NEWS

OCTOBER 2008

Support Group

10th November		Jackie Phillips, MK College	What Courses are on offer and what support is available at the College.
24th November		Susan Hampton	Inspiration as a motivational aid

In 2009 the Support Group will change. The Monday morning Support Group will stop for the Christmas break at the end of November. When it recommences in January it will move to Thursdays.
This will be a brand new style of Support Group and workshop combination. An employment focused workshop will take place on Thursday mornings. The Support Group in the afternoon will then follow on with a similar theme.
This combination should provide the skills and support needed to help you return to paid employment.
Free crèche facilities will be available.

SEPTEMBER 2008

NO MORE WAITING! From MONDAY 5th JANUARY the Monday Drop In will operate to an appointments system. Following the success of our Wolverton appointments system, as of Monday 5th January all clients wishing to see an adviser, should first telephone book an appointment.
There is still the option to drop in but there may be a long wait, but would enable clients to touch base with the service.
Mondays will be especially reserved for new clients. Those wishing to return to the service will also be given an Appointment, but on another day. This means no more waiting, and no more worrying about how much to put on the parking meter!

AUGUST 2008

Sadly our beloved Shameem lost her battle with stomach cancer on Wednesday 13th August following a brief stay in Willen Hospice. Her funeral took place the following day.
Shameem underwent her chemotherapy treatment bravely and with the same positive attitude she lived the rest of her life. She didn't give up hope and fought the disease every step of the way. Being Shameem, she retained her wonderful sense of humour for much of that time.
Shameem first attended Women & Work at an open day in June 1993 and between September and December that year she undertook the ‘Return To Work course’. In the November Shameem successfully applied for the post of Training Assistant with Women and Work.
The rest, as they say, is history. Shameem went on to become Training and Development Manager and managed many projects for Women and Work.
We held a commemorative event in September, so staff, trustees and clients could have the opportunity to mourn her passing together and to celebrate her life, and the impact Shameem had on each of our lives.
Shameem made an impact on, and a real difference to, a lot of people's lives.
She was an inspirational and motivating tutor, a fun, lively and caring colleague and friend. Shameem touched so many lives and her quiet wisdom will be remembered by many, as will the profound effect she had on people's lives.

JUNE 2008

Our Thirtieth Birthday Celebrations are fast approaching and we are seeking clients old and new to tell us their story of how Women & Work helped them progress. If you or someone you know has benefitted from our services please get in touch. You can do this by email to info@womenandwork.co.uk, through our contactUs page or by post to MK Women & Work Group, Acorn House, 365 Midsummer Boulevard, Central Milton Keynes, MK14 5PP.

APRIL 2008

This month we welcome three new members of staff.
Joan Bailey is our temporary Training and Development Manager.
Mandy Browning is our new Parent and Child Project Manager for information on the Parent and Child Project click here.
David Geliher is the Circuit Rider for our Pilot Project to help Voluntary and Community Organisations make the best use of ICT to support their work.

Support Group

12 May		Community Mobiliser	A talk about what a Community Mobiliser does and what voluntary opportunities are available.
19 May		Milton Keynes College	What Courses are on offer and what support is available at the College.

Women in Management, a Network for women who are or want to be in a management role, that we are involved with, is focussed on helping women make contacts, develop new skills and achieve their potential. Their next event will be Managing your Career through transitions, this will be help at The Bell in Woburn and costs £20. For more information and the registration form click here.
For more information about Women in Management click here.

MARCH 2008

CHANGES TO THURSDAY DROP-IN
From Thursday 24th April, our regular Thursday Drop-in at The Old Bath House, Wolverton, will be changing to an appointment only session.
The last Drop-in will be on Thursday 3rd April.
There will be no service available at Wolverton during the 2 weeks of the school holidays. (although Acorn House will be open on a Monday as usual!)
Service will re-open on an appointment only basis, BETWEEN 9.30 AND 12 NOON at Wolverton on Thursday 24th April.
If you wish to see an Adviser at the Old Bath House, Wolverton, please phone our office on 01908 200186 to book an appointment.

FEBRUARY 2008

We have job vacancies here at Women & Work. To view the adverts, which are in pdf format, please click on the links below, these will open in a new window and, unlike the local paper we used, our Parent & Child Manager advert is legible!!

