The Wilderness Foundation UK was delighted to welcome renowned Everest mountain climber Cathy O’Dowd as our guest speaker at Haberdashers’ Hall, London last night (26 Jan 2012) in an evening devoted to profiling the charity’s groundbreaking leadership development programme for young women – Wild Swans.

At 8:00 a.m. on 29th May 1999 Cathy O’Dowd, a 30-year-old mountaineer from South Africa, stepped onto the summit of Mount Everest and into history.  She had become the first woman to climb the highest mountain in the world from both its south and north sides.

During her presentation to our 90 strong audience, comprising of Friends and Supporters of the Foundation, Trustees, inspirational business women and mentors who have worked with our Wild Swans, as well as a group of our Swans themselves, Cathy told us of the true challenges that face you when climbing Everest, and that they might not be what you immediately think.  Yes, the ice and the snow and the harsh environment are challenges, but what truly defines you is how you respond to the inner struggles that you must overcome, the hidden strength that you must draw on to achive your aims and discover the leader within.    All of this resonated with our young Swans, who had been on their own journey of exploration in nature, discovering more about themselves, the issues that matter to them and that are challenging us all, as well as their ablity to make a difference to all our futures.

Very sincere thanks to Cathy for sharing her story with us, as well as the team at Haberashers’ Hall, particularly our Guest of Honour, Deborah Knight, current Master of the Haberdashers’ Company and the very first female Master in the history of all the twelve great Livery Companies of London.  Deborah gave a wonderful introduction to the evening, celebrating the strength’s and successes of women as leaders, before inviting Cathy on to the stage.    The evening was closed by Wilderness Foundation UK CEO Jo Roberts, who outlined our vision for Wild Swans as well as the support currently needed to take the project into a new year.

Our vision for Wild Swans

Wild Swans develops confident, well informed young women.  We give them the skills to grow their vision and passion to make a difference in society and the protection of the natural world.

We work with a range of young women, inspiring women leaders and mentors from a range of countries and cultures, working to create an international network of female future leaders.

Wild Swans will become leaders who are sensitive to the environmental, economic, cultural and social issues of our time.

We work in wilderness and nature to develop deeper understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.

What we do

• Wild Swans are carefully selected through written and interview processes
• They commit to being involved for a minimum of 18 months
• They are expected to deliver a project of their choice linked to social or environmental issues
• They will have a personal mentor to help them on their leadership journey and deliver their project
• Wild Swans take part in a wilderness journey and volunteer in a rural community
• They will meet inspirational leaders on a regular basis – learning from their life stories and insights
• They will share their voices, thinking and vision with others
• They will support the next group of Wild Swans and stay part of the alumni

How you can help

• As a mentor supporting a Wild Swan on their journey
• As a woman leader/inspirer with a story to share of leadership and life
• As a workshop facilitator helping us to build the skills and confidence of Wild Swans
• As a friend to help with PR, fundraising and marketing
• As a Sponsor of Wild Swans – either the leadership development of a young woman, or contribution to the running costs of the programme.

 Thank you for your support.