Women's reception in Morley
This evening we held an event in Cucina in Morley aimed at supporting, promoting and hearing the views of local women. It was wonderful to meet some really inspiring ladies, and such a wide mix; from Jenny a local Choir master who really makes a difference to the lives of local women, entrepreneurs, an inventor, a lady who worked in the NHS, local councillors to a passionate local businesswomen. All each with interesting stories to tell.
I would like to send a heartfelt thank you to our guest speakers, who are all Yorkshire Women;
Julia Mulligan
Julia is the Police and Crime Commisioner for North Yorkshire, who spoke with such passion about her role and how she is helping to support young women who are involved in binge drinking, who quite often are leaving themselves "vulnerable" to exploitation. Julia is formerly a councillor for Upper Wharfedale during which she was a member of the Planning Committee and Policy Committee. Julia has extensive experience working with the public sector, including the police and partner agencies.
Elizabeth Peacock
Elizabeth Peacock is so very spirited and her speech was both very humourous and heartfelt. Elizabeth served as a North Yorkshire County Councillor from 1981–84, and represented Batley and Spen in Parliament from 1983 to 1997 during a time when there was very few women in the house. She was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nicholas Scott as Minister for Social Security and Disabled People Unit (1992). Elizabeth is involved with the ‘Yorkshire Ladies Council of Education, which aims to improve the lives and the education of girls and women of all classes in Leeds and Yorkshire.
Wendy Morton
Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party for Social Action Wendy cares about making a difference in the community. Wendy is a former Richmond district councillor, former roles include an Executive Officer in HM Diplomatic Service at the Foreign Office. Wendy’s interests extend beyond politics she has been travelling to Rwanda with Project Umubano, the International Social Action Project leading a team of 79 volunteers. In 2013 she will be leading the project in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Burundi with Jeremy Lefroy MP.