Non-Aldermanic Shrieval Candidate, Gwen Rhys, Founder & CEO of Women in the City (WiC) recently presented The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor Alderman Dr Andrew Parmley with a gift of artwork by Alex Mckenzie and an “e-payment receipt” of a donation to The Lord Mayor’s Appeal.

The artwork has been placed in the auction for the Appeal’s Grand Finale Dinner to be held at Guildhall on 7 November.  If you’re attending, please give generously.

The Artwork and the Artist

The artist Alex Mckenzie was commissioned by Wine Australia to produce a large piece of work (1m x 3m) entitled “Bouquet” to celebrate the Australian Women in Wine Awards which were announced in London for the first time in September this year.

The Australian Women in Wine Awards

On the evening of 26 September, a date that neatly co-incided with this year’s City Giving Day, 150 women and men from the WiC community joined 50 Australian female wine makers and principals for Sips in the City, an evening wine tasting hosted by Wine Australia in partnership with Women in the City and held at Australia House.

A similar piece of artwork to the one presented to the Lord Mayor was raffled on the evening with the proceeds (£600) given to the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.

Out and About in the City

Having launched my campaign on 1 October, I’m grateful to supporters who’ve kindly extended invitations for me to join them at various Livery and/or City related events.

My November diary is certainly filling up.

I’ll be with Court Assistant Kerri Mansfield at the Information Technologists for their Business Lunch on 5 November and a guest of PM Mark Henderson at the Curriers’ Court & Livery Dinner on 7th November.

Jacqueline Davies, Master, The Guild of HR Professionals has kindly invited me to the Installation Dinner for the new Master on the 8th and I’m accompanying Emma Edhem CC, at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet on the 13th.

And the messages of support are humbling

The image above is a word cloud created from the wonderful and humbling messages of support I’ve received from fellow Liverymen and from my connections in the City – and beyond!  I’m encouraged by the support so many people are giving me.  Keep them coming in – they help to keep me going.

For those of you familiar with the process, you’ll know that it’s a long journey from declaring oneself as a candidate and the actual election day.

In fact the election (a show of hands by Liverymen at Common Hall in Guildhall on 25 June 2018) is a full 9 months away! Never having been pregnant I neither can, nor will, compare the two gestation periods but my guess is that I’m still in the “I can’t quite believe it” stage.

My campaign analyst (aka the Master Glass Seller) tells me that in the last 7 days:

• over 2500 people have viewed my announcement on LinkedIn (some as far away as Australia). I’m certainly spreading the word about the City traditions,
• the @GlassSeller Twitter profile has been read 421 times,
• my favourite tweet got 1508 impressions and in total my first week’s tweets have generated 14.5k impressions,
• and from a standing start I’ve tripled my number of Livery supporters in the first week

However, three candidates have now declared so the pressure is on.

If you’re a Liveryman or know someone who is, please spread the word.

Sign up as a supporter

View messages of support from Liverymen, from the City and beyond

I’m delighted to announce that I’m putting my hat in the ring as a propsective non-Aldermanic Shriveal Candidate 2018-19.

It’s a long haul and the election (a show of hands by Liverymen) in Guildhall, City of London doesn’t take place until next June, but the campaign has started.

My first task is to gauge the support of my fellow liverymen and, although they cannot vote unless they are liverymen, my colleagues across the City.

I’ve already had some very warm messages of support from Liverymen and the wider City and the list of supporters is growing.  A huge thank you to everyone!

Read more about the role of Sheriff and why I’m putting myself forward.

Supporting me is easy, just click HERE

If you’re a Liveryman or know someone who is, please spread the word.

View messages of support from Liverymen, from the City and beyond