Hailsham woman recognised by PM for helping women back into the workplace

Prime Minister Theresa May has honoured a volunteer from Hailsham working to help other women excel in their careers.

Laura Murphy, from Hailsham, is the founder of ‘WayfinderWoman’ a place where inspiring working women inspire other women. After her experiences of struggling to get back into the workforce after a career break to raise her children, Laura set about creating a supportive community to provide advice, training and assistance where it is needed.

WayfinderWoman‘s many events, speaker sessions and conferences provide a springboard for budding entrepreneurs and unemployed women alike, with everything from confidence building workshops, to master classes on the practical steps needed to get a new business off the ground.

Laura and her team are currently working on a project entitled ‘Revealing Women of Influence in Eastbourne’ with the Heritage Lottery Fund which will enable them to train women up in research, website design and presenting.

Laura is the latest recipient of a Point of Light award, which recognises outstanding individual volunteers, people who are making a change in their community and inspiring others. Each day, someone, somewhere in the country is selected to receive the award to celebrate their remarkable achievements.

Laura is the 711th winner of the Points of Light award which has been developed in partnership with the hugely successful Points of Light programme in the USA and was first established by President George H. W. Bush. Over 5,000 US Points of Light have been awarded and both President George H. W. Bush and President Barack Obama have publicly supported the partnership with Points of Light UK which honours shining examples of volunteering across the country.

Regardless of whether it’s a doctor restoring local monuments in her free time, a father teaching young people life skills, or a local musician giving a voice to lonely people, the Point of Light award honours shining examples of volunteering across the UK.

In a personal letter to Laura, Prime Minister Theresa May said:

“Through ‘Wayfinder Woman’, you have created a pioneering and successful model in which inspirational women are helping others build the skills and confidence they need to realise their potential as budding entrepreneurs.”

Laura told The Sussex Newspaper: “I’m so excited and honoured to be receiving this accolade for my work in supporting women to overcome the barriers that are preventing them from achieving within the workspace. It’s a testament to the wonderful support I too have received from the team since WayfinderWoman began three years ago. Thanks to them we’ve come a long way in a short space of time. So far we’ve helped over 600 women by providing free or low cost workshops, seminars, support groups and our acclaimed motivational annual Conference. We also run a drop-in centre which offers one-to-one support, advice and an empathetic bridge to employment.

We’re so proud of the women and how they are overcoming personal barriers and building up their self-confidence. They are now forging their way ahead within the workspace: some volunteering alongside us or other community groups, others becoming employed and more who are setting up their own businesses. It’s been a privilege to work alongside them and hopefully this recognition will spread the word allowing us to grow WayfinderWoman even further and faster.”

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