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International Women’s Day 2023 – Spotlight On Our Business Network
To mark this year’s International Women’s Day on 8th March, we shine a light on a few of the female professionals in our wider community, who work with, or use our facilities at Fetcham Park, and are part of our growing network of entrepreneurs and business owners.
Dids Macdonald OBE, CEO of Anti Copying in Design (ACID)
Dids Macdonald has over 35 years’ experience within the design sector and co-founded ACID (Anti Copying in Design) because her products were consistently copied. ACID represents 1000’s of designers and campaigns for design law reforms, most notably the introduction of criminal provisions for the intentional infringement of a registered design enshrined in the 2014 IP Act. Dids is passionate about helping micro and SMEs protect their valuable IP via education and awareness and helping them create a proactive IP Strategy.
Dids is an Honorary Fellow of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) and in 2015 was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to the design industry. In 2016 she was admitted to the Design Week Hall of Fame and the first to be awarded the Alliance British IP Day Champion. She is currently Vice-Chair of the Alliance for Intellectual Property, a UK-based coalition of 19 trade associations and enforcement organisations with an interest in ensuring intellectual property rights receive the protection they need and deserve. She is on the Steering Board for the 2021 Design Council Design Economy. In May 2019 she was installed as Master of the Worshipful Furniture Makers Company and is still actively involved as a Past Master. In June 2022, Dids was honoured to receive Honorary Fellowship of the Society of Designer Craftsmen. Dids is also very proud to have received the UK 2022 Enterprise Innovation Legal Advisor Award.
Wendy Varcoe MBE, Executive Director, Surrey Hills Enterprises
In 2017, Wendy took up her role of Executive Director at Surrey Hills Enterprises, a Community Interest Company set up to build a thriving rural economy of sustainable and growing local businesses and to protect and enhance the Surrey Hills. In that time, Surrey Hills Enterprises has built a growing family of 225 business Members with a focus on sustainability and delivers a range of events including the Surrey Hills Artisan Festival, Artisan Markets and the Surrey Hills Sustainable Business Conference.
Wendy has over 20 years of experience working within land regeneration, environmental improvements and conservation including working for the first Groundwork Trust in St Helens and in West London and central London regenerating London’s Canals. Over the last 20 years, Wendy’s work has focused on supporting local communities in Surrey, developing partnership projects and building community funds across all areas of community need. She was the Founding Director for the Community Foundation for Surrey and became its first Executive Director in 2005, overseeing the development of substantial new permanent philanthropic funds to support community needs across Surrey. Over £18 million was secured for local communities during her 12 years at the Community Foundation and Wendy was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for 2016 to recognise her dedication and hard work in supporting local communities in Surrey.
Sally Lockyer, CEO of Surrey FA
Sally Lockyer is CEO of Surrey FA, the national governing body for football across Surrey. Sally joined SFA in 2020, just before the pandemic, and has led the award-winning county’s new ten year strategy, achieved the FA’s Code of Governance and operates and manages Meadowbank Football Stadium in Dorking which welcomes over 70,000 grassroots players each year. Surrey FA’s role is to develop, operate and govern grassroots football across Surrey, that’s everything underneath the professional game. SFA has over 65,000 players, 700 clubs, 3,000 coaches, and 1,100 referees alongside thousands of volunteers, delivering football across Surrey’s network of clubs and leagues.
SFA’s female strategic aim is to achieve parity between the female and male game by 2030. This is being driven by a diverse board, that now includes 44% female Board Directors (up from just one female director in 2020); 50% female leadership team and diversity of our County Members.
Prior to joining SFA, Sally was CEO of the British Athletes Commission, supporting world class Olympic and Paralympic athletes across 40 sports. Sally was a NED Board Director for the national governing body for Triathlon for 9 years to 2022 and is currently a Business Mentor for Sported.
