Inspiring Women : November 2020

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A Club Inspires: AWC London The American Women’s Club of London, England is in FAWCO’s Region 1. Club president Whitney Hoagland Edwards answers our questions about the club and what life is like living in London. When, why, and who by was your club started? In 1898, a group of 25 American women met for tea at the London home of Carrie Louise Griffin to discuss their interest in forming a group that “would lead to useful service, a center of our own, in the land of our sojourn”. Most were what we call “Long Term London Ladies”, married to business leaders, government officials and often British citizens. Distinguished members included Lady Randolph Churchill (Jennie Jerome), mother of Winston; Lady Astor, the Duchess of Marlborough; Mrs. Selfridge; and Mrs. Herbert Hoover. Big Ben when it’s not under renovation The club provided help, advice and cooperation for other organizations, individuals, movements, charities, schools and churches. It was consulted on educational, social, philanthropic, economic, artistic and literary subjects. How many members do you have and what are their nationalities? We currently have 250 members who are primarily expats. We have quite a few members who are non-US born, but have ties to America, usually from having lived there. We have a mix of “long-termers”, re-pats, ex-pats, and temporary-pats that are here for 2–4 years. At one point in the early 1900s our club had over 1,500 members! The two World Wars took many back to the US. How does the club run? Our club is run as a company limited by guarantee with an elected (volunteer) board of directors. Our membership dues determine our annual budget and we put all income after running costs back into the club. It has been some time since we have had members running against one another for board positions. We find that many roles do well with co-directors so that the job tasks can be leveraged to accommodate schedules. We have a nominating committee run by the company Secretary each spring prior to our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in April. We do 40 AWC London members on a day trip to a peony farm in Kent
41 have times where board seats remain open and others pick up the slack. I am finding that people want to add value and be included, but they are afraid to “step on toes”. They want to be asked so we are actively always looking for leaders. What kind of events do you have in your club? We have a wide variety of events throughout the year. Some are regular weekly, bi-weekly or monthly and others are one-offs or annual. We have an incredible team of Activity Leaders who take the lead on event planning for their specific groups and they liaise with our Director of Activities to get the activity St. Paul’s from on top of One New Change Place listed and promoted to members. Three years ago, the club made the wise financial and management decision to close our office in South Kensington and to switch all of our system management to the Wild Apricot platform. I cannot thank that board enough for their foresight as I cannot imagine how we could have operated during 2020. When the pandemic put London into lockdown, we quickly cancelled all in-person events and moved to virtual activities. Our leaders were and continue to be creative and adaptive to our limitations and restrictions. In the wake of this pandemic, we have had the opportunity to promote smaller group meet-ups like coffees, walks in the parks and exploring of the host’s neighborhood. We have also piloted a “Won’t you be my neighbor” program where the board links up members who live close to each other. Do you raise money for any particular cause? For well over 20 years, AWC London has been volunteering at Ronald McDonald House (Evelina House) at least once a month by cooking for the residents. We also volunteer at least twice a month at the Soup Kitchen at the American International Church. Unfortunately, we have not been able to do either since February. We normally have our main charity fundraiser at our annual Founders’ Day gala in the spring. That had to be cancelled as well. We helped get the Soup Kitchen a $2000 grant this spring and we have contributed to their ongoing fundraising campaign through individual donations. We are launching a Holiday Charity Appeal soon and will be raising much needed funds through a Just Giving campaign culminating with a fun, interactive virtual holiday event for our members in December. This is in lieu of our normal holiday charity drive and party, Club President Whitney, with Sue Bennett from the Ronald McDonald House which is usually a coat/clothing campaign for guests of the Soup Kitchen or a toy drive for the kids staying at Ronald McDonald House. Understandably, we have to change tactics this year. What was your own favorite activity/event last year? If we are talking 2019, definitely Founders’ Day. At the time, I was Director of Special Events and this was my first time planning an event of its scale since my wedding 13 years ago. It was a huge success! In 2020, it would be our last Monthly Meeting Mixer, which was in February at a beloved SoHo Speakeasy. It was a wonderful night and that was one of our last in-person events until September. Over the years, I’ve loved our outings to places like Stoke-on-Trent, Ascot, Buckingham Palace and more.
Page 1 and 2: 1 November 2020, Volume 4, Issue 4
Page 3 and 4: Contents PROFILES 10 17 23 29 36 Th
Page 5 and 6: 5
Page 7 and 8: Inspiration From the Editor It’s
Page 9 and 10: Sisters Act: Women in Drama “A ct
Page 11 and 12: Getting Involved in TV I think dram
Page 13 and 14: A Few Final Thoughts I think one of
Page 15 and 16: name. George or Mrs. Sanders or Pro
Page 17 and 18: Cruising from Hollywood to Hamburg
Page 19 and 20: husband. He worked on the ship with
Page 21 and 22: With actor, Gregory Hines at Anita
Page 23 and 24: Nothing Amateur about Acting in Spa
Page 25 and 26: Getting Involved in Theater I had a
Page 27 and 28: Posing in the hospital gown Smearin
Page 29 and 30: Breaking Stereotypes One At a Time
Page 31 and 32: this for about six months before ge
Page 33 and 34: the play as we performed and so I w
Page 35 and 36: for me. After a year of bugging, an
Page 37 and 38: classes in English to the expat com
Page 39: A Few Final Thoughts My inner child
Page 43 and 44: West of the City, North of the Tham
Page 45 and 46: The Criterion Theatre was designed
Page 47 and 48: actor and as a choreographer. Favor
Page 49 and 50: We have been able to visit many chi
Page 51 and 52: mark and fuelled my desire to work
Page 53 and 54: We performed in the park in front o
Page 55 and 56: Producing Theater for Social Change
Page 57 and 58: Day, the global activist movement t
Page 59 and 60: that job that I’d had as a real e
Page 61 and 62: was showcasing my second album, Ac
Page 63 and 64: to know, what a great filmmaker he
Page 65 and 66: Hartman Theater. My teachers were t
Page 67 and 68: usiness! I also learned the art of
Page 69 and 70: the quieter and subtler moments of
Page 71 and 72: A Thoroughly Modern Woman CAITLYN O
Page 73 and 74: visuals to in-person gatherings and
Page 75 and 76: “We are Such Stuff as Dreams Are
Page 77 and 78: Inspiring You Founded in 1931, FAWC
Page 79 and 80: The Cover Photo “The Red Dress”
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Inspiring Women : November 2020

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