New awards celebrate women championing community causes in Rugby

Women who go that extra mile to help others are being celebrated by Rugby Labour Women’s Group.

International Women's Day (IWD) has inspired the group to launch an awards scheme to highlight hard-working females making a difference for a community group or cause in the borough.

Spokesperson for the group and organiser, Louise Robinson, said: "We anticipate the nominations will include some inspiring stories.”

Louise, who recently braved the cold for a Sleep Out to Help Out event in aid of Rugby homelessness charity Hope4, added: “By sharing those stories we will celebrate women who are making a positive difference and help raise awareness of issues affecting our communities.”

The awards are not exclusive to women. A special category for 'driving gender parity', will be open to nominations from all genders. Speaking on this category, panel judge, Jenny Gold, said "this category is inspired by the 'embracing parity' theme of International Women's Day. I'm excited to review nominations for this category and find out how people in our diverse town are improving gender parity."

Throughout March, the Rugby Labour Women's Group is fundraising from local businesses to secure sponsorship for the awards. All funds will go directly to the causes championed by winning nominees.

Jess Phillips MP, the Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence & Safeguarding, will open the nominations when she speaks at a Labour Party social evening on March 30.