Contraception Education has had another exciting and fulfilling year and our annual report this year shows how. We have been considering formally changing our structure to represent the charitable aspects of our work more fully, and have now resolved to set up as a CIC with Companies House in 2009. This will open doors for us as a Social Enterprise, which we is how we have always operated, but unfortunately in 2001, there was no CIC option and so we appeared to be "for profit".
Our financial reports show that we are still in profit and have no external debt, an achievement of which we are very proud in the current economic climate. Seventy two per cent of our income is still coming from sales of our resources, with the majority of the remainder coming from education and training sessions.
In April 2008 Meline Jallat and Remi Gandeboeuf joined us from France on placement as part of Salford's twinning arrangement with Claremont Ferrand. Their role was varied and demanding, promoting our conference
Protect and Respect and organising the details of the conference. They also enhanced our ability to use video, and created translations and subtitles for our advertisements and French Blogs.
We were once again very lucky with our media coverage in the press and TV and radio appearances. We began with a feature on Salford City Radio where we were interviewed by Jon Monk, and chose our favourite tracks, we then had an article published in the Nursing Standard, we were invited to a discussion on Channel M breakfast about sex education for primary age children, and were part of a Granada TV documentary in the Granada Edition series, on teenage pregnancy. Barbara was also recognised as Community Champion in an article in the local Glossop press, and was interviewed for a feature Ms Magazine in Shanghai, and for a piece in the Manchester Evening News about her work in China.
We also did a number of Radio interviews and programmes including Salford City Radio, Imagine FM and High Peak Radio and Peak FM.
Throughout the year we have kept ourselves up to date with youth activities, sex education forum events, sex education conferences and seminars, including Youth Taskforce and Safeguarding events.
Barbara spoke at GUNA National Conference in April 08, and at the BASHH/Faculty Scientific meeting at the RCOG in London in January 09.
Although Julie Wray has been off the Contraception Education scene again this year because she is finishing her PhD, and has received funding via Iolanthe. This award has enabled Julie to focus exclusively on completing her doctorate. In between her studies Julie has chaired a session at ICM in Glasgow, and also launched the premiere of "Born" part of the Birthrites Exhibition at Manchester Museum. Julie has kept up to date with her clinical practice by undertaking a week of practice at the Phoenix Sexual Health Centre in Oldham in the summer of 2008, and completed an editorial for the Practising Midwife entitled "No Sex Please, We're British".
Barbara received an invitation from NCT to run teenage parenting workshops at the NCT/Sowing Seeds Conference Maternity Matters for All in July 08. This went down particualrly well because she invited 2 teen mums to give their story, and it was the most effetive and realistic way to address all of the issues from a young person's perspective. We once again ran our own highly successful conference < a href=http://www.contraceptioneducation.co.uk/docs/Protectflyer2008.pdf>Protect and Respect also in July 08.
It was a great privilege to be invited as a SPARK ambassador to this year's Prowess Conference in Blackpool. Barbara was on a lively panel of experts who all spoke about setting up in business against the odds. At the same conference Germaine Greer drew startling comparisons between women in business and men in business in her keynote address on the last day.
We had some exciting visits too
Our visit to Salford City Councilwas to mark the end of a successful exchange with the University of Claremont Ferrand. Our lovely visit to the Harold Riley Archive in Salford coincided with Mr Riley's exhibition of photos and video from Old Salford. Barbara was delighted to receive a card with a copy of one of Mr Riley's paintings showing a baby in a basket secured onto a dining chair which took me back to Health Visiting in Manchester in the 1970's.
Work in Schools
We have continued to make visits to schools for sex education sessions and assembies, as well as demonstrations of our resources. In July 2008 we visited Bruntcliffe School Leeds to make a presentation about contraception and sexual health. We worked throughout the term with ASDAN groups in Glossopdale Community College, and the Prince's Trust Excel group featured in a Granada Edition Documentary. At the Protect and Respect Conference Glossopdale's 6th form college media group created video presentations promoting safer sex and sexual health, the Excellence in Sex Education award was won by one of the students. This got a lot of local news coverage. Barbara visited Outwood Grange College in Wakefield and Juniper Training to demonstrate her resources. In January 2009 Barbara travelled to St Georges School Ascot and made a presentation about sexual health to a group of year 9 students and also visited Rudolf Steiner School in Kings Langley in January 2009 - this time Barbara talked to 2 groups of teenagers, in year 9 and year 10. She delivered a sex education session to a group of business students at Skills Solutions in Manchester. The session was arranged by Siobhan Elliott and stimulated some lively discussion about sexually transmitted infections and how to avoid them, using our innovative resources.
