Inspirational women feature at KCOM networking event

Grasp every new opportunity, never be afraid of venturing out of your comfort zone and surround yourself with a network of talented people.

These were just three of the powerful messages delivered at KCOM’s International Women’s Day event this week, which welcomed 60 young women from schools and colleges across the region to the broadband company’s Hull HQ.

At the event, the attendees heard  first hand from inspirational women including KCOM’s own MD of Enterprise Jan Collins,  HEY Smile Foundation Community Development Manager Sophie Bartup and fintech product pioneer Natasha Garry.

Jan said it was vital that businesses such as KCOM celebrated events like International Women’s Day, which this years falls on Saturday, 8 March, to inspire the next generation of female leaders.

She said: “It’s a really exciting event for International Women’s Day. We have around 60 young women here today, we’ve got lots of guest speakers and mentoring sessions for them to take part in.

“I hope the women attending today will be inspired and realise that they don’t have to have it all already figured out. We’ll raise some of the concerns and some of the challenges that they’ll face but also have some mentoring and great advice that they can take forward into their future careers.”

Guest speaker Sophie Bartup gave insights into her career journey and how volunteering as a football coach had opened up whole new horizons and helped her hone valuable skills.

She said: “It’s really inspiring to be here today to be here today and to be able to talk to these young women about my journey. My speech was on volunteering and on how the more you give, the more you grow.

“It’s also a fantastic opportunity for the charity sector to connect with the corporate sector because we have such a diverse group of people across both sectors and the more we can share our knowledge, our resources and our insights is fantastic way to impact positively on local communities.”

This year, the international day of action has the tagline of #AccelerateAction to encourage gender equality across communities and in the workplace.

Ron Dearing UTC student Lucy Metcalfe, who is looking to pursue a career in mechanical engineers, said it was great to get insights from women professionals at one of the region’s leading tech businesses.

She said: “I’m interested in mechanical engineering but there’s lots of other opportunities and I want to learn about them all. Today’s been really helpful because I’ve learned about different routes and different career opportunities that you might not have thought existed. Days like this give me insight on different roles that I might want to go into.”

Posting on LinkedIn, Clare Chaffe,  Assistant Principal at Hull College, said: “Today, I had the privilege of joining some of our students Hull College at the KCOM International Women's Day event.  It was an inspiring day filled with powerful stories from women in a variety of roles - each sharing their journeys, the challenges they've faced, and how they’ve navigated their paths to success.

“Events like this are vital in empowering the next generation, giving them the confidence to own their ambitions and redefine what’s possible. I’m proud to work in a sector that champions these conversations and encourages young women to be bold, take risks, and carve their own paths.”

For more details about International Women’s Day visit www.internationalwomensday.com