Tackle taboos and smash the stigmas of women’s health

Join Brand Champions, virtually or in-person, for the first in the Championing Women’s Health panel series, where we will discuss and address the gender imbalance within health. To show our support we are giving all profits from ticket sales to the Eve Appeal – the leading UK national charity funding research and raising awareness into the five gynaecological cancers.

Network with like-minded people, and discuss with guest speakers, join our conversation and help us tackle taboos and smash stigmas.

Tickets are either in-person or virtual.

Our guest speakers include…

• Fiona Wylie – CEO and Founder of Brand Champions (chairperson)
• Dr Sarah Brewer – GP and Medical Director at Healthspan
• Neil McLachlan MBE, FRCOG – Founder of the women’s wellness clinic at Indigo Medical Centre, Jersey
• Lynne Capie – Consultant at Appleby
• Lauren Lowe – Captain, Jersey Reds Ladies Rugby Team
• Matt Falla – Matt Falla is the Managing Director of Smith & Williamson and is playing a huge role in wellbeing in Jersey with the start up of Man Club.

Event Timings

• 17:00 – 18:00 – In-person attendees arrive for welcome drinks and networking
• 18:00 – 19:45 – Virtual and in-person Event panel discussion and open Q&As
• 19:45 – onwards – In-person cash bar open for further networking and discussions

Introducing our charity partner – The Eve Appeal

The Eve Appeal was set up to prevent gynaecological cancers and save lives by funding ground-breaking research focused on developing effective methods of risk prediction, earlier detection and developing screening for all of the five gynae cancers. They have played a crucial role in providing seed funding, core infrastructure funding and project funding in addition to campaigning to raise awareness.

This event is the start of a series of stigma-smashing and taboo-tackling panel discussion events, ‘Championing Women’s Health’.

The series, which will raise money for leading gynaecological cancer charity, The Eve Appeal, aims to raise awareness of the gender health gap, to encourage islanders to start talking about topics which may be considered ‘taboo’ and to encourage employers to think about how women’s health is addressed in their workplace.

Event organiser, founder of Brand Champions, Fiona Wylie (pictured), who has long been a campaigner for more ‘female friendly’ work practices, said: “Men and women can find discussing female health awkward or uncomfortable, whether that’s in the workplace or amongst friends and family.

“We know normalising conversations about topics such as painful periods, the menopause, endometriosis, gynaecological cancers, fertility and miscarriage, to name a few, will take time and many small steps, which is why our campaign mantra is ‘say something about women’s health’. We hope our events start the conversation and get the ball rolling towards cultural and policy-level change in the workplace. If any additional businesses would like to help us steer the conversation and help us to affect change by joining as a sponsor, please do get in touch. The more support we have the more awareness we can generate and the faster we can drive much needed change.

“The Channel Islands has a very high gender pay gap, at 21%, with men holding most of the senior and best paid positions. The gender pay gap and the gender health gap stem from the same root – they exist because our working and healthcare worlds were built without women at front of mind. Most businesses will have pledged to take steps to close this gap and increase workforce diversity and reviewing company attitudes towards female health brings them closer to those goals. There are many ways in which simply ‘being a woman’ means it isn’t easy to fit the traditional working mould, but agile working and changing attitudes towards mental and physical health can help more women stay – and succeed – at work,” added Fiona.

“We have gathered a fantastic panel, with expertise from both industry and from health. Dr Neil McLachlan MBE will be well known to many islanders, having been a consultant gynaecologist in the island for more than 30 years, while Dr Sarah Brewer has featured on national TV and radio and is a regular contributor to national newspapers and women’s magazines, while Lynne Capie has been instrumental in championing women in the workplace, co-founding the Female Leader’s Network and lobbying for the Menopause Friendly Workplace as part of The Diversity Network’s 51 Employers Initiative,” said Fiona.

Brand Champions has commissioned a significant piece of research specific to the gender health gap in Jersey. The hope is that statistical evidence will inspire action and change across the community and industry. These findings will be revealed at the first event as part of raising awareness of the issue in a Jersey-specific context. Any facts and findings will also serve as valuable insights to understand the views of islanders on the gender health gap and what their expectations are of how we start to solve it..

“Companies are waking up to the idea that being a women comes with challenges that men simply do not encounter, and that steps need to be taken to make sure female health is not a barrier to employees’ work. Perhaps more persuasively, with statistics to show that women score higher than men in most leadership skills and that female investors are outperforming men, companies ought to realise that in neglecting to put female health on the agenda, they are creating their own barriers success,” stated Fiona.

Rachel Raven, Corporate Responsibilities Manager at wellbeing brand, Healthspan, said: “We are proud to support the ‘Championing Women’s Health’ event to help in raising awareness of the gender health gap and breaking taboos around women’s health. Healthspan’s Medical Director, Dr Sarah Brewer, will be on the expert panel alongside other great talent.”

The aim is that the event will be inclusive, with all islanders very welcome to join.

If any organisations would like to join the conversation and help Brand Champions to drive awareness and change by becoming a sponsor of the event, they can get in touch here.