celebrate

President’s monthly update

April 2024

Happy Easter! Wishing everyone joy, peace and hope.

March seems to have lived up to the saying “March many weathers”! I do hope that you managed to escape the unexpected showers and gusts of wind in between the sunshine. 

Despite the March weather, I am sure we have all enjoyed celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD), Mothering Sunday, Nowruz, Nyepi and Holi but it was also a month of reflection and abstinence as some observed Lent and Ramadan. A special time to give thanks and express gratitude for the good in our lives. 

IWD was marked this month with a range of events and I was fortunate to attend PAWA’s Annual Meeting showcasing the education projects they support in Asia, The Company of World Traders panel discussion with Alderman and Sheriff, Dame Susan Langley, and the Australian Women’s Club coffee morning with an inspiring talk by astronaut Dr Meganne Christian. All the events were so informative and motivating and it was great to see such positivity around women’s achievements. As a celebration of IWD, FIWAL hosted a lighthearted and convivial evening at Fortnum’s in the City with food, wine, shopping and lively conversation - activities appreciated by all women! It was wonderful to see so many of you there and hear all of your news. 

I also joined Welcome Club International’s (WCI) NGO CSW68 parallel event online on the UN theme of women’s empowerment through service and education.  FIWAL members are Associate Members of WCI through Welcome to London (WTL), one of FIWAL’s founding members. Sadly, WTL have decided to close their organisation after 40 years. I would like to thank Jocelyn Jones and Dee Medawar who have both been involved in FIWAL through WTL - their support of FIWAL has been invaluable. We are sad to see WTL close but they have left an amazing legacy of WCI and all the sister clubs across the world. I am pleased to hear that Dee will still be active in FIWAL through her membership of TWC and CCL. 

Please remember that we have our upcoming FIWAL Fireside Chat Zoom for Member Reps on the 16th of April. Do join as the sessions have been very constructive in helping the FIWAL Executive to understand our members’ concerns. We have already started compiling a resource list of venue and speaker information to share with Member Reps. 

We are also very excited to announce details of the FIWAL Spring Lunch at the RAC Pall Mall on 14th May 2024 at noon. The RAC is an iconic private members club started in 1897 and the Pall Mall building was opened in 1911. It has been described as ‘a mini-palace of opulence and Edwardian hedonism’ with its sporting and recreational facilities, including the Graeco-Roman swimming pool and Turkish Baths which are greatly admired. In keeping with RAC’s links to travel and adventure, we are delighted to welcome our guest speaker, Jacki Murphy Hill MA FRGS, who is an explorer, teacher, author and speaker. She will speak to us about what women explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries can teach us about finding our inner adventuress! Jacki has thoroughly researched, as well as recreated, some of the fascinating journeys done by women explorers across the world: South America, Africa, India, Siberia and more. As well as her adventures, she is a patron of ‘Womankind’ and founding director of ‘Under the Sky’. Find out more about her at: www.jackihill-murphy.co.uk. Do not miss this wonderful event, book early as spaces are limited!

Lastly, a big thank you to Roxanne for starting our FIWAL Instagram account: FIWAL_official. This is very exciting so please do follow us and we can also help to promote our member’s activities. 

In addition to Easter blessings, warm wishes this April for a joyous Eid al-Fitr and a Happy Passover filled with happiness and love!

Zehan Albakri