WJR Launches Its New Women’s Initiative
KEY FACTS
Pomegranate’s mission is to build an initiative with a difference
Pomegranate’s activities will focus on supporting WJR’s critical projects in Eastern Europe that provide desperately vulnerable, elderly people with essential home care
WJR’s new and unique women’s initiative, Pomegranate, launched last Thursday (6 March) at a lunch event in Knightsbridge with guest speaker Dame Stephanie Shirley. The event raised over £30,000 net profit for the elderly in Eastern Europe.
Instigated by a group of enterprising women from a range of backgrounds, Pomegranate’s mission is to build an initiative with a difference. Aliza Blachman O’Keeffe, who co-chairs the Pomegranate initiative along with Sue Mandelbaum, said at the inaugural lunch:
“Many groups are focused on one niche such as mothers at home, or women in the City, but Pomegranate is more inclusive and broadly-based, bringing together enterprising women with a diverse range of life and career experiences who passionately want to make a significant impact on WJR’s activities”.
Pomegranate’s activities will focus on supporting WJR’s critical projects in Eastern Europe that provide desperately vulnerable, elderly people with essential home care – a compelling cause that requires and deserves dedicated support. Aliza continued:
“As we are all daughters, some of us helping our own elderly parents, we felt that Pomegranate’s contribution to WJR’s work should focus on supporting the elderly, helping to provide them with a lifeline”.
Pomegranate aims to get women Contributing and Connecting – complimenting ongoing fundraising with establishing an informal, but broad network of contacts and creating enjoyable opportunities for women to work together for the direct benefit of others.
The 150 women who attended the lunch, predominantly in their late twenties to late forties, were moved and inspired by guest speaker Dame Stephanie Shirley. Dame Stephanie arrived in Britain in 1939 as an unaccompanied five year old refugee on a Kindertransport from Austria organised by WJR (then known as CBF). Dame Stephanie is now one of the wealthiest women in Britain and one of the country’s most private and prolific philanthropists. In 1962, Dame Stephanie set up the FI Group, a company now known as Xansa, on her dining room table with just £6. Deciding to employ only women, she adopted the name ‘Steve;’ to get a foot in the door of a male-dominated sector. In 25 years as its Chief Executive she developed the company into a leading business technology group, pioneering new work practices and changing the position of professional women along the way.
With her strong belief that business people need to give something back to society Dame Stephanie nowadays focuses her attention on philanthropy, mainly on autism – as her only child Giles was severely autistic and died aged 35 in 1998.
Dame Stephanie said at the lunch:
“I needed to make sure that the life that was saved was worth saving so I try to make sure that I add value and that I give something back to the country that took me in”
If anyone wants to get involved with Pomegranate, please contact Caroline Beckman WJR on 020 8736 1250 or email cb@wjr.org.uk
