Hills Road celebrates International Women’s Day 2024

Staff and students had a week jam-packed with events and activities to celebrate women and “inspire inclusion”.

The week kicked off with a board being placed in student services which allowed Hills staff and students to stick up post-it notes about a woman in their life or a role model that inspires them. People really got invested in this process and had a lot of fun sharing their thoughts!

On Tuesday, students were encouraged to join an exclusive webinar, that was created in partnership with the British Army, to help inspire the next generation of women about the amazing career opportunities available to them through the Army.

Attendees had the opportunity to hear from female soldiers, including Keynote speaker Rose Worthy, who is the Diversity and Inclusion Operations Manager for the Army Recruiting Group at Capita. She discussed the Army's support for female soldiers and their vision going forward.

On Wednesday, Ian Harvey, a teacher of Biology at Hills Road, provided students with an inspiring talk about his work with the Ramatu Foundation, based in Sierra Leone, which is designed to encourage female empowerment in a context where FGM, forced marriage and gendered violence are rife.

This talk received a fantastic turnout and had plenty of interesting questions being raised by students, in which one attendee described the event as an “amazing and important learning experience”. Thank you, Ian, for your support during this week’s activities!

On International Women’s Day students were encouraged to wear an outfit or an item of clothing that is purple to show their support.

A donation stall was set up at student services, where staff and students could grab some stickers, bookmarks and other fun merchandise! All the money donated went to the Ramatu Foundation so that they can purchase food, stationery and books, as well as organise educational days, maintain communal offices and so much more to support girls in Sierra Leone.

The library also got involved in the day's celebrations by creating a fantastic display filled with books and information about successful women, historical information and a variety of other topics.

Lastly, to top things off a talk took place at lunchtime! Jacqui Gaiser-porter connected students to a panel of women working in STEM subjects, which concluded with a brilliant Q&A discussion.

Thank you to everyone who helped organise or took part in these events. It was brilliant to see so many interested in the talks, activities and charitable affairs that took place throughout the campus on this international day. We hope that the information provided by guests, speakers and the library has given students and staff food for thought and the ability to “Inspire Inclusion” wherever they may go.