Scholarships - 2019 Applications now CLOSED

One of our main annual activities is to award the Maude Spielvogel Scholarship, (named in honour of a late President of BPW Coffs Harbour who taught at Orara High School),  to a local mature-aged woman studying at tertiary level, who has overcome adversity and or disadvantage. In 2012 we initiated the Wendy Martin Education Encouragement Award to augment the scholarship. The two awards combined are worth $2000 to the two  recipients.

Our Two Very worthy recipients for 2017 were: 

Rachel Bennett - Maude Spielvogel Scholarship

        Ellen Cox - Wendy Martin Education Encouragement Award

Rachel Bennett is in her final year of a degree in Secondary Education at Southern Cross University (SCU) Coffs Harbour. 

Ellen Cox will complete her degree in midwifery at SCU Coffs Harbour this year before continuing on to a graduate year in a Sydney hospital.

BPW Coffs Harbour will be delighted to welcome these two young women into our Young BPW Membership ranks.

Love Bites Program

In 2015 we sponsored the Love Bites program for one of our local State High Schools. “LOVE BITES is an extremely successful school-based Domestic and Family Violence and Sexual Assault prevention program that evolved on the Mid North Coast of NSW. Over 100,000 high school students throughout Australia have participated in this interactive and innovative program aimed at 14-16yr olds.”

We hope to continue to support this program into 2016.

Collaborative projects

In 2012 -13 we collaborated with Zonta Coffs Harbour on a Women on Boards Mid North Coast project to encourage women onto more boards and committees.

Each year on International Women's Day, we combine with Zonta Coffs Harbour and Coffs Coast Business Women's Network to celebrate the achievements of women all around the world.

We are also involved with White Ribbon Day in November, highlighting the prevention of violence against women. In 2015 we will join the Reclaim the Night March on 30 October and will assist with raising awareness by assisting Zonta with their White Ribbon Day activities.

We are assisting though donation and assistance a local Days for Girls program. In developing nations, many girls are kept out of school either permanently or every month because they do not have the skills nor the materials to cope with something as ‘fundamentally female’ as menstruation.  Day for Girls raises awareness of this obstacle to girls’ education, and produces and distributes sustainable feminine hygiene kits.  By addressing the menstruation issue, Days for Girls deals with a taboo subject to help girls with period management and education as a key to social change.

Our Equal Pay Day aims to involve the local community to think about the issue of why women are not paid equally and the consequences. In 2014 we highlighted the gender imbalance of women in trades and in 2015 we focused again on women and superannuation.