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Help shape the future of WAND!

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Since its inception in 2010, Women’s Action Network Dorset (WAND), has promoted women’s rights and wellbeing through a combination of fundraising for women’s services and providing opportunities for women in Dorset to socialise and share their skills.

We’ve had a really great time and are very proud of all we have achieved. As we approach our 10th anniversary we are keen to review WAND’s outlook and activities to ensure it still reflects and caters for the needs of its supporters and the girls and women of Dorset – and we’d like you to get involved!

Workshop and free cream tea!

If you’re interested in shaping the future of WAND or getting involved with our work, then please come along to our workshop ‘Shaping the future of WAND’, which will include a cream tea and our AGM. We will have a discussion session where you can let us know what you think the priorities are for women and girls in Dorset, and how WAND could work towards achieving these. This is your opportunity to influence how WAND operates in the future – and maybe become a member of our network of wonderful women?

Join us!

If this sounds good, then come along on Monday 30th September, 6.30 – 8.00pm at Borough Gardens House, Dorchester. Feel free to bring a friend.

We hope to see you there.

Borough Gardens House is located in the corner of Borough Gardens, Cornwall Road, Dorchester, DT1 1RG. Free parking available at Fairfield car park from 6pm.

#TreesAreTheKey

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WAND supporters invited to premiere of new documentary film

WAND Patron Tracey West has been instrumental in making a powerful new documentary film about female empowerment through tree planting in Kenya, to be released next month.

#TreesAreTheKey, by filmmaker Tyson Short and narrated by Kate Winslet, contains a blueprint for mitigating climate change and alleviating hunger and poverty in Africa. It documents the tree planters of Boré, Kenya, shining a spotlight on the women’s empowerment group Mothers of the Forest.

The 40-minute documentary has been made in conjunction with The Word Forest Organisation, a Dorset charity that plants trees, builds classrooms and facilitates education in rural Kenya.

Lyme Regis premiere

The film premieres at the Lyme Regis Marine Theatre on Wednesday 2 October before going on general release. The evening will include a Q&A with the Word Forest team. WAND members and friends are warmly invited to attend the screening. Tickets £7.50 in advance or £9 on the door.

Find out more about the Word Forest Organisation or buy premiere tickets.

Another fantastic Dorset Women’s Day

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On 9 March 2019 we held our 14th Dorset Women’s Day and it was another amazing event. We had workshops on: Burlesque, sugarcraft, cross stitch, belly dancing, Free Fuzion, 50:50 campaign, singing, healthy eating, the benefits of using rosemary and lavender to name just a few.

A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in the day – from the Core Group members who plan the day, our fabulous volunteers who helped on the day (inc our brilliant catering team), all the workshop leaders who gave their time for free and the stallholders.

Thank you for all the feedback on the day – congratulations to Janine Miller who won the prize draw, picked at random from all the feedback forms.

Check out our gallery below.

Dorset Women’s Week 2019 Programme is now out!

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WAND is excited to publish the Dorset Women’s Week 2019 Programme! The week runs from 2-9 March and culminates again in Dorset Women’s Day.

We have lots of fantastic events and opportunities during the week including The Live Laugh Ladies Club, Women in Business Breakfast, Women’s Workshop on The Menopause, A Wellness Walkabout and Yoga. See programme for details.

Dorset Women’s Day

Dorset Women’s Day is on on Saturday 9 March (at the Dorford Centre, Dorchester) and has a wide range of exciting workshops including an Interview with Minette Walters, cross stitch, laughter workshop, and a singing workshop to name just a few!  Following the success of last year we have the Borough Garden’s House as an additional location again which will host workshops including burlesque, belly dancing and yoga. You’ll need to book at the Dorford Centre for workshops at both locations. 

We have some brilliant performances in the main hall throughout the day, along with stalls selling a range of products and information stands. See the Programme for more details.

Our amazing catering team will be selling drinks and delicious sandwiches and cakes. We also have our Rummage Room so come and have rummage and pick up some new to you.  If you have anything you’d like to donate please bring it along on the day. And our brilliant (qualified) creche team will be offering free places to look after younger children.

A huge thank you to everyone who is giving up their time to run a workshop, perform, have a stall as well as the brilliant team behind the scenes making this a fabulous day.

Our Patron Tracey West says:

“Hey there, all you wonder- filled women of Dorset!

I run an environmental charity and over the past 12 months, I’ve become acutely aware that the issues that frequently bite women here in the UK, do the same to women in Africa: period poverty, social isolation, depression, oppression, domestic violence and more.  By uniting to share our joys, passions, creative abilities, coping mechanisms and woes, I know we can build supportive frameworks within our communities, that give us better tools to cope with the challenges we’re frequently faced with.

