Women of the Year Lunch
| Abbreviation | WOYLA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 29 September 1955 |
| Founder | Tony Lothian, Georgina Coleridge, Odette Hallowes |
|
President
|
Sandi Toksvig |
| Website | http://www.womenoftheyear.co.uk/ |
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, 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.
The Women of the Year Lunch was co-founded in 1955 by Tony Lothian, Georgina Coleridge (journalist and Marquess of Tweeddale), and Odette Hallowes (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 in October 2005, Viv Groskop 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 told The Guardian's Helen Birch:
...
Wikipedia