This year’s IWD falls on a FriYay! and the theme is #balanceforbetter . Women can be very good at hosting, feeding and juggling everybody’s needs but often at a cost to their own enjoyment and participation. We wondered how we could balance organising a fun Friday night out without exhausting ourselves or our wallets. We came up with the idea of an American Potluck supper in which everyone chips in foodwise and, more often than not, spreads the dishing out and clearing up efforts too!

We also wanted to make the event a comfortable place for anyone coming by themselves, who often feels shy or tends to stay away from new situations. Sometimes it’s hard to balance our human urge for connection with fear of using up our social energy or fear of imposing ourselves on others. To this end, we made some ‘conversation starters’ at our Craft & Chat event which will go on the tables and hopefully get everyone asking questions and learning about each other.

Tickets cost £5 here and profits will go to Yellow Door, a domestic violence charity in Southampton. Bring some cash for our wicked raffle.

See our calendar for other events in Southampton this week celebrating #IWD2019.