July 2024: Afternoon Tea @ IBCC

We visited the iconic International Bomber Command Centre  in Lincoln for our summer celebration of networking, using the corporate marquee facility in the grounds. We were welcomed with a glass of Pimms, welcomed some new faces and caught up with connections.. 

IBCC catering team provided an exceptional Afternoon Tea, before we heard from IBCC CEO, Nicky van der Drift.  Nicky shared with us the journey to realise the dream of Tony Worth CVO, to build a memorial that commemorated not only the bravery and sacrifice of those who served and supported Bomber Command, but also to officially recognise the significant contribution of Lincolnshire to the outcome of WWII.

Nicky shared some of her incredible career journey so far and future plans for the facility.

We ended the afternoon with a tour of the facility which, you if you haven’t yet visited, is well worth your time.  

We raised an incredible £445 from pre-lunch heads and tails and our raffle – huge thank you as always to the companies and individuals which donated raffle prizes.

Our nominated charity for July 2024-June 2025 is International Bomber Command Centre.

May 2024: The Lincoln Distillery

Matt Felgate, Founder of The Lincoln Distillery, served us the fruits of the team efforts, with a fantastic selection of gins and liqueurs.  

Matt then gave us a tour of the distillery, with an insight into the process of creating their product line, and learning about the journey so far for Lincoln’s first commercial distillery.  

We were able to purchase the delicious drinks we had tasted, and if you missed it, you can still make purchases via the online shop.

The Lincoln Distillery

January 2024: Unstoppabl Personal Performance

Redefining the Journey:  Innovative Approaches to Transform the Menopause Experience

Nick gave us all a comprehensive and balanced understanding of menopause via a fully interactive session.  Nick gave us some strategies to mitigate the effects of menopause, both within and outside the workplace.

There was a generous selection of wine, cheese and snacks on hand at the fantastic Hub venue, hosted by Nicholsons Chartered Accountants.

Unstoppabl

December 2023: Christmas Lunch

We headed into the heart of Lincoln for our Christmas celebration this year and tickets sold out in record time.  We enjoyed a glass of fizz before a delicious three course lunch.  Rebecca Heald, leadership and wellbeing consultant, then shared her personal and entrepreneurial journey and how she made the leap from helping individuals heal their relationship with food to improving company culture.

As always, BWL supporters showed incredible generosity with raffle prize donations and raffle ticket purchases, all in aid of our nominated charity, EDAN Lincs.

The event raised £515 in total for EDAN Lincs.

September 2023: Lindum Construction

Warren’s Glover of Lindum Group gave us his insight into:

• What sustainability really is and what is driving Lindum towards being fully sustainable
• Why Lindum management team have been anxious about even discussing internally, with clients or suppliers
• What Net Zero by 2050 means and crucially what it means for business – especially if you don’t make widgets
• How “carbon reduction” impacts what Lindum deliver it, how its delivered, where and how its measured.

There was a generous selection of wine, cheese and snacks on hand at the fantastic Hub venue, hosted by Nicholsons Accountants.

July 2023: Summer Event

Record numbers attended the event, which was blessed with great weather to enjoy some networking with a Pimms in hand, before Afternoon Tea was served.  Rebecca Aldridge, MD of Balance Wealth Planning, shared her journey so far, building the business she wanted to work for and some of the challenges and achievements along the way. 

EDAN Lincs is our nominated charity for the next 12 months.  We raised £545 from the raffle and a hard fought round of heads and tails. Thank you to everyone that donated an exceptional range of prizes.  

Anna Davies, of EDAN Lincs, gave us an insight into  the important work of the charity.  We plan to host an event focusing on this soon.

May 2023: KryptoKloud Breakfast Briefing

Allison Burrows, Managing Director of KryptoKloud,hosted the group with a tour of the KryptoKloud Cyber Intelligence Centre.  We were in break out groups and took away some valuable insights from the KryptoKloud team to:

• learn how we can protect ourselves from cyber security threats
• learn what KryptoKloud is all about & the services the company provides
• understand how KryptoKloud could help our businesses

We were spoilt with breakfast pastries & fruit for those who were feeling virtuous. 

February 2023: Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Training Facility

BWL guests had an exclusive tour of the Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Training facility.

We were in the warmth of the training suite for a talk from Dan and Helen from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue – Dan as part of the Leadership Team and Helen as a part of the Firefighter training team, both serving firefighters.  They shared with the group what the role of the service is in the community, corporate prevention engagement and the evolutions the service is undertaking at the moment.  Helen also shared her story; from joining through to her current role and that she’s not had a negative experience due to her gender – as it should be.  She does still get a few looks from the public, seeing a woman driving a fire engine, blue light responding. 