• Parent & Child Project Manager advert. Click here to request an application pack.
• Circuit Rider advert. Click here to request an application pack.

JANUARY 2008

As part of the Pilot Circuit Rider Project we will be looking for two to three volunteers with a background in IT who want to gain experience in a client based environment. Volunteers will work shadow the Circuit Rider, to gain an insight into the Project and build a relationship with the organisations being supported. This is an ideal opportunity for anyone looking to gain voluntary work experience in first line ICT support.

On a cold grey day in December staff and volunteers took turns collecting money at the Bletchley Rotary Club's Nativity display. Our collection raised almost £105. Thank you to the Bletchley Rotary Club for inviting us to participate and to all the people that day who made donations.

DECEMBER 2007

Our application to Milton Keynes Community Foundation for a Pilot Circuit Rider Project was successful. The Pilot Project is to support six small voluntary and community organisations in maximising their use of IT to enable them to have more time to spend on their charitable activities. Suitable voluntary and community organisations will be identified through the Acorn House IT Centre audit that is underway. If you are a member of a Voluntary Organisation that would be interested in this project or that needs help or training in IT please make sure you complete and return the audit. This can be found at:www.acornhouseit.co.uk

Following our nomination of our IT Trainer Jill Clarke she was a medal winner for IT Trainer of the Year in the 2007 British Computer Society IT Industry Awards

NOVEMBER 2007

There's now a new and easy way for you to help us raise funds for Milton Keynes Women & Work - simply by shopping online!
easyfundraising is a shopping directory that features some of your favourite online stores, including Amazon, NEXT, Debenhams, John Lewis, Toys'R'Us, HMV and over 400 others. All you have to do is use the links on the easyfundraising site whenever you shop online and, at no extra cost to you, we'll receive a free donation of up to 15% from every purchase you make. It really is that simple!
It's completely FREE to register and use and you still shop with each retailer in exactly the same way. Many retailers even offer additional discounts and money saving e-Vouchers when you shop using easyfundraising.
If you shop online anyway then why not raise valuable extra funds for us by using this fantastic scheme. All you need to do is visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk/mcww and when you register, select Milton Keynes Women and Work as the organisation you wish to support.

OCTOBER 2007

Jill Clarke, one of our key IT Trainer was recently named as a finalist for the British Computer Society (BCS) IT Trainer of the Year Award. When she was informed, Jill said, “I had to check out the emotion in the dictionary, but yes, there I was EMBARASSED - you could get 3rd degree burns from my blush!” Jill provides IT training for us at a greatly reduced rate. Jill said “I developed and delivered courseware to provide simple, stress free training in a relaxed friendly and supportive manner that developed the delegates skills and confidence !”. Delivering training in a way which bolsters the delegates confidence and encourages them to complete the course is paramount to the success of this training. On her accredited courses virtually all the delegates Jill teaches gain the accreditation. A course delegate said; “Jill is wonderful. The way she teaches is clear and straightforward.”

At the BCS IT Industry Awards finalists reception, the original 600 entrants were whittled down to the chosen finalists. These cross-industry awards are the leading hallmark of success in the IT Industry today.
One of Jill's students said “Jill is amazing; very knowledgeable and funny!”. A comment we echo and we are all working with fingers crossed until December 6th when the award winners are announced.

SEPTEMBER 2007

Alongside the celebrations taking place for Milton Keynes 40 Years, we held our own End of Summer Party celebration on Saturday 15th September. Taking a lead from the MK Year of Culture, we embraced the arts and entertainment world with a lively Celidh dance to the local band Acchord, a sensational fire juggler, as well as an outstanding magician and one man band.
The New Bradwell community centre provided the perfect venue, allowing room to dance the “Gay Gordons” and the “Dashing White Sergeant” as well as being wowed by Magic tricks and spinning fire! Our Head of Group, Avril Francome said “There was fun for all ages, we had 5 years olds to 82 year olds and everyone has a wonderful time.”
The celebration was the end of an exhausting day of fundraising by Abbey employee Chris Wood who was sponsored to run 3 times round Willen lake. The proceeds from the run are to be generously match funded by Abbey.
All proceeds from both events will go towards providing advice, guidance and training services to support women and men back into work or into further or higher education.

