that we do.

We are working hard to ensure that we continue to unlock women’s po-tential within a safe and supportive environment and have included in this newsletter edition all the latest news and develop-ment since February 2012.

Enjoy! X

Olumide Adisa Fundraising and Market-ing Officer

And welcome to the summer issue of our newsletter. I cannot believe that it is sum-mer already. I par-ticularly look forward to the beautiful scen-ery, fruit smoothies, ice cream, strawber-ries and the list goes

on. Or maybe you are in the middle of planning your holidays with the aim to enjoy the out-doors as thoroughly as possible. Whatever you are doing over the sum-mer months; I hope it is something that inspires love, hope and friend-ship.

May I use this opportu-nity to formally wel-come new members of Nottingham Women’s Centre. I hope that you will take advantage of all that the membership scheme has to offer and get involved in the work

Hello Everyone

Newsletter Format is changing...

Special Edition

Summer Newsletter June 2012

Special points of in-terest:

• Barclays Plc chooses us for community pro-ject.

• 5 star rating for CHANGES Café.

• Job Club - Wins grant from Boots to help more women into work.

• New Volunteer’s Award launched in honour of Late Chris Easton.

• Empowering and Ena-bling women with “Legal Matters” and “Winning Ways”.

Inside this issue:

Mel’s Desk 2

News from Daycare 3

Training and Support 4 Staff Spotlight 5 Volunteers Hub 5 Fundraising Updates 7 Upcoming Events 7

Radical Readers 2

We are excited to an-nounce that the next issue of the newsletter will be distributed elec-tronically. All members are automatically sub-scribed to receive the

Summer Activities

*Get Fit with Zumba!

*Secret Garden Party & BBQ.

Fundraising @ IWD, March 2012

newsletters via email but can request a hard copy if preferred. If you would like to be a member, please contact: 0115 941 1475.

through the Centre on their own individual jour-neys and the volunteers who give up their own time to improve the lives of others.

Some of our volun-teers take on the role of trustees – responsi-ble for our overall management and deci-sion making – a big role! In April we lost one of our longest serv-ing trustees, our Chair, Chris Easton.

Chris had been ill for sometime but her illness didn’t dampen her en-thusiasm for supporting

the Centre and she continued to serve on the Board as long as she was able to. She’ll be very much missed by all

of us here and our thoughts go out to her family.

Like Chris, many of our volunteers go ‘above and beyond’ in terms of what they give

to the Centre. We support all of our vol-unteers through an in-duction and training process but we want to go one step further so this year we’ve launched a new award for our most out-standing volunteer at the Centre.

‘The Chris Easton Award’ will be given out annually to one volunteer who has worked tirelessly for others, sometimes de-spite their own per-sonal circumstances.

From Mel’s Desk... A rare gem

Radical Readers

We’re a friendly bunch and always welcome new-comers. We meet on the last Wednesday of every month from 5.30pm – 7.30pm at Nottingham Women’s Centre.

For next month we have decided to tackle those feminist titles kicking around unread and gathering dust on our book shelves. Texts include; Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy,

Overloaded by Imelda Whelehan, Living Dolls by Natasha Walter and Reclaiming the F-Word by Catherine Redfern and Kristin Aune. Read one of these or any other feminist text you feel is rele-vant and bring along your comments and ideas.

Next meeting: Wednesday 27th June, 5.30pm

Radical Readers is a new group at the Centre. We tend to read books with feminist themes and also spend time discussing some of the issues facing women in society. Over the last couple of meetings we’ve read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. These were two very dif-ferent books and you can see what you thought of them on the web-site: www.nottinghamwomenscentre.com/category/radicalreaders

We also discuss the things that annoy us, like the representation and sexualisation of women in the media and Saudi Arabia banning women from com-peting in the Olympics. (and the International Olym-pic Committee doing nothing about it!)

Page 2

Chris( Left) at AGM/ 40th Anniversary Party in December 2011.

Nottingham Women’s Centre is so much more than a building – it’s the women that makes it what it is. The women who work here, the women who fundraise to keep us open, the women who pass

Hi everyone– Barclays Plc selected us as their community project.. Our two rooms were decorated and they look absolutely fantastic and more inviting. The children love it and their new toys. The Garden play area was also given a revamp. A BIG thank you to Bar-clays!

We are now due to have an OFSTED in-spection. As you know, we are OFSTED regis-tered and in 2009 we were graded satisfac-tory. We have since improved the quality of

our services and we are proud of all the hard work and dedication which the Daycare Team have put in to these im-provements.

We are appealing to lo-cal people and businesses to sponsor a ‘Story Bag’ for the children to use.

We are also looking for volunteers to help us create these storybags. If you would like to get involved with this, please contact Tara on 0115 941 1475 Ext 202

What is a Storybag?

A Story bag is a large bag containing a young child's picture book with supporting mate-rials to stimulate inter-est in the book and to develop reading skills. These may also include items such as matching games, jig-saws, finger puppets or "small world" toys.

How can you help?

