Released On 16 April 2018
News from Cityparents HQ: April 2018
It’s officially spring and we’re looking forward to an energetic few weeks ahead with a plethora of networking events lined up and some exciting speakers.
Event news
On International Women’s Day we were delighted to welcome guest speaker Claire Harvey, CEO of Diversity Role Models and Paralympic athlete at a Cityparents event kindly hosted by Mayer Brown. Claire spoke compellingly and with humour about her work and sporting careers, her disability and her ambitions to bring about a more inclusive culture in schools. You can read our interview with her here.
Coming up, in May we’re privileged to have the chance to hear Jonny Benjamin and Neil Laybourn share the moving story of how they met on Waterloo Bridge when Jonny, suffering from mental ill health, was contemplating suicide. More on this and a whole host of other events coming up can be found in our Events Round Up by Milly, Cityparents’ Network Manager.
To complement our existing Citycareers, Cityfamilies and Citywellbeing events, we are excited to launch Citytech - our newest group of seminars covering topics such as digital education, internet awareness, the role of technology at home and at work and the future of work. Our first Citytech seminar will take place on 21st June on the subject of 'Preparing our children for a career with AI'. City firms can give their employess free access to all our network events through a Corporate Access Event Pass - please contact us for more information and pricing.
Ever thought about mentoring?
Wrestling with a tricky issue at work? Or are you keen to help develop others working in the City?
Our cross-company mentoring scheme is currently open for applications from any of our network members who may be interested in participating either as a mentor or mentee. It’s free for mentors to join the scheme and mentees pay an administration fee of £100 per head when they are successfully matched with a mentor.
The closing date for applications is Friday 27th April. Further details about our scheme can be found on our website here or you can contact Louisa at louisa@cityparents.co.uk with any further questions. The next application window will open in the autumn.
Pick of the blogs
Our weekly blogs, where members share their personal experiences in work and at home, are very popular. Here are 4 recent blogs that you may have missed:
- Ellen's blog 'The Communication Code of Conduct' on ways to prevent acrimonious dinner conversations
- Hayley’s blog 'Mondays' where she managed to change job and negotiate to keep her Mondays off for spending with her little boy
- Louise's blog 'Snow laughing matter' on the trials and tribulations of dealing with snow days
- Dolly’s blog 'Royal Society For The Protection Of Au Pairs' highlighting the way that au pairs are treated and why we should be valuing them more
Top of mind for City employers?
Hardly a day goes by without more news on topics close to the heart of most City employers: reporting on the gender pay gap, creating genuinely inclusive workplaces, helping employees to stay mentally and physically healthy….
Cityworks, our employer forum aimed at HR, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing professionals in City firms, has its own stream of networking events covering these topics and more. Past and upcoming speakers include:
- Matt Elliott, People Director at Virgin Money
- Fiona Cannon OBE, Group Responsible Business & Inclusion Director, Lloyds Banking Group
- Kathleen O’Connor, Visiting Associate Professor at London Business School
- Mike Thompson, Director for Early Careers at Barclays, on driving diversity through apprenticeships (30 April, open to member bookings here)
- Helen Rose, COO of TSB, on how they plan to close their gender pay gap (May)
- Simon Gunning, CEO of the Campaign Against Living Miserably, on how to encourage disclosure about mental health issues (May)
We’ve been welcoming new corporate members at a steady rate since Cityworks’ launch in January 2017 - we offer 2 corporate membership options. Click here if you’re interested to find out more.
Are you recruiting or seeking flexible work in the City?
Are you recruiting? If so we invite you to try out our new jobs board Cityflex (www.cityflexjobs.co.uk), connecting experienced City professionals with flexible working opportunities. If you have a role to fill and are happy to talk flexible working, add it to the Cityflex Jobs Board and reach a new and relevant audience of Cityparents – it’s completely free during our trial period.
Are you seeking flexible work? View the Cityflex Jobs Board to search for roles that offer flexibility and value your experience, and use our Skills Board to share the skills and time you have available to work with businesses seeking high quality talent. It's completely free - join here as a candidate to get going.
We hope you enjoy exploring Cityflex.
What will YOU be doing on 21st June 2018?
Our charity partner, Working Families, spearhead the annual Go Home on Time Day campaign to highlight the importance of a meaningful work life balance and employee wellbeing. This year, Go Home on Time Day will be celebrated on 21st June, the longest day of the year. How will you mark the occasion? And why not post an update or photo on Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #gohomeontime? Don’t forget to let Working Families know by adding @WorkingFamUK to get a retweet.
Stretch your legs in springtime … with a street party too
On 21st May 2018 it’s the annual London Legal Walk - a fundraising 10k through London’s parks and along the riverside to help improve access to free and pro bono legal advice. Good luck to all our corporate members fielding teams for this event; the full list of participants is here. Working Families are also participating and looking to raise vital funds for their day-to-day operations. These include providing free legal advice to parents and carers who are struggling with the demands of work, family and children, and supporting employers who want to make family friendly workplaces a reality. You can sponsor the Working Families’ team here.
We’d love to hear from you
We look forward to chatting with many of you at a Cityparents networking event soon. In the meantime, you can follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to catch the latest news and online discussions. If you’ve got a specific enquiry, want to offer some constructive feedback or are planning an initiative that we can help you with, please get in touch with one our team.