Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month – March 2015

Sian Massey

March is International Women’s Month with International Women’s Day being held on 8 March.  For this reason we wanted to highlight a women whose career is particularly difficult to be successful in.  Sian Massey was chosen following a suggested by our HR colleague Paul Caruana who has seen Sian ‘in action’ whilst watching his beloved West Ham United.

Sian Massey is a female football official making her way in the difficult world of professional football.  She turned professional in March 2010, her first Premier League appointment was on

28 December 2010, as an assistant in Blackpool 2-0 away win at Sunderland.  Now Sian regularly officiates at all levels of English football from the Premiership all the way through the lower divisions.

Although not the first female football official, Amy Fearn and Wendy Toms having gone before her she is well known because she was the involved in the controversial incident where Sky Sports employees were sacked for making unprofessional\sexist remarks regarding her performance.  She, however, is now considered to be one of the best assistant referees in the country.

Sian also officiates at women’s matches being heavily involved in the women’s world cup tournaments of 2007 and 2011 and no doubt will be involved in the forthcoming world cup in 2015.

 

Jason Collins becomes the First Openly Gay NBA Player

Brooklyn Nets v Los Angeles LakersVeteran basketball player Jason Collins has become the first openly gay athlete to play in a competitive game for a major US professional sports league.

Earlier on Sunday, he signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets.

Collins entered the court at the start of the second quarter in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 35-year-old centre, who has played for five other NBA teams, was given a warm reception by the crowd. More …

 

University Mental Health and Wellbeing Day.

Today is University Mental Health and Wellbeing Day.

The Foresight Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project identified ‘5 Ways To Wellbeing’ that can help decrease mental health problems and enable people to flourish: http://goo.gl/ity8nF.

…Tell us how you keep well and what we can do as a university to improve wellbeing for each other. Our student centres have ‘suggestion’ boxes for your ideas, or e-mail them to wellbeing@greenwich.ac.uk.

umhd

Celebration of LBGT History Month at Greenwich

A celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest is one of two public events arranged by the LGBT Society to mark LGBT History month.

Taking this year’s theme as ‘music’, LGBT History Month is a national event that takes place every February, to mark and celebrate the lives and achievements of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual people, who have often hidden themselves in society for their own safety and had their contributions ignored.

For 2014, the university will be taking part, providing an opportunity for LGBT staff, students and friends to discover how the university engages with LGBT issues and community-based activities, as well as the chance to network and socialise. More … http://www2.gre.ac.uk/about/news/articles/2013/celebration-of-lbgt-history-month-at-greenwich

LGBT History Month 2014

Supreme Court Judge Launches ‘Women in the Law’ Lectures

Baroness Hale of Richmond, the most senior female judge in the United Kingdom, has launched a guest lecture series at the University of Greenwich’s School of Law.

The talk to students by Lady Hale, the first and only woman in the Supreme Court, marked the start of the series entitled Women in the Law. She also answered students’ questions about her career as a lawyer.

Lady Hale became a High Court Judge in 1994 and was appointed Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in January 2004. She is now the Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court.  More http://www2.gre.ac.uk/about/news/articles/2013/a2810-supreme-court-judge-launches-women-in-the-law-lectures

Bristol University

Orchestras ‘still hostile to women’

Orchestra

 

Prejudice and hostile attitudes keep the upper echelons of classical music off-limits to many women, arts chief Jude Kelly has said.

The top of the profession is still “a place of too great an absence for women”, she said.

“Women still tell me they find orchestras can be hostile, can undermine them deliberately, that executive directors can be sceptical.”

Ms Kelly said deliberate decisions to promote female talent had to be taken.

“This is not about women doing it for themselves,” she said. “It’s about chaps who run orchestras and people who run music colleges getting behind women.”

“People tend to appoint in their own image. It’s a tendency of men to support other, younger men and feel paternalistic towards them. More … http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25881668

Positive ageing: Research Centre Aims to Set National Agenda

Helping people to grow older in a happy and healthy way is the subject of a major new research programme at the University of Greenwich.

In response to the challenges posed to society by rapid demographic change, in which the number of older people is increasing far more quickly than other sections of the population, the university is launching its Centre for Positive Ageing.

Researchers will investigate a variety of areas that affect older people – such as pain, falls, dementia and other long-term conditions, housing and access to technology – in order to help individuals live healthier and more fulfilling lives, supported by better health and social care services.  More … http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/news/articles/a2789-positive-ageing-research-centre-aims-to-set-national-agenda

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