"Make it happen!"...

...is the theme behind this year's International Women's Day.

If you opened Google this morning and saw this...

...did you click on the image to see what it was all about or did you continue on your way to the site you were heading for?

International Women's Day is celebrated on the 8 March each year - this year there was an event held at my place of work (Thursday 5 March) and we had some fabulous speakers who shared with us how they "made it happen". Although the event was open to everyone (male & female) only one of my male colleagues came along - but he did spread the word after and perhaps next year there will be more of a mix in the audience.

Our first speaker of the day was Aneeta Prem (find out more about her work here). Her presentation was moving, thought provoking and very interesting. We were extremely lucky to have her attend - something brought about by her acquaintance with a colleague who is a Magistrate the same as she is.

We had various speakers from within our own organisation 'sharing' their journeys. Nothing was presented in a political way - much of it was light-hearted - but it showed that there need not be a barrier to pursuing our dreams. One speaker was the first senior female working in the promotion of 'Digital'...previously a solely male area of work in our workplace. Another was the first female director of a particular area of our business. There were colleagues discussing volunteering that they undertake (school governors, local authority work) and we also had a female colleague who recently qualified as an Anglican minister. A very wide range of 'journeys' and all very interesting.

It made me stop and think about many of the 'workplace' changes that have occurred within my own lifetime...

We have had women in space.

Women now play an active role in our Armed forces. We had the first female "Chelsea Pensioner"  as a result.

The Fire Service was opened up to female fire-fighters.  

Here in the UK we had our first female Prime minister.

As of today we now have a female bishop.

...and on the reverse...

Men can now become mid-wives.

If nothing else this Sunday morning, whilst you sit and have your cuppa and read the paper, why not spend a few moments thinking about things that have changed during your lifetime. Is there something that you would like to do but feel there are barriers in the way - take a moment to pause and think about what you could do to "Make it happen"..............................................................