Worcestershire CCC are delighted to be joining forces with Wonderful Worcestershire Women (WWW) at Ladies Day on June 22 in recognition of the major contribution made by the female population to the business world in the County.
WWW are staging their inaugral Awards Event at New Road on April 29 from 12 noon to 4pm with the winners of seven categories to be announced.
They are: Female Owned Business of the Year, Female One-Woman Business of the Year, Female Employee of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Young Woman in Business, Significant Achievement and Director of the Year.
From these seven categories, the Wonderful Worcestershire Woman of the Year 2016 will be chosen from a panel of seven judges.
Then the award winners will be guests of Worcestershire CCC on Ladies Day and the overall winner will accompany the two captains to the toss in the England Women versus Pakistan Women ODI taking place at New Road on that day.
Worcestershire Commercial Director Jon Graham said: "I feel it is important we recognise women not just in sport but in business as well that have been successful.
"Ladies Day has always been a successful event for the past nine-10 years and, for me, that day is in recognition of women, full stop.
"Whilst it is well renowned for its social element, it is really good to recognise individuals that have brought a lot to the community – whether that be business or other fields – and we want to support that.
"We are really proud to be associated with Wonderful Worcestershire Women. The club are going to be giving a table for the WWW finalists and the ladies will be really interested to hear about the achievements of these business women during the past 12 months.
"The winner of the WWW major award will be going out for the toss in the England Women-Pakistan Women game on Ladies Day."
Graham added:"It shows the motivation of the club to welcome men, women, families – everyone.
"We want to try and keep those barriers down that we are not just a members only club. We welcome everyone, see the value in everyone."
Wonderful Worcestershire Women is the brainchild of Sarah Mayo-Evans, a director at Peach Recruitment, and Julia Williams, a director at Premier Places, and has flourished during the past 12 months.
Mayo-Evans said: "We are delighted to have the link with the Cricket Club who have invited us to Ladies Day. The Cricket Club have been great. In my own business capacity, we have had lots of events there in the past.
"They always provide top quality service and have that beautiful iconic view from the Marquee which completely represents Worcestershire where you see the Cathedral, river and the cricket ground."
Mayo-Evans is delighted with the way WWW has taken off and expanded since an initial trial event a year ago.
She said: "We did run a trial event for Wonderful Worcestershire Women last March for 100 ladies and, because we got such a good response, we said 'let's go for it' and launch the awards.
"Part of the reason we wanted to do it in the first place was to get unsung HERoes if you like from the community to come forward and nominate each other for all the wonderful things they have done.
"We have been overwhelmed by how many there are and now these ladies are ready to tell their stories which is great.
"When we held our trial event last March, we were hearing about really amazing journeys and stories from them and we thought 'let's try and formulise this' and do something for women in the community.
"There are so many women now doing apprenticeships that didn't exist in the past, one women businesses that never inter-acted with any official bodies.
"You never saw them out and about and networking so to try and bring those women together, to get a little community going, has been very successful and rewarding.
"Going forward we are looking to run three or four events a year where we will keep that community involved and keep them together."
