Women across the South West came together for an evening of inspiration at KCC on International Women’s Day.

The first ‘Westcountry Wonderwomen Workshop’ was held at Kingsbridge Community College on Wednesday, March 8, as a “celebration of the diverse range of female talent and expertise living, working and from the South West”.

Organisers called the evening workshop event a “resounding success” with more than 70 female students between the ages of 15 and 18 attending.

Students were treated to talks throughout the evening from award winning illustrator and artist, Laura Wall, measurement engineer at Rolls Royce Ltd, Tory Brown, BBC South West Senior Broadcast Planner, Louise Walter and many others.

The workshop, which was supported by South Hams District Council, was hosted exclusively for KCC and Dartmouth Academy students.

Eleven Westcountry Wonderwomen attended in total, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from students, with quotes such as:

“I have learned about how everyone has managed to achieve their goals and to get to where they are now. It was interesting to discover in detail what all the different artists, scientists and entrepreneurs do in their day jobs. I feel inspired to find my passion.”

“It made me realise the key thing to success is passion. I loved how much reliance people had, despite being knocked back they kept going and proved to everyone that they could do it. INSPIRING.”

“Amazing and inspirational event, amazing speakers and event,”

“This had helped me to not panic about the future and to broaden what I look at doing with my life. I feel way more confident.”

Round table sessions were hosted to give students a flavour and insight into a range of career paths, in addition to the three talks, Westcountry Wonderwomen featured:

• Founder and co-organiser of Women Can, Jo Earlam – the first women’s only marathon which takes place on May 28, 2017. The event is inspired by the story of how, 50 years earlier, one woman made marathon history, simply by entering and taking part in one.

• Managing director of The Shops at Dartington, Barbara King – retail royalty with previous roles include buying and merchandising director at the iconic Liberty London department store, Barbara is also Chief Board Director for Food and Drink Devon.

• Theatre and screen actor Victoria Lucie - a professional actor from Devon, with both stage and screen experience. Victoria did not train conventionally at drama school or university, instead has “learnt on the job”. Victoria is a strong believer that hard work and passion can achieve your goals.

• Founder and director of RAW PR and Marketing, Hayley Reynolds – a creative PR and marketing agency which specialises in promoting food and drink from the South West.

With leading brands including Luscombe Drinks, Warrens Bakery, Salcombe Gin and South Sands Hotel to name a few, Hayley set up RAW in the summer of 2011 and has a huge network of leading journalist contacts and now heads up a team of five at RAW as well as being on the Board of Directors for Food and Drink Devon.

• TEDGlobal’s youngest ever speaker, Amy O’Toole - usually reserved for those over 18, Amy was just 12 when she took to the TEDGlobal stage. Since then, she has spoken at many prestigious conferences around the world which has enabled her to inspire more girls into stem subjects by showcasing that science isn’t just a boys subject.

• Editor of Mumsnet Devon, blogger and freelance writer, Gina Caro - an award-winning blogger, freelance writer and editor for Mumsnet Devon. Gina owns and writes two blogs, Gypsy Soul, a bohemian and lifestyle blog and Water Gypsy, a travel blog.

She regularly collaborates with leading brands including Gumtree, River Cottage and Love Food Hate Waste to name just a few.

• Marks and Spencer’s store manager in Dartmouth, 25-year-old Holly Drew - “Eight years ago I was completing my A Levels at Plymouth High for Girls with no idea of where these would take me. I had no burning desire to head off to university to study a particular subject but at the same time, I was not really sure what my other options were.

“As soon as I turned 17, I started a Saturday job with Marks and Spencer, simply to earn some extra money. It wasn’t long before I realised I had a real passion for retail and everything that goes with it. “I decided to put off my university application for a year and spend the time working full time for the business... three years later I was promoted to section manager, followed by a commercial manager appointment which led me more recently to my current role as the store manager of Dartmouth Marks and Spencer.

“I really believe that in order to be successful you need to love what you do.”

• Victoria and Albert Museum research assistant, Anna White - Anna’s interest in art and design history began after a family holiday to Italy where she was inspired by the amazing Renaissance paintings and building of Florence and Sienna which led her to study for a BA in Art History and an MA in Art History and Museum Curating at Sussex University.

An Alumni student of both Dartmouth and Churston Ferrers Grammar School, she has worked in various roles within the V and A, from cataloguer to assistant curator to her current role, in which she is busy working on an exciting new exhibition which opens at the museum this July.

Organisers were delighted at the support offered from local brands, including delicious canapés provided by The Venus Company, drinks from Devonia Water and Rocks Drinks, and generous donations for goody bags for the extra special VIP touch.

Goody bag sponsors included Portlebay Popcorn, Dartmouth Ice Cream, Mii cosmetics, The Cake Shop, Clare’s Preserves and Agadir to name a few.

The free to attend workshop was created and spearheaded by Dartmouth Academy alumni, Freelance PR, Laura Quick, her sister and teacher at KCC Lorien Joyce and fellow teacher Katie White.

Lorien Joyce, teacher at KCC, said: “With so many amazing women working within the area, we really wanted to showcase to our female students this International Women’s Day that success takes many forms, recognising the huge range of diverse industries there are to choose from.

“There is something very powerful about collectively coming together and sharing knowledge and experiences, which can have so much impact simply by providing new perspectives and a greater awareness of life beyond the school gates.

“After such a successful evening, we are hopeful that this will develop into a wider platform of mentoring programmes and build on links with professional networks in the South West, helping to inspire the Westcountry Wonderwomen of the future.”

Laura Quick, event organiser and Freelance PR added: “We really wanted to create an event which showcased the amount of opportunities there are in the area, whatever your interest may be and that it doesn’t necessarily have to mean relocating.

“After living and working in London for a number of years, when I moved back last year I was worried about the number of opportunities there would be in my line of work and that I may have to take a side-step, or even step back in my own career.

“This has been completely proven wrong and I have found there are plenty of opportunities and networks, it’s just a case of seeking them out and connecting with them.

“I hope the workshop can make these links more easily accessible and prove that it doesn’t matter where you live, what your interest is or what you want to do; it’s simply about finding out what’s out there and realising there are lots of people who can and want to help you achieve it.”

To register interest in attending or supporting future Westcountry Wonderwomen Workshops, please contact the team at Kingsbridge Community College.