Please use this wonderful opportunity to come together with others to put some positive energy in the pot and take some inspirational energy out too!”

Check out our Facebook page for any updates.

Reclaim the Night Thank you

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WAND wishes to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped make Reclaim the Night 2018 another fantastic evening. From the volunteers who organised it, to the fabulous donors and of course to everyone, who braved the wet November evening, to join us for an amazing night.

We started with a fantastic (as always) drumming working with the fabulous Organic Rhythm.  We then headed into town for a drumming march to ‘Reclaim the Night’.  We were joined by BBC South who included the event on the local news sections on BBC Breakfast. 

Thanks to our catering team we had another delicious supper, and then we made over £1,000 at the charity auction, thanks to our brilliant patron and auctioneer Tracey West.  This includes generous donations from Aster Housing and Baharah Bellydance in Swanage.  The money raised from the auction will go to the Dorset Women’s Crisis and Information Centre and The Shores in Bournemouth (the Sexual Abuse Referral Centre).

Check out our facebook page to see a video from the event!

A special thank you to all our amazing donors, including:

  • Abbotsbury Gardens
  • Aster Housing
  • Athelhampton House
  • Avon Valley Railway
  • Baharah Bellydance
  • Belle Modelle
  • Came Down Golf Course
  • Caroline Scott
  • Clipper Tea
  • Cote Brasserie
  • Cullompton Community Crafters: Jan, June and Margot
  • David Upshall
  • Ford Farm
  • Goulds
  • Lisa Whittles
  • Magdalena Atkinson
  • Marika Romano
  • Neal’s Yard Remedies Consultant Maria Clarke
  • Plaza
  • Posh Partridge
  • Poundbury Garden Centre
  • Roman Baths, Fashion Museum and Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
  • Royal Crescent Bath
  • Sculpture by the Lakes
  • SGM Hair
  • Shona Iona: Dorchester & Weymouth Belly Dance
  • Soulshine, Bridport
  • Steamer Trading
  • Stems
  • Swanage Railway
  • Tesco Dorchester
  • WAND Core Group
  • Yarlbury Cottage

Reclaim the Night 2018 Invitation

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Reclaim the Night 2018 Poster

Everyone in Dorset is invited to join WAND for our tenth annual Reclaim the Night event on 24 November, from 6.30-10.30 at the Town Hall in Dorchester (upstairs at the Corn Exchange, DT1 1HF).

WAND – Women’s Action Network Dorset – is hosting the night to link in with “International End Violence Against Women Day” held each year on 25 November.

Tickets cost £5, to be bought on the door, and include a drumming workshop with the wonderful Organic Rhythm, a buffet supper and a charity auction.  The main event of the evening will be a short march through the Dorchester streets to ‘Reclaim the Night’.

The march through the streets is our way of raising awareness of the vulnerability faced by many women through domestic violence and abuse, rape, and honour-based violence.  While the event has a serious theme, it’s a really fun evening.

The money raised from the auction will go to support the Dorset Women’s Crisis and Information Centre and The Shores (Sexual Abuse Referral Centre) in Bournemouth to support their valuable work.  Last year we raised over £650 at event.

We are again welcoming anyone who wishes to contribute towards ending violence against woman – so this will not be a female only event – it is open to everyone.

While WAND recognises that domestic violence doesn’t just affect women and that men can also be subjected to it, as a women’s organisation Reclaim the Night is still focused on support for women.

So please come along to our friendly event which promises a fun evening despite its serious message.

If you would like to donate a prize for the charity auction please contact: wanddorset@gmail.com or call 07956 896114.

Download poster here.

For more information or if you would like to make a donation to the charity auction please contact wanddorset@gmail.com or call 07956 896114.

 

WAND AGM 2018 – Dorset’s Rebellious Women

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The WAND AGM 2018 will be held on Wednesday 18 July, from 6pm-7.30pm at Borough Garden’s House Dorchester.  After a short report from the chair about our activities over the last year, treasurers report and the election of our core group and key officers there will time for networking and a delicious cream tea!  The whole event is free to attend.

We are excited to guest speaker, Harriet Still, join us to talk about the Radical Dorset Project and Dorset’s rebellious women.