Sponsor a Story Bag for £30 This will pay for all of the materials for the bag itself including the books and other re-

sources. The Story Bag will be given a tag with your name or any other information of your choosing and we’ll send you a personalised thank you card made by the children.

News from Nottingham Women’s Centre Daycare

Opening Times:

9am - 5pm

Mondays - Thursdays

Page 3

The café has been something we wanted to do since the Soroptomists made the kitchen a reality. With the support of Nottingham Uni-versity SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) Team, the volun-teers drew up a plan of action and designed a menu.

The café has been operational now for 9 weeks and has proved popular with both staff and service users. We want volunteers the experi-

ence of working and to help them gain confidence.

We had our food safety inspec-tion by environmental health and received 5 stars – top marks. A big thanks to the volunteers –Sue, Juanita, Hayley & Gail for giving their time and helping us achieve the standard.

We are drawing up a rota of reli-able volunteers who are willing to give their time. If you are inter-ested please contact our volun-teer coordinator Ciara for more

information.

Why not come in – relax and enjoy lunch to eat in or take away or just have a cuppa.

“I love coming here, I’d do it five days a week if I could”

“I meet lots of people”

“It’s a reason to get up in the morning – it’s given me confi-dence”

The café is now open 2 days a week on Tuesday & Thursday between 11am-2pm.

5* for CHANGES Café

Job Club Update

Our Training and Support (TAS) Team To give you a flavor of what’s on offer at TAS we’ve got the usual literacy, numeracy and IT courses, and an extensive range of courses that are new for 2012: Peer Mentoring, Money Management, Job club, Women’s Em-powerment Group, Confidence Building, An-ger Management and much more. For more information or to enroll please call Karen, Kate or Carol at the TAS team on 0115 941 1475 (ext 208 and 209).

Our Training and Support team (TAS) works with women with a range of support needs including training and employability. They also deliver our CHANGES pro-ject for women with an offending

background.

We would like to welcome Nicolle (Administrator) and Sue (Volunteer Adminis-trator) who joined the team last month, wel-come!

Page 4

Thanks to a small grant from Boots Plc we can con-tinue to help more women gain skills and work. We are glad to announce the launch of the Job Club Progression Plan .The Job Club Progression Plan is open to all women and helps to build confidence, and gain the necessary skills to progress into employ-ment.

“I have found the Job Club in-valuable with helping me to get back into work. It has been useful practically: using the online facilities to do job

searches and also brushing up and printing out my CV. It has also been great to help to en-courage me and boost my mo-rale when I’ve felt down and the support from the staff has been wonderful” Miss A (21 years

Old)

For more in-formation or to book a

place: Please contact Karen.

Tel: 0115 941 1475 Ext 209

Monday June 11th, to thank them for all they give to the Centre. We also ran the first of our training programmes for Volunteers. This will be for all Volunteers of the Centre, and it aims to update and enhance their skills in their roles here. It is also a time for them to share their ex-periences and feedback of working with us.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the ladies who help with the Cafe for their huge commitment and all the

and contribution to the centre and to wish her all the very best in whatever she does from here.

I would like to welcome Lorna , who started with us a few weeks ago on Reception and also Jenna who will commence working on Monday after-noons as a Volunteer from mid June.

Last week was National Volunteers week, a week to celebrate the great work that Volunteers do. To mark this here at the Centre, we provided a lunch for Volunteers on

effort they put in. Sue, Juanita, Hayley and Gail-thank you so much ladies, you are absolute stars and a such an asset to the Centre! We appreciate you all so much!

Volunteering at NWC is a life changing experi-ence. To find out more, please con-tact Ciara on 0115 9411475 Ext 211

Staff Spotlight… Suzie: Two Different Worlds

Volunteers Hub

Page 5

Our volun-teers con-tinue to con-tribute their time, hard work and

commitment to the Centre, and we now are almost fully staffed in the Reception Area. This month we say goodbye to Jodie, our Wednesday afternoon Vol-unteer. Jodie is a design stu-dent at Nottingham Trent University and she finishes her studies there this month and returning to her roots in London. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her time

I was always much more inter-ested in growing up in England and fitting into British culture.

Back then we used to travel to Sarawak every year and I remem-ber my sister and I dreading these trips as we were missing the summer holidays with our friends and instead had to con-tend with no flushing toilet, no electricity until 6pm and having to visit countless relatives and hav-ing to eat funny looking food.

Things could not be more differ-ent now; I now embrace the spiritual side of being Iban and love eating funny looking food! Most of all I am grateful and proud of my dual heritage.

Iban (or sea dayak) people of today are generous, hospita-ble and placid people. But our history tells a very differ-ent story. Known to be the most fear-less headhunters on the is-land of Borneo and closely connected with the death cult, headhunting activities of the Iban involved head tro-phies which was a sign of heroism in battle and brought prestige to the conquering warrior.

