It is indeed, International Women’s Day today, which celebrates all things womanly, so we thought we’d get involved and share our Female Hall of Fame, which features all the women in the family sector who we think rock, and we’ll tell you why. So, settle down with a digestive or jammy dodger if you will, and sip your tea as we take a look at the foxy, the feisty and the philanthropic of the family justice system and beyond….
Our first Lady of Law has to be the one and only…
Baroness Hale, Judge of the Supreme Court
Baroness Hale goes into our Hall of Fame, for her elegant reasoning, humane approach and her sense of humour. You can check out how she thinks and what she does over at the Supreme Court website.
Camilla Batmanghelidjh CBE, Kids Company
Camilla is the Founder of Kids Company, an organisation that offers hands on support for vulnerable children. A unique woman running a unique organisation – Kids Company delivers its brand of support with love at the heart of its working ethos; Camilla will often sit with every child and hold and hug them whilst listening to what they say, and we mean genuinely listening. Her work is the future and the way forward. A trail blazer and a force for good, no Female Hall of Fame could be complete without her.
We knew Naomi was special when we first heard her talk about children. Some people have undeniable talent when it comes to understanding children and being able to give them the support they need, in a way they’ll appreciate it. Possibly the only Kids Coach in the UK, Naomi’s work centres around working with children who are having difficulties, often related to their parents’ separation and trying to help them through it. Her open-minded approach and warmth ensure her spot on our Hall of Fame.
Possibly the only one of her kind in the UK too, Vena has taken the sensual world by storm. The business of passion for Vena is serious – Dr Ramphal has a Phd, is a member of a highly specialised form of advanced Yogic Teaching which only a select few are ever invited to join and there are no books on the subject of philosophy which she can’t discuss with you, in-depth. Her beautiful and highly articulate blend of knowledge, passion, compassion and elegance are what make her and her work so vital and of course, why she has made our Hall of Fame.
Sue ‘gets’ children. She also understands what it’s like to be a parent and her common sense approach and her sense of fun, which she brings to her parenting coaching is hard to find. Read any number of her articles or watch her on any number of national TV channels and the most striking thing about Sue is her motto: children flourish when you give them your time. We often find ourselves agreeing emphatically with Sue on all things child and parent related and her brand of hands on advice is why she makes our Hall of Fame.
But our Hall of Fame could not be complete without some of our family members, too, so, in order to ensure maximum embarrassment, yes, we’re going to do this, complete with giant-sized photo, we have our final two members of the Hall of Fame….
Our Mum
Unconditional love, a huge smile, plenty of hugs when we need them and always just a phone call away, our mother makes the Hall of Fame, not because she is our mother – anyone can be that – but because she is a mother in the truest sense of the word. Everything we learned about compassion, the complexity of the human condition and the need to see the world through other people’s eyes, we learned from our mum. Her capacity to care and be there seems limitless and her abundance of generosity of spirit is aspirational. Mother’s Day may be on Sunday, but our mum goes in our Hall of Fame because, in reality, she is so much more.
And last, but by no means least……. oh yes, it’s your turn……
Our Sister
In her industry, she has gone from emerging talent to cutting-edge maven and is so modest about her successes you would never know what they were unless you forced them out of her (which we do sometimes). Amazingly positive and strong, Samantha is the twenty-first century’s answer to Girl Power and more than that, she’s a paradox – quiet but mischievous, with a blend of English Rose meets Middle Eastern mystery. Oh no, did we make you cringe? Ever so sorreh.
There are of course countless other women we know who are doing amazing things everywhere and we would like to make this small dedication to them too. For the women we know who are fighting for justice, for those who sit with homeless children in London alleyways, for our girlfriends who battle terrible losses and navigate life’s hardest paths, we salute you, one and all.
This song is for everyone in our Hall of Fame, for the women in our lives and for women everywhere…. Happy International Women’s day! (Click on the picture to hear the song….)
Our mums can be amasingly inspirational. Mine taught me, through example, to always stand up for my principles. When she was 8 years old, in Communist Poland, she cut the eyes out of the picture of Uncle Joe (Stalin) that was hanging at the front of the classroom when she was 8 years old back in 1948 and the teacher threatened to send the entire village to the Gulags, but the students refused to snitch on her. Without knowing a speck of English she moved to Canada in the late 60s.
Women have accomplished a lot, but there’s still so much more we can do.
Your mother’s our kind of woman.
What ! ! Have we no International Men’s Day ? Celebrating only women smacks of gender fascism. Why is it only women who are fighting for justice ? Are there no men doing the same ? And as for those who are homeless in London’s alleyways aren’t most of them male of all ages because they don’t qualify for housing in the same privileged way as women qualify ? Or is that something ‘we’ would prefer you not to talk about ?
We would have no objection to an International Men’s Day.
Oh hi there @Robert Whiston I ran a quick search and found exactly what you were looking for, cause to celebrate surely! http://www.internationalmensday.com/
Or here’s another idea, you could just set up your own International Men’s Day? I’m certain you’d find support, if you approached it in the right way.
How you can make a claim that this day “smacks of gender fascism” is quite extraordinary. We are privileged to celebrate as we please, I suggest you do more celebrating and less criticising.
This post is beautiful Natasha, and so are you – you are a beautiful beautiful woman.
Thank you for you very kind post. International Men’s Day! Fantastic.