Download NewsSplash Summer 2007 No.30

the newsletter of
The Springboard Consultancy
no. 30 Summer 2007
Extraordinary
progress by
trainers in India
Following the successful partnership started between
the British Council and the Indian Universities
Women's Studies Network, a further 16 Springboard
programmes, reaching 900 participants, are being run
in 16 cities spread right across India. These extend the
reach of the programme beyond the university sector
to include women in banking, health, media and
NGO's and whilst most of the programmes have a
mixture of participants, a programme run exclusively
for one of the banks is already under way.
This ambitious and visionary
project runs until January
2008 and is being directed by
Professor Usha Pathania,
Director, CWSD HP
University, Shimla, where she,
with Dr Mrinalini Solanki, are
currently running a
Springboard programme for
75 women at St Bede's
College. Applications for all
Professor Usha Pathania, the programmes are pouring
director of the nationwide in and the team, which also
Springboard project
includes Arpana Ruth, Dr.
Deepali Bhanot and Pooja
Springboard group with Usha Pathania (6th from right, front
row) and Pooja Sharma (6th from left, front row)
Sharma are travelling all over the country to deliver
them, over huge distances - sometimes taking whole
days travelling by train.
Sixty four workshop days delivered by just 5 trainers
in such a short space of time and over such enormous
geographical distances places a huge load on the
trainers but Usha reports: '…it is fun to conduct these
programmes and to see women blooming and coming
into their own.'
Meanwhile, back in Delhi, Radha Swaminathan, from
the World Health Organisation, is into her eleventh
year of running open Springboard programmes for
SCOPE (Standing Conference of Public Enterprise) as
well as a special programme for Engineers India Ltd,
consisting of women engineers in middle management.
It's always exciting to hear of new projects opening up
new areas, but it's equally exciting to hear such proof
of the sustainability of the Springboard trainers' work.
Courses in 2008
Springboard trainers licensing - for women trainers
9-14th March • 22-27th July • 7-12th September
Spring Forward 'Intensive'- for people on the way up
21-24th April
Spring Forward trainers licensing - for trainers
29th September- 3rd October
Fresh Steps 'Intensive'- for older workers
11-14th February
Fresh Steps trainers licensing - for trainers
14-18th July
Trainers annual conference - for all
licensed trainers
10-11th June
Navigator trainers licensing - for men trainers
2nd-7th November
Call Georgina Pullen on 01271-850828 for details of any of these courses.
www.springboardconsultancy.com
Fresh Stepping out in style
The new development programme for older workers is taking off in great style, with Fresh Steps trainers getting
brilliant results from their inaugural programmes. The University of Birmingham ran the first in-house
Fresh Steps programme, with Lancashire Constabulary hot on their heels. Also pioneering are Northumbria
University who have had such a positive response that another course is already scheduled for 2008, Walsall
MBC and the London Borough of Wandsworth.
'I found some of the exercises challenging, in a very positive way - and
the workshops were very self-affirming and excellent for raising
confidence and expectations. I found the workshops both stimulating and
enjoyable and I know this sentiment was shared by other participants.
I hope you continue to deliver and extend this important learning and
development opportunity to as many people as possible and feel sure I
will continue to benefit from my experience for a long time to come.'
Jeff Marsh, Learning and Development Officer,
London Borough of Wandsworth
The University of Birmingham group
with Liz Willis (standing, far left)
The Lancashire Constabulary group with
Liz Willis (centre)
At the London Borough of Wandsworth
with Jane Woods (far left, centre row)
The Northumbria University group with
Sue Hewitt (standing centre)
Annual results
In the last year, 8,484 people used our courses, resulting in 180,838 people in total, in 21
countries and using our materials translated into 12 languages.
23 new trainers joined the trainers network, meaning that a total of 854 trainers around
the world have been through our renowned trainers licensing courses.
Springboard in Armenia
The twelve women participating in the first Springboard programme in
Armenia have produced impressive results, overcoming the hurdles of
using the English-language workbook and some significant cultural
differences. Polish licensed Springboard trainer, Marianna Knothe,
delivered the programme and reports that the networking aspect worked
especially well in addition to individual achievements such as:
'Being more assertive, Balancing home and work, Being more sensitive,
Identifying my value system, Setting priorities' and 'Having a better
perception of myself.'
www.springboardconsultancy.com
Anna Mkhitaryan, Karine Ghazaryan,
Mariam Movsisyan, Naira Sultanyan,
Bella Dallakyan with
Marianna Knothe (far right).
Mentoring Award goes to
Angela Wilson
Mariam Daher (centre) with the first Springboard group in Madinah
Pioneers in Madinah
The Springboard programme
has just been delivered for the
very first time in Madinah,
Saudi Arabia. This is a
significant location because
Madinah City is where the
Prophet Mohammed and many
religious symbols are buried.
Therefore, it has very important
religious connotations and
visiting it is part of the
pilgrimage procedure. The very
The Arabic version of
successful Springboard programme,
the Springboard
course brochure.
using a culturalised version of the
programme and the Arabic
translation of the workbook, was run by Mariam Daher
and Faten Haidar, of the British Council in Riyadh.
