Transition Bedford

Lynn Serafinn (right) receiving BBW Award

This month, I had the great honour of receiving the Bedfordshire Businesswomen (BBW) 2009 Award for “Working within a Community Organisation or Not-for-Profit Organisation”, for my work as Founder of the Global Wellness Circle, a holistic health and wellness community, as well as my more recent work as Chair of Transition Bedford.

The winners of the BBW awards were announced Wednesday 18 November 2009 at the Woburn Sculpture Park. There were 6 awards in various business categories, all sponsored by Barclays Bank. Transition Bedford was specifically cited during the ceremony as a key reason for their selecting me for this award.

If any of you are unfamiliar with BBW, it is a long-established and highly reputable not-for-profit networking organisation for women who live and/or have business interests in the Bedfordshire area. I have been a member now for 2 years, although the awards were not restricted to members only. The women in this organisation own and run some of the most successful and influential businesses in the county, if not the country.

To have Transition Bedford be recognised at this level is not only a personal honour for me, but it is also a clear indication that the need for and importance of the work we are doing together at Transition Bedford is starting to be duly recognised by local business owners.

After the awards, I spoke with Jenny Tomsett, President of BBW, about having Transition Bedford lead a presentation at one of their upcoming meetings in 2010. (more…)

Great changes are happening at the Global Wellness Circle (GWC).

GWC was started in May 2008 as a means to support local holistic wellness businesses, and to provide a forum where people can join together to learn about each others’ values and beliefs, and form friendships and partnerships. The focus from the onset has been to build an inclusive, holistically-minded community and to provide information to the public about health, environment, and overall wellbeing of mind, body, spirit, society and world.

Now 18 months old, the Global Wellness Circle is going through some exciting changes.  Originally a small business, GWC are now in the process of applying for CIC status (Community Interest Company/Social Enterprise), and the Bedford chapter have established a firm link to our Transition Bedford initiative. That means, whereas GWC used to have a policy of drawing only from its paid membership for its speaker rota, they now are inviting (and encouraging) volunteer speakers from Transition Bedford OR other Transition Towns to speak as a representative of their initiative and the Transition Town movement in general, to share whatever valuable skills or information they have with the group.*

GWC have active chapters in Bedford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Hemel Hempstead, and should be getting Northampton and Dunstable up and running by February 2010. They welcome anyone and everyone to attend their events (membership is NOT required to attend), and hope that with the addition of Transition Town members, they will become an even more vibrant and exciting group, working together for a better future.

To see the kind of events GWC help to promote, check out their November 2009 events listings at http://www.global-wellness-circle.com/events/events_listings/2009/GWC_events_1109.html The listings include a wide range of events such as GWC evenings, local workshops, training, speakers, community events, exhibitions, radio shows, parties and more, all in the central UK area. All events focus on health, wellbeing and natural lifestyle, and include activities for children, families and adults.

For more information about GWC, or to enquire about becoming a speaker, kindly contact Lynn at lynn@global-wellness-circle.com. You are also invited to subscribe to the GWC mailing list at http://www.global-wellness-circle.com, so you can receive both their events listings and their newsletter, “All is Well”, every month.

Wishing you WELL,
Lynn Serafinn
Founder, Global Wellness Circle
Chair, Transition Bedford

* If you are a member of a Transition Town group and would like to speak at a GWC meeting, it is expected that you will come as a representative of your TT initiative, as opposed to representing your private business. If you do wish to promote your private enterprise (e.g., a green or holistic business you own), you are most welcome to consider becoming a practitioner member of GWC.