Tag Archives: London

women

FOXY Trades Places to support First Step Trust

I have been invited to take part in the First Step Trust (FST) Trading Places initiative to raise awareness levels of their social enterprise good work. Our connection is to do with their London and Manchester garages called SMaRT Garage Services that are all FOXY Lady Approved.

FST helps young people with mental health problems back into the workplace. This is a very topical subject with one in four of us suffering mental health problems of some sort throughout our lives. Some of the individuals I have met at SMaRT Garages have had very challenging issues to deal with in their young lives and yet they come to SMaRT where they are supported, learn new skills and are helped towards a new career that gives them hope, independence and future opportunities. These are life-changing opportunities for individuals that really need them, nothing less.

Few of us know enough about this illness, the downward spiral of depression and the unfair stigma that so often comes with any mention of mental illness. I am honoured to have been invited to shine a light on this subject to share with women drivers in general and Club members in particular.

Readers of my blog will know that FOXY is a not for profit organisation that is all about identifying and promoting better motoring services for women and working with businesses that go that extra mile to do a better job for women. Without these businesses we’d be unable to do our not for profit work for women drivers, spreading the word about car and tyre safety issues at business events across the UK for example, so we particularly identify with the SMaRT Garage Services business model.

When I say ‘for women’ read ‘for men too’ in the SMaRT Garage context but my point here is that it is rare to see ANY garage organisation so actively involved in everyday training for individuals (whether as mechanics or pastry chefs) hence my huge admiration for FST.

Trading Places Supporters

Here are some of the individuals that have already participated in the Trading Places initiative.

Trading_Places1

Cathryn Moses, Small Business Saturday UK
Chris Graham, Wates Living Space
Cllr Denise Hyland, Royal Borough of Greenwich
Hannah Stafford, Buzzacott Chartered Accountants
Jack Hopkins, Jobs & Growth, Lambert
John McGirr, Royal Borough of Greenwich
Maureen Thone, Royal Borough of Greenwich
Mike Freeman ARC BITC
Neil Airey, Royal Borough of Greenwich
Nicholas Campbell-Watts, Mental Health CERTITUDE
Peter Holbrook, Social Enterprise UK
Philip Breslin, Royal Borough of Greenwich

Trading_Places_2

Rachel Hubbard, Deaf Umbrella
Ray Calcutt, Boston Garage Equipment
Sean Kelleher, Business Connector BITC
Steve Nash, Institute of the Motor Industry
Stuart James, Retail Motor Industry Federation

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I am not sure whether to pack my hiking boots or blender when I report for duty on 9 March because First Step provides garage and catering career services and I am equally as incompetent in both areas.

But I do know that I shall meet inspiring individuals who are all as committed to the success of the business as I am.

Finally I’d like to pay tribute to FST’s tenacious CEO Ronnie Wilson OBE who works tirelessly to fund their work and who we are delighted to work with to promote their genuinely female friendly garages to local female motorists in Woolwich, Bexley, West Norwood and Salford.

To find a FOXY Lady Approved garage in your area…

FOXY
@FOXYtweets

insurance for women

Romeo, the London Shard Hotel’s adventurous fox

romeo_1Last month we launched a new insurance service for Club members and to get things off to a flying start we added a hotel competition to encourage them to register with us for an insurance quote.

The hotel we chose was the newly opened luxury Shangri-La which is part of the iconic London Shard.

Imagine my surprise to read that we won’t be the first fox-y customers to stay there.

Apparently a fox was found roaming the upper levels of The Shard during its construction and named Romeo. Seemingly he survived by eating scraps of food left by builders before being captured, cared for by vets and then released back into Bermonsea with the strict instructions not to climb high buildings again…

Goodness knows how he got there – not in the lift we’re told.

Anyway, to celebrate his foxy antics one of the gifts on sale in The Shard giftshop is now a cuddly fox toy, called Romeo of course.

To win a stay at the Hotel Shard

shardhotelIf any female would like to enter our competition to win a stay in London’s luxury Shangri-La Shard Hotel, a prize worth £1500 including £500 spending money, all you have to do is REGISTER for an insurance quote with us before the end of April. The more quotes you register (car, motorcycle and home) the more entries and so on…

NB: You don’t have to be a Club member to be eligible (and in fact non members will receive a one-off gift membership as part of any insurance quote during 2015) but, as you might expect of us, Club members will always get the best deal from FOXY Lady Insurance.

female friendly

Wise up with winter coming says Monaco VW

Monaco Entrance landscapeTracing back to its business origins in 1954 Monaco VW is not only the oldest VW garage on the UK network but we think it’s one of London’s most beautiful too.

And a member of FOXY’s female friendly car dealer network to boot!

We all know that with age comes wisdom of course which is why Monaco VW knows to offer its customers a comprehensive Winter Car Care Check at this time of year.

Theirs costs £29.99 and includes a technical inspection of tyres, battery, brakes, lights and fluid levels. If repairs are needed, Monaco technicians are on hand to assist and any looming concerns will be noted for future attention as part of Monaco’s unique vehicle management service.

Recent figures from the Department for Transport showed that treacherous winter conditions caused over 6,000 road incidents last year. With that in mind Monaco VW is also recommending VW-approved snow chains and snow socks to help drivers keep a tighter grip on the road in snowy and icy conditions. For those new to chains and “socks” a full demonstration will be provided by Monaco VW’s friendly team.

“Our Winter Vehicle Check gives drivers the confidence that they’re not going to feel unprepared when the inevitable hard frosts and poor weather affects the capital over the next few months” said Dealer Principal Anthony Barrell.

We’re happy to promote this for Monaco VW as this is a responsible thing to do at this time of year. We’d also like to remind members that many of our FOXY Lady Approved garages offer a similar service, often free but requiring payment for any expensive engine oil top ups that are usually involved.

NB: This year, all their female customers who provide feedback following a recent visit to Monaco VW will be offered a gift membership of FOXY Lady Drivers Club worth £23. What’s not to like?