Iban women were known for their weaving blankets and handicrafts and housekeeping skills. They were graded in the community for their level of skill and donned tattoos on their hands to show this. Headhunting is now illegal and has not been part of Iban

culture for many years although the older community still love to tell the stories. Things for Iban women have developed hugely too. 2012 has seen the first Sara-wak Women Entrepreneur Con-ference 2012 and also the devel-opment of the WETC (Women Entrepreneurs Trading Centre).

This will feature Sarawak’s signa-ture traditional products and would gradually be developed into an international tourist hub. Through this platform, it also hopes to assist aspiring women entrepreneurs to seek exposure and have better understanding on the business trend; apart from gaining insights into the business world.

Growing up, I never really under-stood the importance of these experiences and this part of my culture.

Relatives in the longhouse

Membership benefits: ���� ��� �� �� ��� �� ������������� ������ �� ������� �� ��� ���������� ����������� �������� ��� ��� ����� ��� �� ��� ������ ���������!� ��� ��� ����� ��� �� "������� ��� ��� ����� �������������� ����� ������ �� �������� �����#���� �� ����� ����������$��� ��� ����� ��� �� %��������&%�#��'� %��������(Thanks to everyone for coming to the Membership Re-launch/

Open Day Caribbean themed lunch on the 18th April and signed up as a member.

To become a member, please contact:

membership@nottinghamwomenscentre.com or call 0115 941 1475

IWD 2012 Highlights

Page 6

To all our donors and partners, thanks for your continued support. Your contributions of time,

money, and—most im-portantly—ideas con-tinue to make a tangible and lasting difference in the lives of women in Nottingham.

Please get in touch if you would like to sup-port us in the work that we do.

Special thanks to:

Barclays Plc

Waitrose

Boots

Co-operative

MSE Charity

Hellfire Harlots

Nicolle Ndiweni – The INSPIRE benefit event was aptly named.

Selina Mead & Friends – Bake and Sale event

Pat McGowan

Fundraising Activities

Upcoming Events @ Nottingham Women’s Centre

To help raise money for

Nottingham Women’s

Centre or to give donations

please contact: Olumide on

0115 941 1475 Ext 212

Email:

development@nottinghamw

omenscentre.com

Page 7

Event Cost Date / Time

Zumba £4/ session Tuesday 19th June, 4.45pm – 5.30pm and every Tuesday from then onwards.

Child Yoga FREE as part of Daycare provision

Tuesday (Booking essential)

Event Cost Date / Time

Women’s Empowerment Group

£3/ session Wednesday (Booking essen-tial)

Alcohol Awareness

Training

12th July

10am –12pm

EMF Balancing Technique £6/ Session Varies (Booking essen-tial)

If you would like to help on the day, provide entertainment, showcase your talent, donate desserts and drinks... Please contact us on 0115 941 1475 Ext 212.

Contact:

30 Chaucer Street

Nottingham

NG1 5LP

Tel: 0115 941 1475

Free Legal Advice with Jane Davies

Ros Horsley who has over 20 years experience of training and mentoring people through per-sonal change. Ros is also a quali-fied Colour Me Beautiful consult-ant and a highly experienced ward-robe and personal shopping con-sultant. Ros has close links with many high street retailers and up-to-date knowledge of the best in fashion and clothing.

We have partnered with Ros Horsley of Winning Ways to pro-vide tailored support to help peo-ple achieve their goals. Whether you want to prepare for a new job or a new stage in your life, the self-titled column “Winning Ways” will contain insights to help you attain success.

Winning Ways was established by

New Columnists: Legal Matters and “Winning Ways”

HAVE A CONTRIBUTION FOR THE NEWSLETTER?

DO YOU HAVE A STORY, RECIPE OR HEALTH TIP? SUBMIT YOUR IDEAS OR CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE NEWSLETTER TO

development@nottinghamwomenscentre.com

Look forward to inner confidence and outer style with “Winning Ways”

Hello my name is Jane Davis and I am a Chartered Legal Executive at Nelsons Solici-tors. As a family lawyer I can deal with any relationship breakdown issues for co-habitees, marriage and civil partnerships. I can deal with all types of legal issues when adults separate, i.e. divorce or dissolution of a civil part-

nership as well as how to share assets on a divorce . I also enjoy dealing with the emergency work such as making urgent applications to court. Such applications may be coupled with an urgent application for children such as a return of a child, residence and prohibited steps orders. Where parents cannot agree contact arrange-ments, these can also take up a large part of my day. I also deal with a enquiries on the telephone asking for initial legal advice. I find that 5 minutes of advice can help people begin to make choices as to how to deal with their own particular situa-tion.

I really enjoy being a family law-yer. At times this can be stressful but with the assistance of valuable colleagues at the office I can achieve so much in my day to be most efficient to my clients and go home to walk my dog knowing that I’ve done my best. I hope you will agree that lawyers are not all the same. I can be contacted at the Notting-ham office on 0115 8511 090 or by email: jane.davis@nelsonslaw.co.uk. You can also check out my regu-lar blogs at www.nelsonslaw.co.uk Get in touch if you have any legal questions that you’d like us to put to Jane in our next newsletter