The Bradford Women’s + Group just turned one, and to celebrate they hosted a birthday celebration at Boston Pizza Bradford on Sunday evening.
The ticketed event was a way to raise money for the group in order to keep their monthly workshops free-of-charge to the women in Bradford.
Their two hour monthly events are held at the BWG Library in the Zima Room, featuring unique guest speakers, coffee, tea and treats.
The groups held their first session back in January 2019. The group was formed by Bradford resident Jennifer Lloyd and some of her university classmates, after seeing a need for a women’s group in the community.
“It went by so fast” reflected Lloyd on the group’s first year. “It feels awesome.”
She is grateful for all the local businesses and organizations who have been supportive of their group this year, especially Sweet B’s and David’s Tea who also provide free refreshments at each month’s meetings and the Town of BWG who granted the group $500.
Just last week the group hosted the South Simcoe Police Women in Policing Symposium.
Lloyd and fellow co-founder, Jess Corbett are currently in their last year of grad school and are excited for what's to come for the group in 2020.
“We have some more people coming forward saying they are interested in helping out,” said Lloyd. “We’re really going to have to sit down and figure out what’s next and figure out how to make it sustainable.”
There are a group of eight volunteers who make all the events possible. All were in attendance on Sunday sporting matching purple shirts, made by local vinyl business, cute.tees.
“It’s been awesome to have such a great group,” said Llyod.
There were black versions of the shirts available for sale to the guests as part of their fundraising initiatives.
There was also a silent auction table full of prizes generously donated by local businesses in town. Boston Pizza also donated 10 percent of the evening’s food and beverage sales to the cause.
The group occupied the bar section of the restaurant and spent the evening playing some fun trivia games and enjoying each other's company over food and drink.
“It’s an excellent cause,” said one of the guests Linda Van Ry, who has just recently started coming to the group workshops at the library. “It gives you the opportunity to meet other women.”
“They are doing a pretty phenomenal job,” she said about the group.
Jennifer Bradbury has been attending the group’s workshops for the past three months. “The moment I walked in the door I felt very comforted,” she noted.
“I feel very safe in this group, I was feeling a lot of empowerment."
Emily Wirta is one of the groups' volunteers. She used to live in Toronto and was elated when she found out there was a women’s group in Bradford. She has been attending the meetings since they first started last January.
“It’s one of those few things you go into without any expectation, and it turns out it’s exactly what you needed,” she said.
The birthday party raised over $1,000 which will help keep the sessions running free-of-charge in 2020.
The Bradford Women's+ Group will meet again for their March session on Monday March 2 at 6:30 p.m. in the Zima Room at the BWG Library, celebrating International Women's Day. To learn more, follow their Facebook page here.
