During our AGM, we had the pleasure of announcing our two new NCT trustees, Franciane Husbands-Chevot and Chi Evi-Parker. Find out more about them and the meeting.
Last week, we were delighted to welcome our members to our AGM. It was a fantastic opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us during what has been a very challenging year, and talk about all the great work we have achieved as a charity.
We had the pleasure of announcing our two new trustees at the AGM – Franciane Husbands-Chevot from our Belfast Branch, and Chi Evi-Parker from our Barnet Branch. They will attend their first Board meeting in March 2021.
Franciane described how in these times of uncertainty, one of the most important things as a new parent was to have a support group of other parents and friends. As a mum of a six month-old during the pandemic, she said her NCT network had helped her greatly.
Chi, who is expecting her first baby in March, said she was delighted to be joining NCT as a trustee. She thanked everyone for their support and welcome. Find out more about our Board of Trustees.
The day started with a powerful and insightful selection of talks from our guest speakers, many of whose work has been particularly critical this year.
First was Dr Ranjana Das, Reader in Media and Communications in the Department of Sociology at the University of Surrey, who talked about the effects of the pandemic on perinatal mental health.
Amy Gibbs from Birthrights also joined us, speaking about human rights issues in maternity, and how this has been more pertinant than ever during the pandemic.
Clotilde Rebecca Abe from FiveXMore discussed the campaign to change the fact that Black women are five times more likely to die during pregnancy and after childbirth than White women.
Becky Saunders, Head of Policy at Home Start UK, talked about their Babies in Lockdown report, which highlighted the lack of support for families and the inequalities of babies’ early experiences.
And Amy Brown, Director of the Centre for Lactation, Infant Feeding and Translation at Swansea University, also spoke of her research into the experiences of breastfeeding during the Covid-19 pandemic.
RCOG Spokesperson for Racial Equality, Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist Dr Christine Ekechi, talked passionately about the importance of NCT as a charity becoming truly inclusive to make sure our support is welcoming for women and families of all cultures and backgrounds. We welcome and wholeheartedly accept this call to action and look forward to progressing on our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
After hearing from our speakers, members heard about the achievements and challenges for the charity this year – in presentations led by Chair of Trustees, Jess Figueras. Then, members participated in a live Q&A session with the panel.
We thank everyone for joining us on the day, and we wish all our members a restful holiday break.
Read about our NCT trustees here, as well as more information on Chi and Franciane.
Meet our team: find out about our fantastic course leaders.
