International Women's Day "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress"

What an incredible event we had in 2023! Call us ambitious but this year we want to build on that success and amplify the impact of our event, with plans to go bigger and better than before.

Hosted by Nick Shepherd, this event will feature a panel of inspirational speakers who will be raising the topic of the 2024 theme ‘Inspire Inclusion’.

The location of this event is Leigh Sports Village, this is home to some of England's Ladies Football team, who many would describe as some of the most influential women of 2023.  

We are excited to bring together people from throughout Greater Manchester to this meaningful location to engage in this thought provoking and empowering event.   This year we are focusing on groundbreaking women with sports and culture as the anchor for the discussion.  

Greater Manchester has long been associated with world leading sports and culture, with the benefits felt well beyond the confines of just games or performances. At the event we’ll be discussing how that momentum can continue to support women in sport and business.   

Attending the event will be our panel of inspiring and successful women from the fields of business and culture:

• Janine Smith, Director of GM Business Growth Hub
• Alison McKenzie-Folan, Chief Executive - Wigan Council
• Claire Burham, Assistant Director Skill and Enterprise - Wigan Council
• Victoria Braddock, Chief Executive - Marketing Manchester
• Risha Lancaster, Co-founder, Coffee4Craig
• Helen Hardy, Founder - Foudy's 

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a worldwide event that recognizes the accomplishments of women in social, economic, cultural, and political spheres. It is one of the most important days of the year to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness about gender equality and advocate for positive change, and support groups that focus on empowering women. The purpose of International Women’s Day is to encourage worldwide engagement and collective action in advancing women's equality.  

We would like to encourage everyone to attend our free event irrespective of gender, as the theme suggest we want to ‘Inspire Inclusion’ and include representation of many groups at our event.  

About GM Business Growth Hub

GM Business Growth Hub, part of The Growth Company, helps businesses at all stages of their growth journey with a broad range of services delivered by its experts, as well as public and private sector partners. These services include one-to-one and peer-to-peer business support, events, specialist programmes and funding.

 GM Business Growth Hub is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

About UK Shared Prosperity Fund

 The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus