International Candle Lighting Ceremony
Wednesday 26th June 2019

BPW Franklin

BPW Franklin has around 25 members with our most senior BPW Franklin members belonging to the club for over 30 years (having founded the club).  Our members come from a diverse range of working backgrounds, however any woman (whether in paid employment or not) is welcome to join the club. The common thread is all of our members are committed to empowering women and advocating on their behalf.

Our BPW Voice

At the heart of the work of BPW New Zealand is our advocacy for women with the vital goal of “leaving no-one behind”.   And the big questions then become “what are we saying?” and “who decided it was ok to say that?”
 
Nationally BPW NZ has a great process in place to ensure that no-one goes off on a tangent when speaking on behalf of our federation.  At our AGMs we decide on where we stand on some key issues.  We do this through the resolution process in which clubs or officers of BPW NZ can put forward resolutions to be debated and voted on at conference. If passed they become part of our BPW NZ policy and are then used as the basis for projects, lobbying and submissions to government.

At our meeting on Wednesday 27th March we had some small group discussions that pulled together our thinking as a club to give guidance to our BPW Franklin delegates who will be voting on these issues at conference. The current issues discussed were:

Do we believe the NZ government should increase commitment to climate change through setting targets and policies?
Are we in favour of a deposit being paid on all drink containers to encourage recycling or re-use?
Should the NZ government bring in enforceable and mandatory accessibility legislation?
Do we support all family members who are carers being paid at the same rate as other carers?
Should there be alternatives to detention (prison) for women prisoners?

We also had some resolutions discuss around our finances, the make-up of the BPW NZ executive, the process for awarding Honorary Life Memberships and some cosmetic changes to our Procedure Manual.
Written by Vicky Mee, Resolutions Chair 
 
Franklin BPW prides itself on being active in advocacy by developing and presenting resolutions to BPW NZ's national conference, and thereby lobbying government for improvements in the lives of women and girls. Some resolutions have gone on to be presented at International level by BPW NZ with global significance. BPW Franklin is proud of its high success rate with its resolutions at a national and international level.

BPW Franklin Committee 2019

Committee - Executive Officers

President - Toni Hill
Vice President - Samantha Jung-Fielding
Secretary - Janice Gammon
Treasurer - Vacant

Committee

Membership/Welfare - Janice Gammon
Newsletter/Website - Caroline Hurst
Facebook - Samantha Jung-Fielding
Publicity/Programme - Virginia Warren
Fundraising/Events - Lee Walter
Education - vacant at present 
Catering - Marilyn Bennett
Convenors
Issues - Vicky Mee
KTAs - Toni Hill
Other Representatives
BPW NZ Immediate Past President - Vicky Mee
National Council of Women NZ Papakura/Franklin Branch Rep. - Hansa Naran

BPW Franklin Fundraising

BPW Franklin is also proud of its reputation as a local contributor. The club raises funds for its annual Bursary Award, which is awarded to a Franklin Woman commencing or returning to tertiary study.