I was delighted to speak at an event hosted by the Morecambe Bay NHS Trust to launch their new Women’s Network and celebrate International Women’s Day last week.

It was an incredibly empowering and inclusive event that was open to everyone. We discussed the importance of raising awareness of issues that directly impact women in the workplace, and the steps that need to be taken towards gaining greater equality.

The gender pay gap persists across the UK. The Women’s Network acknowledged that Morecambe Bay NHS Trust still has work to do on this, with a 6.4% pay gap. Meaning that in their organisation, women earn 94p for every £1 earned by a man when comparing median hourly pay. I look forward to keeping up with the work that Morecambe Bay NHS Trust does to reduce this gap.

It’s important that we never forget the women who paved the way for our journey towards gender equality. International Women’s Day reminds us to reflect on the noble sacrifices of heroic women like the suffragettes, who fought for rights now recognised as basic human rights, like votes for women. Sometimes it’s too easy to forget that across the globe, millions of women continue to be persecuted based on their gender and that the fight for gender equality is nowhere near over.

I commend Morecambe Bay NHS Trust and their Woman’s Network for taking active steps locally to combat barriers for woman in the workplace and wish them every success going forward. Thank you so much for having me!