Health and Wellbeing Calendar

International Women's Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) is marked annually on March 8. It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people, it aims to:

• Celebrate women’s achievements
• Educate and awareness raise about women’s equality
• Call for positive change advancing women
• Lobby for accelerated gender parity
• Fundraise for female-focused charities

This year the theme for IWD is #AccelerateAction it is a worldwide call to acknowledge the strategies, resources and activity that positively impact women’s advancement, and to support and elevate their implementation.

Debra Searle

Debra Searle is a professional adventurer and serial entrepreneur. Her expeditions have taken her across the Atlantic, around Antarctica, up to the Arctic Circle and everywhere in between. She has also launched five companies, is a published author and has presented over 40 programmes for the BBC.

Debra first hit the headlines when she set out to row across the Atlantic with her husband. Unfortunately, he had to be rescued so Debra, a novice rower, continued alone without a support boat and rowed 3,000 miles from Tenerife to Barbados. It should have taken them six weeks, but Debra ended up spending three and a half months at sea alone, encountering 30-foot waves, sharks, and force-eight squalls in her 23-foot plywood boat. Since returning from this adventure, Debra has undertaken solo and team expeditions across the globe. She has also represented Great Britain at European and World Championship level in Dragon Boat Racing winning bronze, silver and gold medals.

Debra’s spirit of adventure gained her an MBE from Her Majesty The Queen and she was delighted to be appointed a Trustee of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, spending a decade working alongside His Royal Highness Prince Philip and His Royal Highness Prince Edward. Debra has been appointed a Member of the Victorian Order (MVO) for her services to the Royal Family.

In 2022 Debra was ranked number three in the World’s Top 30 Motivational Speakers, after Simon Sinek and Tony Robbins, making her the highest ranking female motivational speaker in the world. The movie of Debra’s solo Atlantic row is currently in development in Hollywood.

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