WISH North East: Winter Newsletter 2020

WISH North East: Winter Newsletter 2020

We know how important it is to be surrounded by a strong network, and this year more than ever reinforced the value of having a great group of inspiring women around you to pick you up and keep you positive throughout this pandemic. So, this year, we were more committed than ever to stay in touch as a Board and with our members. We made the most of all the online platforms we could find to stay in touch, to learn, connect, collaborate and look after each other the best we ‘virtually’ could.

Through webinars, sharing vacancies, emails, zooms and much more we have continued to support our members and we’re delighted that our members have continued to support us. We asked our Corporate Members to submit videos sharing why they joined WISH and the results are tremendous. It’s incredible to see the huge impact WISH has on individuals and organisations…

View them here...

We were delighted Kelly Henderson, one of our WISH Board Members was recognised as one of the Top 20 Women in Housing at the Women In Housing Awards recently.

Members have been able to take advantage of Webinars from across the Country during lockdown but we held our first North East Webinar in December - WHAT WOMEN WANT. We had three brilliant speakers, Iain Herdman from Karbon, Julie Brayson from Believe and Charlotte McMurchie from Muckle telling us about their organisational and personal experiences during Covid and beyond. We then had small workshops discussing what our 'ask' of employers would be to improve the workplace for women in social housing. Watch this space for our #WISH List. The event was sponsored by Positive about Inclusion, a new EDI consultancy in the North East. 

We also partnered up with CIH NE and held a virtual Christmas Quiz raising money for MIND raising over £400.

We have agreed some changes to our Board. Caroline Gitsham, our Founder Chair of three years is standing down with effect from IWD 2021 and we are delighted Crystal Hicks is going to be our new Chair. Caroline will continue to support the Board and will continue in her role on the WISH CIC for a further year to ensure continuity. Judith Common is replacing Tina Drury as Vice Chair and we would like to put on record our thanks and appreciation to Tina for being one of our Founder Members and setting the tone at our first ever North East event back in November 2018. Her contribution to the Board has been insightful, inspiring and impactful and she continues to be a real ambassador for women in social housing. 

All the Regional Chairs are Directors on the National WISH CIC and Caroline has continued to work with other Directors and contribute to the national agenda throughout the pandemic. She has supported the development of the Business Strategy, represented WISH on the WIH Judging Panel and supported the appointment process for the new MD, Helen Greig. 

Finally, since everyone is in virtual meetings nowadays, we decided to get some WISH mugs made to brighten up the home offices and to remind our members that WISH is always there for them…it has got tea in it - honest!

We hope you have a lovely Christmas as best you can in the circumstances and we are hoping to see you soon (properly) in the New Year.