Fabby and I were keen to celebrate International Women's Day in a way that both celebrated the work done by incredible role models but also to highlight the needs that are still present.
We organised a coffee morning and were privileged to have Professor Selena Gray come to give a talk. It was a fascinating presentation which not only looked at the incredible work to overcome gender issues in recent history, but also discussed the issues surrounding gender that have emerged with a new "digital" age. She highlighted a brilliant initiative called Kiva (http://www.kiva.org/) which allows you to lend money to people in developing countries so that they can start a business or other ventures. This is money that they wouldn't otherwise have access to, and you can choose who you lend to as well.
After Prof. Gray's talk we showed a video of the casework at the One25 charity (http://www.one25.org.uk/), a Bristol based programme which provides support to women who have been trafficked into sex work and drug use. It is one of three charities of its kind in Britain, quite shocking when you think there are around 1500 dogs' homes. It was shocking to see the realities of these women's lives but also very hopeful as the staff do wonderful work.
We were delighted to have some beauty students from the local college come to provide free hand massages, and they really enjoyed the talks as well! Overall it was a fantastic and enlightening morning, there were lots of in depth discussions, many students were keen to find out more about MWF and we even managed to raise £60 for the charity as well! Overall we thoroughly enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next event.
Charley McKerr
Medical Student
MWF Student Representative
