APRIL 2008 NEWS

Premises

On 7th April we moved into our offices at the Birchcliffe Centre in Hebden Bridge. We started with two desk spaces. It will provide a great base from which volunteers can work.

Charitable Status
On 24th April we received via our hardworking accountant John Dakin a letter from the Charities Commission saying they had accepted our registration as a Charity.

Europe

A meeting of the European Task Force heard presentations by 35 European member states on their national action plans to end violence against women. There was not as much reference to the roles of men either as perpetrators, allies or victims in many of the reports as I would have liked, but here were also some good examples of innovative practice-  the Albanian parliament held a reversed gender day when the Parliament consisted of 130 women and 10 men, and the Finnish Parliament had a media attracting Handprints against Violence.

Later in the month a meeting at the Austrian Parliament passed the Vienna declaration reinforcing European Parliamentarians determination to support the establishment of a European wide broadly based human rights convention to end violence against women.

We held a useful meeting with the Austrian White Ribbon Campaign one of Europe’s most progressive.

North West Equality Awards
After speaking at the North West Equality and Diversity group last month  Chris Green was the keynote speaker at the North West Employers Organisation Equality Awards, where local authorities were showcasing their best initiatives for Equality and Diversity.

Womens Movement
An excellent meeting was held with Womens Aid workers Deborah McIver and Judith Stevenson. WE examined ways of increasing co-operation.

Trade Unions
We were invited to have a stand at the UNISON National Conference in July. The usual cost for commercial organisations is nearly £2,000.

Chris Green spoke at the Derby conference on Men and Domestic Violence organised by  Do the Right Thing which is holding a range of events around different aspects of domestic abuse

Festivals
Plans to staff the summer festivals proceeded, co-ordinated by Akhil Walji.

More news