In partnership with MK College we will be delivering a series of Tasters from now until January 2008. These tasters are for people who live or work in certain areas of Milton Keynes. For details of the areas and the tasters Routes to Success Project click here.

AUGUST 2007

Acorn House Drop In
From the 3rd September the drop -in will be open from 9.30 am till 1.30 pm every Monday except bank holidays. The time period before midday will be women only as normal. After midday the session will be open to men. The free creche has been extended to cover the extended opening.

Our application to the MK Community Foundation for Adobe software and system upgrades for 5 computers was successful. This will enable the IT Centre to offer specialist courses in Adobe in order to generate income to support our charitable services. This has been funded through the Community Fund Grants and the European Social Fund.

The Support Group is starting back on September 10th after the Summer break. The schedule of Spotlights for the Autumn term is as follows:

24th September			MK Skills Centre - What's New	Speaker: Jackie Small Courses available at the SkillsCentre MK
8th October			Job Centre Plus - Returning to Work	Speaker: Eddie Burrell, Lone Parent Adviser New Laws and regulations.
15th October			Victim Support	Speaker: Peter Thompson Insight into Victim Support and volunteering opportunities.
5th November			Enterprise Gateway	Speaker: Anne-Marie Conlan-Taylor What Enterprise Gateway can offer women wanting to start-up their own business.
12th November			Managing Change	Speaker: Penny Haynes
Future subjects planned are Budgeting; Building Self Esteem and other Volunteering Opportunities. Watch this News page for updates.

JULY 2007

Hugs all Round at our AGM and Celebration of achievement
M.P.s Dr Phyllis Starkey and Mark Lancaster and Leader of MK Council Isobel McCall joined The Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor Mike and Mrs Cheryl Barry, at our AGM & Celebration of Achievements and no-one let the Friday 13th date get in the way of a successful event. In her welcome speech our Head of Group, Avril Francome spoke of the dedication of the Management Committee and staff who 'go that extra mile' for Women & Work which contributes to the organisation achieving so much. She quoted one member of staff who said 'It's like in the crusades - people fought for what they believed in, and we go the 'extra mile' because we believe in what we do.'
Professor Brenda Gourley, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, had the audience riveted by her speech recounting the important attributes for leadership. It came as no surprise that Integrity came top of her list.
Three former clients then spoke nervously, but with commitment, of the barriers they faced and overcame to move on in their lives. Guests at the AGM spoke of being very moved by the stories of how the women were 'enabled to transform their lives' through our services. Click here to read Judy's story.
Clients who had successfully completed Women & Work courses were presented to the Mayor. The Mayoress smiled as Di Fisher of www.park7studios gathered together what resembled a 'Group Hug' for a photograph.

Unfortunately we were unsuccessful in being chosen for the Women In Enterprise Challenge 2007.

JUNE 2007

We have been short-listed for the Women In Enterprise Challenge 2007. Click here to see the short-listed Organisations. (photo: www.park7studios).

APRIL 2007

Member's of Women In Enterprise have voted Women & Work as their benefitting charity for 2007.

In the news this month following a visit from shadow Secretary of State for Education, David Willets. Staff at Women & Work were able to tell him about what we do for the women of Milton Keynes. Click here to see the article.

FEBRUARY 2007

I looked everywhere for guidance and there is no one else out there that is specifically geared towards mothers returning to work, or changing careers mid-life. This is an extract from a recent email to us which made the work we do feel all worth while. To read the rest of the email click here. To read others success story goto the About our Funded Client Group page. Feedback is always so important to us, both to help us continue to provide a high quality service and to demonstrate to funders the value of our work so we can continue to help more women. The facility for ex-clients to submit feedback on the website is coming soon. So if you want to tell us your success story, please keep visiting or in the meantime you can use the contact us page or email us at info@womenandwork.co.uk.

JANUARY 2007

November 2006 saw the launch of Creative IT & History, the first of the modules for the Parent & Child Project Learning Together. The project is nearing completion when all these stories and photographs will be published on the Living Archive website. Click here for more details.

