This year at TFWA World Exhibition, Women in Travel Retail (WiTR) once again gathered to network and raise funds for nominated charity, Hope Foundation. Thanks to a number of generous donations, this year’s event more than hit its target of €15,000.
Over 150 members of the duty-free and travel retail industry met at the group’s popular networking session held on Tuesday 5 October in the foyer of the Palais des Festivals.
On arrival, attending ladies were welcomed with a glass of delicious Chandon Garden Spritz courtesy of Moet Hennessy, the perfect way to kick off an enjoyable networking session.
An important part of the gathering was to raise money to purchase a much-needed bus for the Hope Foundation. This project was nominated by Butlers Chocolates who has a long-standing association with WiTR and with the charity.
WiTR’s target was to raise €15,000 to buy a new bus for women and children at Hope’s five homes in Kolkata, as the current 15-year-old bus has been forced off the road and no longer complies with Government environmental guidelines. The bus is desperately needed to transport women at the Hope homes to reach medical services, vocational training centres, as well as taking children to school and other activities.
Thanks to generous donations from Victoria’s Secret, Gebr. Heinemann and Harding Retail, and all the women who donated at the networking session, over €17,200 was raised, meaning that Hope Foundation can now purchase the new bus.
Baptiste Marchis, Head of Travel Retail at Victoria’s Secret commented, “We are grateful for the partnership with Women in Travel Retail, and the opportunity to positively impact women’s lives with our donation to the Hope Foundation.”
Aisling Walsh said, “On behalf of Butlers Chocolates and Hope Foundation we would like to thank our very generous corporate sponsors - Victoria’s Secret, Gebr. Heinemann and Harding Bros – and all those who donated to the raffle on the night, and to the fabulous team at WiTR who made it all happen in the first place.”
WiTR would like to highlight its short video clip about the Hope Foundation:
https://youtu.be/QnuNRMhpboI
WiTR would like to thank the TFWA for facilitating its annual meeting, its trade media partners for publicising the event and call for donations; and to all those who joined the meeting this year and generously donated.
Re-invigorated by existing and new members of the steering committee, and with a new website, WiTR invites all women in the duty-free and travel retail industry to join using the link on the website: www.womenintr.com. Annual membership is set at an inclusive and very affordable level: £25/€25/USD$25. WiTR also has a highly active LinkedIn group, where members can network and make new connections.
In addition to the popular webinar series hosted by Vice Chair Gerry Munday, WiTR plans to capitalise on the post-Covid travel freedoms and put to good use its new CRM system with a new programme of local events in the coming year.
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