Happy International Women's Day!

International Women's Day is celebrated on the 8th March every year and it’s a day that is particularly close to our hearts at Liverpool Women’s, being one of the largest providers of women’s health services in Europe.
 
We try to mark the day in a different way each year. Last year we hosted a summit attended by local voluntary and support organisations, and the year before we held a celebration event which included live music and dance performances.
 
This year, we used social media to try and put the world’s focus on women. We engaged with people across the globe and asked them to name the women who were inspirations to them using the #MyGreatWomen. On the day there were over 1000 tweets sent which included #MyGreatWomen, and we reached over two million people, including people in Australia, Uganda, Lebanon, Indonesia, South Africa and America. We also saw people from up and down the country, as well as a few celebrities, getting involved. This demonstrated the power that Social Media has given us to engage instantly with people on the other side of the world.
 
It was inspiring to read some of the tweets that were sent, with many paying tribute to their mums and grandmothers. Other notable mentions included suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Castle and Elizabeth Taylor to name a few. Many women took the opportunity to tweet about the amazing nurses, midwives and doctors that had cared for them at Liverpool Women’s, whilst several of our staff tweeted to say how highly they regarded their colleagues – all of which filled me with immense pride. Whilst you may not have known International Women’s Day was happening, or be a Twitter user, I would certainly encourage you to take a few moments to consider those females who have had a positive impact on your own life – I'm a great believer that we should all take time to reflect on our aspirations and inspirations every now and then.
 
The Trust is currently recruiting for a new chairperson to replace our outgoing Chairmen Ken Morris, whose term ends this summer. I will be extremely sad when Ken leaves the Trust as we've shared many great moments together, however I have had some extremely encouraging and interesting conversations with people interested in filling the role this past week. I’ll keep you posted on this as and when I can.
 
We paid tribute to two members of staff during our Board of Directors meeting on Friday. Ruth Stubbs, matron for gynaecology, was recognised for actively promoting the Trust’s services, whilst Brian Marsh one of our porters was observed taking extra time and trouble to help a patient find her way recently. Both are examples of staff going that extra mile to ensure our services exceed the expectations of our patients.
 
It looks like Spring has arrived. The days are getting longer, there’s blue skies overhead and the hospital grounds are starting to bloom and blossom, adding a lovely touch of colour around the place. Thank you to all of our ground staff and volunteers who battled through the wind and rain during winter to tend to our gardens, their hard work is really starting to bear fruit (quite literally in some cases).
 
Have a great week!