School of Politics and International Relations

Student given an achievement-award for her part in organising a 'Fempowerment' event

Emily Westwick

Student Emily Westwick, on a placement at Nottingham Equal has been given an achievement award by The Sherriff Of Nottingham for her part in organising a 'Fempowerment' event at the Town Hall for International Women's Day on 7 March 2017.

Emily describes her placement and the event below:

"In my first year I was used to regular emails from the politics careers and placement team, to which I decided to look into more as a second year student. My friend within the politics department had volunteered at the Rosie May foundation last term and found it very rewarding, so much so that she is now continuing this semester with them. This was one of the main reasons why I got involved, and was surprised with how supportive the placement team were. For instance, I had a pre-interview meeting and a preparation workshop, along with other students, to help deal with the professional environment.

The placement I am currently with is with the local organisation Nottingham Equal, which represents BME (black, minority and ethnic) communities. In particular, I have been leading the Fempowerment branch of Nottingham Equal, helping to empower females in Nottingham. This organisation has close connections within Nottinghamshire Police force, as Safdar Azam is both the head of Nottingham Equal and sits on the Independent Advisory Group for the Police.

Through this placement I had to help organise an International Women's Day which was on 7 March at the Nottingham Council House. In the lead up to the event we had a weekly meeting over a period of four weeks whereby I chiefly took the minutes. This was a new skill for me, which I learnt how to action someone and how the correct layout should be. In addition, I was the main person who contacted all potential stall holders.

The event itself had speakers, stalls, Zumba, awards, food and networking. I helped on the registration desk, purchased flowers for specific awards, helped all stall holders and took photographs of the event. There were a total of 16 different stall holders present which I was very pleased about, as it was my role to get enough. In the build up to the event the stall holders took a while to respond which made me anxious that I would let down the team, but I used follow up emails and had patience. This was a valuable experience, as I have learnt how to conduct myself in a professional environment, through emails and other correspondence in particular."

Posted on Wednesday 15th March 2017

School of Politics and International Relations

Law and Social Sciences building
University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

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