As we prepared for our Autumn Event and AGM in Darlington on the morning of 23rd November a snowstorm hit! Undaunted we reorganised to be mainly on line and were joined by courageous NCW members who were able to make the journey through the snow. The truly hybrid event was a great success and we had many lively debates. President, Jilly Rogers chaired the day, and introduced the four resolutions and the Conference address in the afternoon.
We were honoured and delighted that the President, Martine Marandel and Treasurer, Ludovina Moreira of the International Council of Women attended the whole event, in person. Martine Marandel, spoke to us about the need to protect young women and men from hate and extremism. NCW members stressed the need for controls over the online environment and appropriate education about the issues in schools.
Resolutions
The first of our resolutions was on adult social care, led by Hilary Hughes and Alison Newell. The resolution called for more coherence, fairness and efficiency to strengthen the sector. It highlighted the need for national funding, quality training and fair wages for staff in the sector, and joined up systems and approaches to care across authority boundaries.
This vital topic was followed up with a high-level discussion in the afternoon. Nadra Ahmed CBE Chair of the National Care Association, Caroline Abrahams CBE, Charity Director at Age UK and Rachel Power CEO at the Patients Association spoke about recognising the needs and rights of older adults and challenges of funding in particular. Government recognised one of the factors was the desire of older people to be able to pass on equity from their homes to the next generation rather than use it up on care.
It was recognised that the care profession needed more recognition and career progression. Occupational therapists had a vital role in keeping people safe in their own homes. Members also discussed how to generate more engagement of local communities with their care homes.
Ann Davison, Vice President and Abby Hunt, Network 18-30 member proposed a resolution on global education for women and girls. Poverty in developing countries is strongly linked with lack of women’s education. The majority of illiterate people worldwide are women, so aid programmes need to help them catch up. Education of girls and women will help eradicate harmful practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation. FGM is a leading cause of death in practicing countries with a girl dying every 12 minutes. Abby pointed out that only 4% of OECD development assistance committee aid is dedicated to women. Members welcomed the role of charities in focussing on this.
Ann also proposed a resolution on consumer protection in green products and services with Arnold Pindar of the National Independent Consumer Organisation, an NCW Associate. We want consumers to feel they are ok to do their bit on climate change. The background of atrocious weather was rather appropriate as we were talking about extreme weather events! Consumers need easy access to reliable information. New green products and services need to be effective and easy to understand with proper enforcement of standards.
The fourth resolution on violence against women and girls was proposed by Gail Bishop, NCW Vice President and Penny Moon, individual member from Darlington. They welcomed government commitments to reduce violence. But pointed out how much more needed to be done, for example in attending to the backlog of rape cases, training relevant professionals and providing specialist victim support.
There was a lot of enthusiasm for these four topics and all the resolutions were passed unanimously.
Review of the Year
President, Jilly Rogers presented a Review of the Year highlighting the successful introduction of our online debates, our developing work with young women, strengthening of international links, and active follow up of our resolutions. The Review of the Year is included with this Newsletter.
Annual General Meeting
Our Annual General Meeting was held successfully and the Annual Report and Financial Statements were agreed.
The following trustees and president were confirmed in office:
- Jilly Rogers – President
- Elsie Leadley – Immediate Past President
- Gillian Weston – Vice-President, Finance
- Gail Bishop – Vice-President, Current Affairs
- Ann Davison – Vice-President, International
- Penny Bennett ““ Vice President, NCYW
- Toni Letts – Trustee