Charlotte Melia, CEO & co-founder Dazzle & Fizz
Charlotte is CEO and Co-founder at Dazzle & Fizz, a creative event studio in Surrey, specialising in meaningful, inclusive and exceptional live and digital experiences. She is incredibly passionate about supporting and elevating women in business. An active member of the UN Women’s Delegation, Charlotte is attending the 67th CSW this March and is a regular attendee at the Women and Work APPG at Westminster. Charlotte was also invited by UN Women to attend COP26 alongside Theresa May.
Charlotte has won a number of awards, including ‘Founder of the Future’ by Home Grown Green Shoots and most recently ‘Creative Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the prestigious Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2022. Charlotte lives in Surrey with her son, Oliver.
Lizzie Liebenhals, founder Halls & Halls/Halls & Halls Prive and Stephanie Walton, founder Kindling Talent
Halls and Halls is a boutique agency linking sports, events, brands and talent. Their sister company, Halls & Halls Prive, is known as the go to party experts who can help deliver the most delicious and sophisticated events that let our clients celebrate, whatever the occasion. Working with Lizzie is Stephanie Walton, owner of boutique agency Kindling Talent.
Lizzie has worked in the world of sports, celebrity PR and events for nearly 3 decades. Starting her career looking after the England Football team commercially, she has worked as a client, agency, stakeholder and broadcast side over the years. Back in 2010 Lizzie launched her own agency. Working with a whole host of celebs, sports stars and industry leaders from brand plans to celebrity booking. She is well known in the luxury hospitality and brand industry for delivering elite high-profile events, from star studded openings to luxury big brand launches. She is also on the board of the Surrey FA. She also regularly guest lectures at universities and is a passionate advocate for mentoring young people.
Stephanie has been working in TV and events for over 20 years. Having started her career in sports production at IMG – working in football, golf and even for World’s Strongest Man – she then moved into entertainment and to ITV where she spent 5 years booking celebrities for shows like ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’. After having children, she decided to cross over to become a TV agent, specialising in the commercial side of things. She has worked for a number of agencies and with a great variety of faces, from Hollywood stars, to household names and influencers. Recently Stephanie has taken the plunge and set up on her own with her boutique agency Kindling Talent.
uk.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-walton-04353541
Berna Basson, NeuroKinetic Therapist & Teaching Assistant; Pilates and Yoga Teacher
Berna is first and foremost a movement specialist who treats compensation patterns as a result of poor posture and injury. She applies movement anatomy to gait, Pilates and Yoga to analyse those movements a person has lost and then try to retrain that to the person. When an injury leaves compensation patterns long after the injury has healed, these patterns can no longer be overcome with movement. She uses NeuroKinetic Therapy (essentially a muscle testing protocol) to change the compensation patterns in the motor control centre of the brain. Berna is a level 3 NeuroKinetic Therapist and assist on all levels of training.
After suffering severe shoulder immobility some 15 years ago, Berna studied, among other courses, NeuroKinetic Therapy, Pilates, Yoga, massage therapy, Fascia for Yoga Teachers, Anatomy in Motion and Manual Lymphatic Drainage techniques.
Berna also teaches a Yoga and Pilates Inspired Movement Class, Mondays at 5:30pm-6:30pm at Fetcham Park. Text Berna on 07970 986599
Rev Julie Patridge and Hannah Hossain, St. Mary’s Church Fetcham
Fetcham Park’s neighbour St. Mary’s Church has recently appointed Rev Julie Partridge as Pioneering Community Worker and Hannah Hossain as Children and Families Worker at St. Mary’s Church. Julie and Hannah will be sharing their impressive wealth of experience with church and the wider community of Fetcham. Julie’s role will be to develop the outreach activities that have already begun through St. Mary’s, and build on existing relationships with other local organisations so that can best serve the village. Hannah, a qualified teacher, with two young boys in local schools, will be looking at the many opportunities available to develop links, friendships and intergenerational activities.
Fetcham Park is a distinctive office space in Leatherhead, Surrey, designed to support your business. Find out more about our Serviced Offices, Meeting Rooms and Event Spaces. Contact the team on hello@fetchampark.co.uk 01372 371 000