DECEMBER 2006

In the lead up to Christmas each year the Rotary Club of Bletchley set up the Nativity outside the Brunel Centre in Bletchley, and allocate collecting days to various local charities.
So it was on a cold December 22nd, that staff and volunteers of Women & Work took turns to sing carols and dance (to keep warm!) while 'rattling collecting tins' beside the Nativity. Thanks to the sterling efforts of volunteers Norma, Roshni, Masako and Annette supporting staff Avril, Rachel, Jayne, Minesh, Sue and Janice. Further thanks are due to the generous people of Bletchley because on the day we raised £180.15. This was again generously supplemented by Sue's 'penny jar' giving a grand total of £197.15.

NOVEMBER 2006

We have received a glowing Annual Report for our accredited training courses from the Open College Network Moderator. Comments include:

• All the programmes have highly committed tutors using participative and imaginative activities to make the learning enjoyable.
• Without exception the learners on all programmes highly praised their tutors and the courses.
• As always, the learners on the Interpersonal Skills programmes gave me examples of the huge personal development in terms of attitude and behaviour they had made.
• The IT learners say that the tutor is the best they have ever had.
• MK Women and Work continue to offer programmes of the highest quality.
• All the tutors and internal moderators have been very responsive to moderation and have had all paperwork ready for me on each of my visits. Their enthusiasm and commitment have contributed to the success of their programmes.
• It has been a pleasure moderating this centre. Thank you.

We welcomed two new members of staff, this month, to work on our Big Lottery Fund Parent and Child Project

OCTOBER 2006

We are currently looking for a Treasurer for our Management Committee. Our current treasurer is having to stand down due to pressures of her paid work. This is a voluntary role and entails a committment of around 5 hours a month. Please click here to view an outline of the Roles and Responsibilities of the Post.

AUGUST 2006

How far does a working mum walk in a week? This was the question we posed at our AGM and Celebration of Achievements in July. Maria Piascik, sister to Shameem Ali our Training and Development Manager, took up the challenge. She wore a pedometer for a week to record how far she walked as she carried out her everyday tasks as a mother, wife and employee. People were then asked to donate £1 for each guess at the number of paces recorded. Would you have had any idea? The guesses ranged from 4,000 to 350,000. Part way into the week Maria sprained her ankle, but she soldiered on as the three children still needed to be taken to school and she still had a paid job to do. Maria works for Abbey who kindly donated a teatime hamper as a prize for the nearest guess. Laura Taylor whose guess was within 60 of the final figure won the hamper. Abbey will also match-fund the amount Maria raises from this challenge, which together with gift aid will bring the total to over £620. All the monies raised will help us to provide Advice, Guidance, Training and Support to local women, to enable them to access paid or voluntary work or further education.
Maria removed the pedometer at the end of the week, and the final reading was - 129,941 steps! What a women!

JULY 2006

We held our AGM and Celebration of Achievements in the Acorn House Conference Centre. The over 60 guests included the Mayor & Mayoress of Milton Keynes and local MP Dr Phyllis Starkey.
The AGM was followed by an interesting talk on Women's Career Success by Dr Val Singh, Senior Research Fellow at Cranfield School of Management.
We then celebrated clients achievement with those who had completed courses this year being presented to The Mayor.
Two ex-clients then spoke on how Women and Work had helped them in achieving their goals.
The event was rounded off by drawing tickets for the raffle. Donations for the event were received from Abbey, Acorn House IT Centre, Coca Cola, Rotary Club of Bletchley, Tesco Plc, and Women In Enterprise.

Our thanks to everyone who responded to the latest Follow-Up Survey form we sent out. Iram Nasiri won the mystery prize (a Centre MK Shopping Voucher!).
We cannot stress the importance to us and future clients of you returning your follow-up surveys, when you receive them. If you enter paid/voluntary work or enter further training please let us know. With this information we can address any issues arising from your feedback, shape future services to suit client needs and demonstrate the value of our services to our Funders.

A Saturday Interpersonal Skills Course started this month. This course is for women who are working or otherwise not able to attend daytime courses. This is the first time we have run a Saturday course and it has been fully subscribed.

JUNE 2006

We took part in the Volunteers' Fair this month. Although it was fairly quiet, possibly due to the lovely weather and the football, it did get busier towards the end. About 65 people approached us over the 2 days.

