The Women of the Year Lunch, later known as the Women of the Year Lunch and Awards (WOYLA), is an annual charity lunch for women achievers. The inaugural lunch was held on 29 September 1955 at the
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 188 ...
, and raised money for the
Greater London Fund for the Blind. All of the 500 invitees were regarded as women of the year, with none singled out for individual acclaim. Since 2001, prizes have been awarded at the event. In 2014, the Women of the Year Lunch marked its 60th anniversary.
History
The Women of the Year Lunch was co-founded in 1955 by
Tony Lothian, Georgina Coleridge (journalist and
Marquess of Tweeddale
Marquess of Tweeddale (sometimes spelled ''Tweedale'') is a title of the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1694 for the 2nd Earl of Tweeddale. Lord Tweeddale holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Tweeddale (created 1646), Earl of Gifford (1694), ...
), and
Odette Hallowes
Odette Sansom (28 April 1912 – 13 March 1995), also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Hallowes, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during the Second World War. S ...
(a British spy captured and tortured by the Nazis during World War II). Lothian, a freelance journalist, had the inspiration for the Lunch – the first such event for what she called 'career women of distinction' – when she was refused entry to a men-only event.
She recruited her two co-founders and together they drew up a list of 40 categories of employment. They then approached a woman working in each of these fields, asking them to nominate colleagues worthy of inviting to the Lunch.
As the founding president of the Women of the Year Lunch, Lothian was keen to invite and celebrate women whose achievements were not otherwise being acknowledged, rather than using the event to further congratulate the few who were already famous. However, many of her unknown invitees did go on to achieve fame.
In later years, a Nominating Council made up of women from all walks of life has selected those who are invited to the Lunch".
Writing in ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' in October 2005,
Viv Groskop
Viv Groskop (born 8 July 1973) is a British journalist, writer and comedian. She has written for publications including ''The Guardian'', ''Evening Standard'', ''The Observer'', ''Daily Mail'', ''Mail on Sunday'' and ''Red'' magazine. She writes ...
noted, "Since 1955, the list of guest speakers reads like a ''Who's Who'' of female achievement: Margaret Thatcher (1960), Sheila Hancock (1969), Germaine Greer (1975), Zandra Rhodes (1981).” She added: “I have enjoyed the unlikely pairings the lunches have inspired: Kate Adie and Toyah Wilcox shared a platform in 1986 (theme: 'Vision'), Floella Benjamin and the Duchess of York in 1991 ('Harmony')”.
In November 2005, following her appointment as president of the Women of the Year lunch,
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist.
A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...
told ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''s Helen Birch:
"Lady Lothian was such an inspiration. She invited me to the lunch in 1980 and I was totally bemused to see a room full of women who have been high achievers in all sorts of ways. You realise you never see that. And she managed to keep the spirit and the enthusiasm alive for 45 of the 50 years it's been going. I think they asked me because the president is someone who has to have a care and concern for the organisation."
Armatrading's successor as president,
Helena Kennedy
Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, FRSA, HonFRSE (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018.
Early ...
,
described The Women of the Year Lunch as being about: "women who do amazing things for each other and other people. There was a time when the lunch was only for women in hats of a certain class. But now it's a real celebration of women of all backgrounds who have done incredible things. There are women who have been through terrible experiences of losing a child or having cancer. And instead of taking it lying down, they put their pain into doing good for others. Women are fabulous".
Taking a more negative view in 2005, Groskop recalled: “I remember asking a (female) newspaper editor 10 years ago if it was necessary to have a
women's page
The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as society pages and eventually morphed into ...
in the paper. Isn't everything in the news of interest to everyone? She saw what I was getting at but replied: 'If those topics were not written about there, they would not be written about at all.' If this is true, then WOYLA is still a revolutionary thing: a women's hall of fame. But it does seem a shame that their refrain – 'If we don't celebrate ourselves, who else will?' – hasn't changed since the 1950s.”
Prizes
Since 2001, prizes have been awarded at the lunch. In the same year, Women of the Year established its own Foundation to help underprivileged women in the United Kingdom and abroad.
Amongst those awarded prizes are British singer
Ms Dynamite
Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards.
Early years
She was born Niomi Arleen Mc ...
, who received an award in 2003 for her contribution to the campaign against gun crime.
In November 2005, the five sisters and partner of
Robert McCartney, who was murdered in a Belfast pub in January of that year, declined the Women of the Year's Outstanding Achievement award when they discovered shortly before the Lunch that in accepting it they would be sharing a platform with former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
. Catherine and Claire McCartney said: "Our campaign is one of justice, and as an Irish republican family we feel we cannot share the same platform with a former PM who inflicted injustices on our community". The board of directors of Women of the Year issued a statement saying: "Women of the Year would like to reiterate that we are proud to recognise their remarkable achievement and wish them all our continued support".
Tina Turner an exceptional woman whose personal and public life has been both brave and bold. Such a woman is a modern maverick, combining extraordinary insight with determination and an inspiration to other women to strive and achieve more from their own lives.
Frink Award
The Frink Award, a bronze eagle sculpted and donated by
Elisabeth Frink
Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' obituary noted the three essential themes in her work as "the nature of Man; the 'horseness' of horses; and the divine in ...
, is presented in recognition of "women enriching other people's lives while overcoming their own problems".
Recipients include the author of the
Adrian Mole
Adrian Albert Mole is the fictional protagonist in a series of books by English author Sue Townsend. The character first appeared (as "Nigel") as part of a comic diary featured in a short-lived arts magazine (called simply ''magazine'') pub ...
books
Sue Townsend
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing ...
.
Lectures
In 2008, the organisation established the Women of the Year Lectures. The inaugural Lecture was given in February of that year by
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson ( ga, Máire Mhic Róibín; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who was the 7th president of Ireland, serving from December 1990 to September 1997, the first woman to hold this office. Prior to her electi ...
, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Republic of Ireland's first female President. Subsequent lectures have been given by:
*
Susan Greenfield
Susan Adele Greenfield, Baroness Greenfield, (born 1 October 1950) is an English scientist, writer, broadcaster and member of the House of Lords (since 2001). Her research has focused on the treatment of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's dise ...
(2009),
*
Tessa Jowell
Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 18 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from 199 ...
(2010),
* Nava Dekel (2011),
*
Helena Kennedy
Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, FRSA, HonFRSE (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018.
Early ...
(2012),
*
Helen Prejean
Helen Prejean ( ; born April 21, 1939) is a Catholic religious sister and a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.
She is known for her best-selling book, '' Dead Man Walking'' (1993), based on her experiences with t ...
(2013), and
*
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
(2014)
Presidents
Founding president Tony (Antonella) Lothian served from 1955 until 2001. She was succeeded by:
* Diana Makgill (2001–2005)
*
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist.
A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...
(2005–2010)
*
Helena Kennedy
Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, FRSA, HonFRSE (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018.
Early ...
(2010–2015)
*
Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...
(2015–2017 )
*
Julie Etchingham
Julie Anne Etchingham (born 21 August 1969) is an English journalist who works as a television newsreader with ITV News. A graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, Etchingham joined the BBC as a trainee after completing her studies, and went on ...
(2017–)
See also
*
List of awards honoring women
This list of awards honoring women is an index to articles about notable awards honoring women. It excludes media, science and technology and sports awards, which are covered by separate lists, and it excludes orders of chivalry for women. The l ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.womenoftheyear.co.uk/
Women of the Year Nominating Council members:
Women's organisations based in England
1955 establishments in England
Awards honoring women
British awards