will support Eden Valley Hospice during the day by holding a raffle – if anyone would like to donate a raffle prize they can email [email protected]
Sponsorship opportunities are still available from £250 +VAT – anyone interested should email [email protected]
