Inspiring Women

Around forty women joined us to celebrate International Women's Day on 8 March 2025.

We gathered at Skye Bridge Studios in Kyle of Lochalsh for a full day of inspiration, connection and empowerment.

It was the third year I'd co-hosted an International Women's Day event.

In 2023, we showed the film Girl Rising, which told the story of nine girls around the world, striving beyond circumstance, pushing past limits. Their dreams, their voices, their remarkable stories - captured in an unforgettable feature film about the strength of the human spirit - and the power of education. We hosted a conversation with women from Skye and Lochalsh asking... What empowered the girls in the film? and... What might we do together to create an environment of empowerment for the women and girls in our local community?

In 2024, we hosted a second event to bring together the women in Skye and Lochalsh, this time focusing closer to home. Watching a curated collection of short and micro films featuring women in Scotland telling inspiring stories, and speaking and singing about issues which affect women. Again we hosted a conversation, asking How did the films touch us? What did the films inspire in us? What did the films call us to create in our local community?

On International Women's Day 2025, we brought the event even closer to home, inviting the women of Skye and Lochalsh to share their stories, passions, skills and lives. As 8 March fell on a Saturday, we made a full twelve hour day of it!

I hosted Connecting Conversations, in the morning, encouraging those gathered to meet one another and drop into deeper conversation. Next we had a giant art workshop hosted by the wonderful Ellis O'Connor who encouraged everyone, with inks and art materials, to play, to be free, to follow our intuition and to not be attached to the outcome. It was liberating! Next over lunch, provided by the local WI, was a chance to experience the women's art exhibition (also in it's third year) curated by Sara Taylor - so diverse and so inspiring! There was also a chance to engage with women from the local community in a skillshare curated by Lisa Supper of the Lifelong Learning Hub. Mary's Chairs and Sarah of All Things Coorie shared their skills and their crafts.

In the afternoon, we were treated to enlightening talks in Women who Lead and Influence, by two local women Karen Kennedy of Kennedy Accountancy and Caroline McQuistin, followed by a panel interview hosted by Sara Taylor. After that visionboarding with Amy Bentall and Emma Bee of The Selkie Collective to tap into our desires and design our lives. Dinner brought delicious offerings from Eve Majawat of Sama Sama and Rhona Coogan of The Market Kitchen. And we finished the day with an inspirational and emotional storytelling event with seven women (Sheana Roberts, Rhona Coogan, Lisa Supper, Ellis O'Connor, Eve Majawat, Natasha Stanley and I) telling life stories through the lens of the women who'd inspired.

It was awesome to witness the connections... the joy... the creativity... the inspiration.... the emotion... the power... the love... and the community.

I was particularly moved

...to hear the depth of conversations happening throughout the day

...by the impact of the art and how it reconnected women with a lost creativity

...by women's courage to set boundaries, to be seen and heard

...seeing women connect with what they desire... what they truly want... designing their lives

...by the inspiring stories of the ordinary, everyday women (if there is ever such a thing!)

...by the bravery of women to stand up and tell their stories and for trusting me to hold the space safely.

It really was magical ✨✨✨

Enormous thanks to the team for co-creating the event this year - Sara, Lisa, Ellis, Emma and Amy; to all those involved in all the ways, especially the storytellers - Sheana, Rhona, Lisa, Ellis, Eve and Natasha - your stories blew me away; and to everyone who came and chose to spend the day with us, thankyou. 💖💖💖

We're not sure we can pull this scale of event off every year, but perhaps every year the event falls on a Saturday! 😂