We are very pleased
to support the
BAWP (British
Association of
Women in Policing)
by sponsoring their
Mentoring Award,
presented annually
at the BAWP
conference. Nominations for awards are scrutinised
by an impartial committee and the awards are
highly prized. This year, we were delighted to
present the award to Detective Chief
Superintendent Angela Wilson of Tayside Police
who has done an enormous amount to support and
actively encourage other women and who was
instrumental in setting up the Scottish Police
Service Women's Development Forum. Sadly,
Angela was unable to receive the award herself but
Constable Jenny Valentine received it on her behalf.
The photo shows Liz Willis, Chief Executive of The
Springboard Consultancy (left), Constable Jenny
Valentine (centre) and Julie Spence, Chief
Constable of Cambridgeshire Constabulary and
President of the BAWP (right).
How to join the trainers network
In recent months, another 17 trainers have joined the trainers network, having
successfully completed their licensing course. Both in-house and freelance
trainers are licensed to deliver any of our four mainstream courses:
Springboard for women, Navigator for men, Fresh Steps for older workers and
Spring Forward for people on their way up. Only currently licensed trainers are
qualified to deliver these programmes and to use our materials and logos. A
licence runs for three years and renewal is not automatic - a trainer has to
prove they are getting excellent results, so using a currently licensed trainer is
your quality assurance. They know what they're doing and, in addition to
running the course really well, they can also advise you on how to get the best
value from them and the course.
New in-house and freelance Springboard
trainers on their recent licensing courses.
Trainers licensing courses are run
at Holwell (left), our
eco-friendly residential training
centre, set in beautiful Devon
countryside.
Find out more about how to
become licensed by calling
Georgina on 01271-850828
or by accessing
www.springboardconsultancy.com/license.htm
www.springboardconsultancy.com
news
shorts
LANTRA
Navigators end on a high
The eight participants finished the recent Navigator
programme hosted at the University of Stirling literally
on a high. Run by trainer Peter Braidwood, the
programme welcomed participants from The Scottish
Police College, The Universities of Stirling and St
Andrews, The Scottish Environment Protection
Agency and Clackmannanshire Council.
The final session, which co-incidentally took place on
the longest day, saw the group take a walk up 'Dumyat'
(418 metres) which is the hill which overlooks the
university. Although heavy rain was forecast, the group
were still able to climb the hill, have some reflection
time, share future goals and 'graduate' in dry and sunny
conditions. As the group bid their farewells at the end
of the walk, a loud rumble of thunder was poignantly
heard in the distance and within 10 minutes there was
a heavy downpour of rain! This Navigator programme
certainly changed the outlook of some of the
participants - but maybe it's too much to consider that
it had had an influence on the local weather!
The good news
and the bad news
First, the good news: Literacy rates, enrolment in
schools and parliamentary membership have all
increased for women in the ten years between 1994
and 2004, according to the latest figures from the
United Nations.
And now the bad news. In the same ten years, other
areas of women’s lives have deteriorated:
• Trafficking of women and girls is one of the fastestgrowing areas of organised crime.
• Violence against women between 15 and 44 years
old causes more deaths and disability than cancer,
malaria, traffic accidents and even war.
• The World Health Organisation reports that one in
five women will be the victim of rape or attempted
rape at some point in their lives.
• 80% of the world’s illiterate people aged 15 and
older are women.
• Women earn on average two-thirds to threequarters as much as men for the same work.
• In the UK, domestic violence accounts for a quarter
of all recorded crime and two women are killed
every week by a current or former partner.
Sue Hewitt (centre
seated) with
participants at the
Rockingham Arms pub
in South Yorkshire at the completion of the second
Springboard course run with funding from LANTRA
through the South Yorkshire Rural Skills Project.
Sue was invited by LANTRA, the sector skills agency
for agriculture, horticulture and forestry, to apply
for EU grant funding to run Springboard in South
Yorkshire after they identified a need to support
women in farming.
UCE participants with licensed
trainer, Patricia Cresswell
The University
of Central
England
The University of
Central England ran its first Spring Forward
programme earlier this year which proved to be so
popular, it was immediately oversubscribed! The
programme was attended by a mix of academic and
non academic staff and the feedback was extremely
positive from all those attending.
National Grid
National Grid started
Springboard and Spring
Forward at the same
time, and have already
completed two Spring
Forward and three
Springboard
programmes (supported
by the organisations
'Women in Networks) in
the last year, with a
top: The recent Spring total of over 100 participants.
Forward group with As a result of projects undertaken
trainer Patricia
by Spring Forward participants,
Cresswell (far right)
plans to offer all Springboard
participants access to a mentor
bottom: The first
are also being developed so the
Springboard group
with trainer Georgina two groups are already providing
Pullen (second right) support to each other.
Holwell, East Down, Barnstaple,
Devon EX31 4NZ England
Tel: 01271 850828 Fax: 01271 850130
[email protected]
www.springboardconsultancy.com
© The Springboard Consultancy.
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