The Radical Dorset project was carried out by Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum in Dorchester, with a group of local, young volunteers. Along the way, the group unearthed records of Dorset women who had stood up for what they believed in, in very different ways.  In September, the Radical Dorset project will make way for the Rebellious Sounds Archive.  This project was created by Dreadnought South West, with HLF funding, to record the oral histories of women in the South West who wanted to share their stories of activism.  It picks up where Radical Dorset leaves off, charting the ongoing stories of women who have rebelled against injustice today.

Harriet, Shire Hall’s Events and Exhibitions Manager, will go through some of the fascinating accounts of these radical Dorset women at the AGM, as well as linking to the recent stories collected as part of the Rebellious Sounds Archive and the way that you can contribute to this project.

Harriet said “I’m really excited to be sharing these stories of Dorset women of the past with Dorset women of today.  Working within a courthouse that was dominated by men until 1919, it was really interesting to discover these cases of women who found ways of rebelling against politics or injustice outside of the legal system. I’m delighted to be able to bring this legacy into the present with the Rebellious Sounds Archive touring here in September, and to be able to share this opportunity to record contemporary stories”.

WAND Chair said: “Our AGM is a great opportunity to find out about WAND and what we do.  It’s also a great place to meet up with friends, have a delicious cream tea and hear about some fascinating Dorset Women – and all for free! We’re always looking for new volunteers to join the Core Group or to help with our events. We hope you’ll join us.”

WAND AGM 2018 Poster

For further information, contact WAND wanddorset@gmail.com or call WAND on 07956 896114.

(Borough Gardens House is located on the south west end of Borough Gardens – close to the Fairfield (market) car park).

Another brilliant Dorset Women’s Week in 2018

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A massive thank you to everyone involved in running events during Dorset Women’s Week 2018  which resulted in another brilliant week!

The week ended with another fantastic Dorset Women’s Day!  Thank you to all the amazing workshop leaders; stallholders; and performers!  And thank you to everyone who came along despite the wet weather.

Congratulations to prize winner Sally who won the box of Lush goodies for giving us feedback on the day.

We hope you all enjoyed it.  Please see below for a selection of photos from Dorset Women’s Day.

Update to Dorset Women’s Week Programme: Boadicea of Britannia Street

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Please note the fundraising event of the Boadicea of Britannia Street for DAIT will now be on SUNDAY 4th MARCH  at  4pm still at Cerne Abbas Village Hall.
Tickets can be bought via Molly on 01305 268572 or at Cerne  Village Stores.
One of the actors had to pull out due to circumstances beyond her control another actor is stepping in but is unable to perform on the 8 March so the date has been changed for this performance.  There will therefore be no performance on 8 March.
Check out the WAND Facebook page for any further updates to Dorset Women’s Week or Dorset Women’s Day.

Dorset Women’s Week 2018 – Programme Published

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WAND is excited to publish the Dorset Women’s Week 2018 Programme!  The week runs from 3-10 March and culminates again in Dorset Women’s Day.

We have lots of fantastic events and opportunities during the week including events at Bridport Art Centre, The Successful Women Conference and a session ‘Post-Domestic Abuse: Creative Strategies for Coping with Life’ being run by our patron Tracey West. See programme for details.

Dorset Women’s Day is on on Saturday 10 March (at the Dorford Centre, Dorchester) and has a wide range of exciting workshops including cross stitch, bookbinding, healthy eating and how to sleep well to name just a few!  Following the success of last year we have the Borough Garden’s House as our additional location again which will host workshops including African drumming, belly dancing and yoga. You’ll need to book at the Dorford Centre for workshops at both locations. 

We have some brilliant performances in the main hall throughout the day, along with stalls selling a range of products and information stands. See the Programme for more details.

Our amazing catering team will be selling drinks and delicious sandwiches and cakes. We also have our Rummage Room so come and have rummage and pick up some new to you.  If you have anything you’d like to donate please bring it along on the day.

A huge thank you to everyone who is giving up their time to run a workshop, perform, have a stall as well as the brilliant team behind the scenes making this a fabulous day.

This year is extra special as we celebrate 100 years of women’s suffrage.  WAND patron Tracey West says:

“‘Suffrage’ is the right to vote in public affairs and political elections. It commonly marks the long and winding road that describes female emancipation and universal suffrage for women, which is being highlighted throughout February across the country.

WAND is hosting a week of inspiring events that chime with the passion roused within the suffrage movement. It happens to coincide with the centenary of The Representation of the People Act, 1918, the commencement of which finally allowed British women over the
age of 30, who met certain property qualifications, to vote for the first time. They went on to exercise that right at the general election later that year.”

We hope you can join us!

If you have any queries please email wanddorset@gmail.com or call WAND on 07956 896114.