5 minutes with Unleashed Women patron, Mary Waring
Mary Waring is a chartered financial planner and accountant. She has been a patron of our Unleashed Women movement and supporter of our work. Mary was awarded Financial Adviser of the Year in the 2017 and 2018 Women in Finance Awards. We spoke with Mary about her passion for our women-focussed work to end hunger sustainably.
I was first introduced to The Hunger Project through Joanna Martin who is an investor and supporter of the charity. I’d completed Joanna’s Lead the Change programme as part of One of Many, and heard her speak about the organisation.
It was at The Hunger Project’s Rethink What’s Possible workshop, also led by Joanna, that my journey with the organisation really began. At this workshop we heard stories of some of the women that The Hunger Project works with, and how we could take their inspiring lessons of leadership for our own lives. These are women that are ending child marriage in their villages, challenging the status quo and changing the future for their communities.
After this inspiring workshop, I decided to become a patron of The Hunger Project UK’s Unleashed Women network. This network brings together women across the UK to support the women The Hunger Project works with. In solidarity with the way they unleash their leadership and go beyond themselves in their communities, I decided to challenge myself and push to go for a higher contribution.
In my business, I give financial advice to women and I really wanted to give back to a charity that supports women. What I liked about The Hunger Project was that the organisation’s methods weren’t about delivering aid or money, they deliver training to and with women about how they can improve their situation themselves and how making small changes can bring a huge benefit. These women can then go on and teach other people in village the lessons that they have learnt, so the whole community prospers. With confidence they can change their own situation.
I liked that the message of The Hunger Project is also very respectful: “You have the ability to change this, and we will help you”. The organisation provides the support, training and information and then these women can go ahead and do things differently and change their lives.
I work with women in the UK who are going through divorce, who feel lost, vulnerable and out of their depth when it comes to their financial situation. I see the synergy between the women I work with and those in other countries who desperately want to do something about their financial situation and are looking for the skills to change things. The Hunger Project gives them the tools to reach financial independence and improve their lives.
A huge Hunger Project thank you to Mary for her support and partnership in the end of hunger. If you would like to speak to us about becoming part of the community to end hunger and poverty, please get in touch with our Country Director, Sophie Noonan. Sophie.noonan@thp.org
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The Hunger Project UK is a registered charity in England & Wales 1164839 and a company limited by guarantee registered in England & Wales 9583057. Registered office: 7 Bell Yard, London, WC2A 2JR.