The group were encouraged to look at joining the service as retained firefighters, a key element of Lincolnshire fire service and the have a go days available through the year.  

We then headed outside to the drill square, where we saw Lincoln Fire Cadets doing some very impressive drills; rooftop casualty rescue, entering a burning building and casualty care.  

And we have been invited to return in the summer …. watch this space

December 2022: Christmas Lunch

It was fabulous to raise our first festive glass together since before the pandemic, in the incredible setting of Washingborough Hall Hotel.

We had festive and contemporary music entertaining us during the drinks reception.  This was closely followed by the now famous pre-lunch heads and tails.  

After an exceptional three course lunch, Naomi Watkins-Ligudzinsksa, NW Counselling Hub Founder & CEO, shared her personal and professional journey, leaving us all wanting to know more about the opportunities of social enterprise.

Raffle prize donations from local businesses were incredibly generous,a huge thank you to all who donated. 

The event raised £414 for Bransby Horses, our chosen charity for 2022

November 2022: Virtually Golf, Lincoln

The group had to play the back 9 at St Andrews, have a kick-about at Wembley and head to the coconut shy at the carnival – without the weather, sports kit or travel. We heard from Stephen Clark, Managing Director and Co-Founder of the business, with drinks and canapes.

Many discovered talents they never knew they had, including Glynis Fox who won the putting championship after some expert tuition from Stephen.

July 2020: Sam Kendall of Kendall Training

Mentally Staying on Top Business Women’s Link hosted our first Zoom Room

Sam shared her knowledge and advice on ways of staying on top mentally – which became a hot topic during the protected lockdown.  She spoke about what mental health actually is and what risk factors there are, but also what protective factors we all have.  Sam shared some really powerful differentiation between empathy and sympathy.  Sam made the session fun, engaging and very thought-provoking.

East Midlands Chamber Entrepreneur of the Year finalist is 2019, Sam is a highly -qualified frontline emergency ambulance medic with years of experience.

She now passes her lifesaving skills on to other through her training programmes and has contracts with large businesses.  One is the RAF who selected her to deliver mental health training to personnel, along with physical first aid training.  Professional and passionate, Sam is constantly in demand and was perfect for our online get-together.

December 2019: Christmas Lunch at Branston Hall

Members and guests enjoyed a delicious three-course lunch, followed by a key note speech from City of Lincoln Council Chief Executive Angela Andrews.  Angela shared her journey “From Cashier to Chief Executive” and the attendees enjoyed festive music from violinist Stephen Clarke.

The legendary raffle raised £452 for Lincolnshire YMCA and the network also donated essential toiletries (including toothbrushes, toothpaste, shower gels, deodorants and other personal care items).

November 2019: Sue Ritchie

Tips for career and personal success

Leadership coach and author Sue Ritchie shared her hot tips for ways to boost confidence and scale the career ladder.

Sue shared lots of ideas of how women can make a bigger impact in the workplace and enjoy greater job satisfaction, talking about a range of topics under the headings:  Beyond the Imposter – How to Show Up and Shine; Finding Your Inner Leader and Developing Your Voice and Raising Your Profile and Creating an Impact.

Sue brought copies of her latest book, launched earlier this year, called: “Strategies for Being Visible: 14 Profile-Raising Ideas for Emerging Female Leaders.”

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September 2019: Rachel Linstead

Firecracker: Top Ten Tips for being happy, healthy and productive

Rachel focused her session on workplace health and how people can be more productive, by paying attention to their nutrition, health and wellbeing.

“Whether people work for themselves or are part of a business team, being productive daily is a great way to achieve your goals,” said Rachel, sharing her passion that workplace health and wellbeing is something that everyone should prioritise.  It is key to being successful at work and in your home life.

July 2019: Summer Lunch

We were thrilled to introduce Carol Shakespeare-Eyley as our keynote speaker.  Carol’s story inspired and motivated everyone, showing how a determined young woman fought alongside others to change history by working with the Movement of the Ordination of Women (MOW).  Efforts were rewarded when, in 2014, the first woman was ordained a Bishop in the Church of England.  History was made, thanks to Carol and MOW’s energetic and determined fight.

As always, we focused on raising funds for our nominated charity, YMCA Lincolnshire, for 2019.  The raffle prizes were plentiful, generously provided by members and supporters, with £530 raised.  We also have focused donations of not needed toiletries, sanitary produces, hair brushes and much more.  Caroline Killeavy, CEO of YMCA Lincolnshire, joined us at the event and had more donations than her car could carry

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