Last Autumn a group of young men from St Peter's RC High School took part in an interactive "Wise Up" session about Safer Sex. Before the session, some did not know how to protect themselves from common STI's, and others had no idea about the tests and treatments. In the class, as well as open discussion, they were able to view the NHS Choices Videos and some clips from You Tube about HIV prevention, and felt greatly reassured.
All of Barbara's sexual health sessions over the year have evaluated positively and young people praised Barbara for her open approach and her ability to meet them where they are with language and explanations they understand.
It was a pleasure to read how Barbara's sexual health training had been so successful in an evaluation from Gold in Honduras and we were also very happy to receive a testimonial from Zambia and to hear that the board game and DVD we donated had served its purpose and has helped to raise awareness in this community. This is comforting because it gives us a reassurance that our products may help the HIV/aids situation over there. We are going to look into the possibilities of exporting to Zambia.
In September we went with UKTI to Geneva and made really useful visits to WHO and UNFPA there. Barbara joined the London Chamber of Commerce on a trip to on 22nd September to have meetings with the World Health Organisation, the United Nations and the International Red Cross. It was Barbara's intention to share the testimonials and evaluations she has received of her resources and her international work with the goal expanding their use through International Aid Agencies. The visit began with a briefing at the British Consulate-General on 23rd covering AID funded business and the organisations based in Switzerland. On 24th were appointments with the World Health Organisation and with UNFPA (the population fund).
In October we joined the UKTI CBBC China mission to Shanghai and Ningbo Sarah Bagshaw completed her Masters Dissertation which examined how successful.
Games received by UNFPA in Uganda
Barbara delivered a sex education session to a group of business students of Skills Solutions in Manchester. They were able to have a lively discussion about sexually transmitted infections and the session was well received.
De Bono Foundation - James Powell promotes our work
In enterprise week Barbara continued to work with the Manchester and Salford Enterprise Board as a member of the board, to promote more engagement and involvement of the private sector in the work of the board, and began enterprise week at a meeting of the Board in 1 Central Park.
As an Ambassador for Women’s Enterprise, Barbara was part of a panel of speakers who regularly undertake volunteering roles, she also spoke at various events inspiring new entrepreneurs, for example a the University of Leeds in October 2008, at the Enterprise Academy in Lancashire, at several SPARK events and at Tameside Business Family.
The work that Barbara had started last year with Lesley Greenhalgh entitled A Review of the Greater Manchester Sexual Health Workforce was finished in the Spring and published in September 2009. A pdf of the document can be found here
Sexual Health Mystery Shopper Derbyshire
Following the success in 2006 of the Tameside and Glossop Mystery Shopper Project, Barbara has been commissioned again to do sexual health training for young mystery shoppers in Derbyshire over the Summer of 2009.
At an East Midlands Ambassadors for Womens Enterprise event, we were very lucky to meet secret millionaire Kavita Oberoi, and arrange to look at working together to prevent teenage pregnancy and to help raise self esteem amongst harder to reach young women. There is a clear link in what Kavita is now doing and the work we do at Contraception Education. As we are both Ambassadors for Women's Enterprise in the East Midlands we have now exchanged contact details and feel very optimistic for the future of providing sexual health information to hard to reach young women in Derbyshire, similar to the SWV programme.
Whilst staying in London in January presenting at the BASHH/Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care Scientific Conference Barbara took time out to meet with Brenda Nathanson from Greatvine to learned how to choose categories and register as an expert on Greatvine. this initiative will enable Barbarar to offer advice on-line and on the phone in her chosen areas of health expertise. This is a new inititiave which is currently gathering momentum and we are very proud to be there at the beginning. More information about this exciting new project can be found on the Greatvine website at www.greatvine.com
Sophia te Velde joined us on placement from Holland in February 2008, and will be staying with us until July, under the scheme of placing international students organised by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commers Industry's International Student Placement Office (ISPO). She is undertaking a market research exercise, and will produce a report about Zambia, with a view to introducing our products more widely there. We have already had a wonderful evaluation from a Zambian Youth Organisation, and feel that there is a market, but need to be sure.
We were invited to exhibit and attend the Think Fathers and Think Mothers NCT/Sowing Seeds conference in March 2009, where we were delighted to hear the Minister Beverley Hughes speaking about initiatives which will help fathers become more involved and much more included in services for parents.
In the same month we exhibited at "Do Business", a Glossop event, organised by First Impression / Printing.com which was a huge success. At this event we also facilitated speed networking. Photographed here are Sophia te Velde and Barbara Hastings-Asatourian in the Exhibition Hall pictured next to their Contraception Education stand at Bradbury Community House.
At an East Midlands Ambassadors for Womens Enterprise event, we were very lucky to meet secret millionaire 
Whilst staying in London in January presenting at the BASHH/Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care Scientific Conference Barbara took time out to meet with Brenda Nathanson from Greatvine to learned how to choose categories and register as an expert on 