We welcomed a student from Stantonbury School, Johanna Maddix, for a successful 2-week work placement from 12th to 23rd June.

MAY 2006

Biggest block booking for Acorn House IT Centre so far! The Learning Hub has booked up the IT Centre for at least 14 days during the months of June and July to run Care Courses as part of a major launch of their activities in Milton Keynes. This followed the success of the same course Learning Hub delivered in the Centre for our clients. They were so impressed with our facilities and service they made this booking.

APRIL 2006

Both vacancies for Information, Advice and Guidance Advisers were filled. Our new IAG team will be seeking to improve the IAG services, in particular the outreach provision.

MARCH 2006

We currently have two vacancies for Information, Advice and Guidance Advisers. The deadline for applications has passed.

FEBRUARY 2006

We received news that our Big Lottery Fund application has been successful. This application, in partnership with the Living Archive, is to provide courses in ITC, interpersonal skills, creating history and understanding children.

JANUARY 2006

On the first Monday of every month, excluding bank holidays, our Advice and Guidance Drop-in at Acorn House will now be open from 12.30 to 3.00pm. There will be no crèche facilities available during these sessions and it will be open to both women and men.

CV workshops at Acorn House have proved extremely popular over the past year. These will continue to run once a month during 2006, please call our office for more information or to register your interest.

DECEMBER 2005

The Rotary Club of Bletchley invited Women & Work to take part in their Christmas Collection. Through the generosity of the people of Bletchley we raised £194.80 on the day. The Rotary Club then gave us an additional £125 from the collections made by their members. A big thank you to the people of Bletchley and The Rotary Club of Bletchley.

SEPTEMBER 2005

Welcome to our new format website developed from a design by Corporate Identity UK Ltd.

JULY 2005

We celebrated the achievements of our clients at our AGM this month. The event included the launch of our new logo designed and donated by Corporate Identity UK Ltd. The logo reflects the ethos of Women and Work through retaining its suffragette colours of purple for dignity, green for hope and white for purity, whilst also projecting its supportive work within a contemporary design.

The AGM was followed by a celebration of individual achievements of women who were course participants of some of the training that was provided the MK Women & Work. Sheralee Bentley representing Abbey Charitable Trust, was invited to congratulate the women who had successfully achieved qualifications. Abbey Charitable Trust were one of the funders of the courses that MK Women & Work deliver to help women to get back into paid employment. A course participant, Norma Runa delivered a moving speech on impact that Women & Work had had on her personal life. “…I was a high flyer before life knocked me for six. Having Women and Work to turn to helped me to find the options that were available to me and showed me which direction was up…”

The event was concluded by Kevin Smith of MK Community Foundation who outlined the changes that are currently undergoing within Acorn House as its “flagship building” in its aim to provide services and accommodation for the Voluntary & Community Sector.

Details outlining the benefits of becoming a member of the MK Community Foundation were also presented.

MAY 2005

Welcome to our first male employee! Minesh Patel has been appointed as IT Centre Manager through funding from Change Up. The purpose of the post is to develop our training rooms into an IT Centre providing IT services for the Voluntary and Community Sector and Small and Medium Enterprises in order to generate income so that Women amp; Work can provide more training for our clients. For more information visit the Acorn House IT Centre website

APRIL 2005

With funding from Adult Continuing Education we were able to deliver an Interpersonal Skills course in the Lakes Estate, Bletchley and a FreshStart course in Wolverton.

MARCH 2005

Onwards and Upwards !
With funding from Milton Keynes Community Foundation we were able to move upstairs into new office space on the Third floor at Acorn House. Our move means we now have our own Training room. It will be a great benefit to have our own training room for courses, but we will continue to run some of our courses at other locations to cater for everyone's needs.

JANUARY 2005

Our tender to the Learning + Skills Council through ESF CoFinancing for the provision of training and support to women at risk of social exclusion has been successful. This means that from March 2005 we will be running the Wider Opportunities for Women Project (WOW). Training will include:

• Interpersonal Skills
• Freshstart
• Jobsearch Skills
• Introduction to Computers
• English Conversation Classes (in partnership with the English Language House)