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IWD 2019: First Female Engineering Expedition
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2019, south-west based Footsure Western Ltd are teaming up with inspirational award-winning women with their locally designed and distributed safety footwear brand, Amblers Safety, to inspire more women globally into a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Accomplished Civil Engineer, Katy Toms of WSP, who was named in the Telegraphs’ ‘Top 50 Women in Engineering’ alongside New Zealand-based civil engineer Kelly Jeffery are pioneering the first ever “Women’s Engineering Expedition” to Malawi. The powerful duo is leading a team of 20 women from the UK and around Asia Pacific to build a new STEM Classroom block on the shores of Lake Malawi. The group of female engineers will spend two weeks building a new block for Rainbow Hope Secondary School which offers scholarly support to orphans and vulnerable children. The project will provide much needed STEM educational resources to help in the education of children.
Building Surveyor, Sophie Lydia Smith, who has worked with Amblers Safety to develop a range of female safety boots and shoes, has dressed team members feet first, ensuring that the workers are kept safe on site with reliable female-friendly steel toe-capped boots.
“the powerful duo is leading a team of 20 women from the UK and around Asia Pacific to build a new STEM Classroom block on the shores of Lake Malawi”
In May this year, the team of female role-models will visit Malawi to support the final construction of the build and will also be working with students, parents and teachers to share skills and knowledge and inspire the next generation of young people into the world of STEM careers.
Inspirational Katy Toms says, “We’re absolutely thrilled to be supported by Amblers Safety for our STEM Build Malawi project and can’t wait to travel to Malawi and deliver this exciting project in May. Having footwear specifically designed for women for the expedition is going to ensure that can work comfortably to complete our construction project. Engineering is such an important part of all walks of life, and if we can change just one child’s future then it’s a project worth doing”.
Sophie Lydia Smith says, “Katy is a role model to me and many others in construction, engineering and beyond! The work Katy and the STEM Build Malawi team are doing is incredibly inspirational and I look forward to following their trip. I hope the Amblers Safety Lydia boots come in handy!”
STEM Build Malawi need to fundraise a total of £10,000 to cover the cost of building materials and STEM teaching equipment. For more information go to: https://www.gofundme.com/stem-expedition-to-malawi
