Why take on a voluntary role?
With the summer nearly over, children back to school and my Bedfordshire BusinessWomen (BBW) Presidential year is coming to an end. As a business woman in 2013, I have been taking some time to consider how worthwhile my role as President has been to my business and to the services that I offer to my clients.
Being President has added real value to my business and whilst the workload has been at times overwhelming, I have a much stronger portfolio of skills and experience as a result. Anyone considering taking up a voluntary role should consider these business benefits, which often cannot be achieved any other way.
So, I wanted to share some of my highlights of being President of BBW during the last year.
October 2012 and our 25th year of networking started on a high as Finalists for Fundraiser of the year 2012 at the Pride in Bedford Awards. Our first event was an evening fashion show at Mercedes Benz of Bedford, where some of our members modeled on the catwalk.
November 2012 was an exceptional month, winning the Community Investment Award, at the Beds & Luton Business Excellence Awards 2012, and at the same event Finalists for Enterprising Organisation of the year 2012, as well as Runners-Up for Networking Group of the Year 2012 at the East of England Business Champions 2012.
We were treated to breakfast in the Mayors parlour and later in November, afternoon tea at Woburn with workshops delivered by members. After a great Christmas afternoon event with fun, frolics and Santa, at the Embankment Hotel, in December, we started 2013 off with the traditional ‘Man Day’ at Millbrook Proving Ground, with over 60 men and women experiencing an exciting day of high-speed pro-drives, professional networking and inspiring presentations. We also celebrated with our annual International Women’s Day event, sponsored by Bedford College, where we were dined in decadent surroundings at the Mansion House, Old Warden.
Always keen to raise money for charity, other than The Road Victims Trust (RVT)my charity of the year, we took part in the Ladies Driving Challenge, RAF Alconbury, for The Fire Fighters Charity, raising over £1,000, this was definitely one of my highlights from the year.
There are many more highlights; yoga at Champney’s in March, joint FSB Business Expo in April, Putteridge Bury in May, Lifestyle event, Luton Hoo in July and my leaving event, an afternoon garden party at Milton Ernest.
New for my year are monthly workshops at the i-Lab run by our own members and any member is welcome to run workshops, or share with BBW, aspects of their business, we actively encourage joint working and networking outside of BBW events.
It wouldn’t be right to finish this review without mentioning our spectacular 25th anniversary ball and awards evening in June at the Sharnbrook Hotel – a truly glamorous event and very befitting of such a wonderful group of ladies and of course also winning the FSB Best Networking Group 2013 in June.
Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to everybody who has contributed to BBW in some way, for supporting me as President, and made this another successful year for us all. I wish Emma and the members of BBW all the very best for the coming 12 months.
Amanda Murrell