LCL Awards is sponsoring Women Installers Together (WIT) again this year. The event, which supports and promotes women working in the trades, will take place on Tuesday 4th July at London Metropolitan University.

WIT has been organised by Mica May and Hattie Hasan MBE - founder and CEO of the plumbing company, Stopcocks Women Plumbers. It is a great opportunity for women working in the skilled trades to meet, network and support each other. Hattie explains:

“Women have made fantastic inroads in business and corporations and we have all benefited from that. The building trade however is probably one of the last few remaining bastions of male domination. Depending on the trade, women make up from from 9% and a fraction of a percent in the skilled trades workforce.”

“We’re often asked ‘why an event just for tradeswomen?’; or ‘why do we need to say ’tradeswomen’ not ’tradespeople’?’, but until a 5 year old child is as likely to draw a woman as a man when they’re asked to draw a tradesperson, we need to state that tradeswomen exist. 

“A mixed workplace is always a better environment, and the skilled trades can enhance their appeal to potential workers by becoming more diverse and inclusive. Not only that, we need women and girls to join the industry to tackle the skills chasm we have on our hands at the moment!”

Hattie Hasan was closely involved in the development of our Inclusivity Charter that won HVR’s ‘Training Initiative of the Year’ in 2022. The initiative recognises the steps approved centres are taking to encourage a broader range of learners, such as promoting respectful behaviour and implementing flexible course delivery so those with family or other work commitments can develop their skills in the evenings or at weekends.

Read the full charter, here.

The Charter acknowledges that women have a great deal to bring to the sector and that old-fashioned attitudes are no longer tolerated.

Mark Krull, Director of LCL Awards said:

“We are pleased to be supporting WIT again. The event aligns with LCL Awards’ values and our Inclusivity Charter is already making a difference - making building services more accessible to all.  It’s something we feel very passionate about.

“The initiative now forms part of our auditing process, which accredited centres are required to complete annually. We wish Hattie and her team all the best for 4th July.”

This year's WIT is free to skilled tradeswomen and trainees, will be in held in the Great Hall at Metropolitan University between 10am and 4pm and the speaker will be the adventurer Sally Kettle, who rowed single-handed across the Atlantic - TWICE!

For more information on the event and to register for it, please click here .

For more information on LCL Awards’ Inclusivity Charter, please click here.