We have some cracking women in Manchester, don’t we? This International Women’s Day (IWD) we want to celebrate some of the fantastic women from our city and share some of their stories with you about just how amazing they are.

While we all love the historical Mancunian women who’ve created change, like your Emeline Pankhurst’s and your Elizabeth Gaskell’s, we’ve put together a list of incredibly influential women who are making waves right now. So have a read about the three Manchester women in this generation who’ve inspired us.

Contents

Image Source: @wearefeelgoodclubmanchester

Kiera Lawlor and Aimee Lawlor-Skillen – The importance of mental health

Kiera and Aimee, a beautiful couple, have changed the way Manchester women view the world and have been spreading their love across the city for years now. These two inspiring women are the owners of Feel Good Club set right in the heart of the Northern Quarter, a beautiful independent café that expanded to a podcast and even a book.

The Feel Good Club is more than just a coffee shop though, Kiera and Aimee have made it a warm and welcoming community for anyone across the city, where they normalise conversations around mental health and want to ensure everyone feels safe in the comfort of their coffee shop.

These girls don’t just make a banging latte either, but they fill the streets of Manchester with positive messages to celebrate the minority voices across the city and they have both developed an awesome reputation for themselves and a fantastic online presence.

With a blend of coffee, comfort, and love, these two successful entrepreneurs have made a change to the streets of Manchester and we’d recommend buying their book for a ‘feel good’ read. We love it.

We’re really lucky to have them.

Image Source: @protecting_grief

Figen Murray OBE – Making changes to our safety

After an event that affected many of us in Manchester, Figen Murray has been tirelessly campaigning for peace and change to UK Law following the horrific Manchester Arena Bombings.

When her son visited the concert and never came home, Figen knew it was time to change the country’s law and fight for the rights of safety of the British public.

After lots of campaigning, she successfully changed the law in the UK and Martyn’s Law was created, making venues and staff have mandatory anti-terrorism training and have contingency plans in case the worst was to ever happen again. Venues across the UK have taken up these measures and it’s now successfully in place.

Figen was awarded an OBE last year for her efforts towards anti-terrorism for the country and has also completed a master’s degree in Counter Terrorism at the University of Lancashire.

A woman we should all look up to.

Image Source: LinkedIn

Rimi Thapar – An inspiring Entrepreneur

Rimi Thapar is the founder and CEO of LoveRaw, an Altrincham-based plant-based chocolate company.

Rimi has quite the story to tell, from starting up her own business to coming out of Dragons Den with no offers, her business is now flying in the UK vegan chocolate market – definitely a good investment the Dragons missed out on, we’ll tell you that.

You can pick up Love Raw in most UK supermarkets, as it’s one of the fastest-growing plant-based chocolate companies in the UK. You can now get Rimi’s products in your lunchtime Tesco meal deal too, so why not give this tasty treat a go?

As well as a fully-fledged entrepreneur, Rimi is an amazing mother to three beautiful children and says that being a business owner and a full-time Mum can be challenging but every day she’s rewarded with something new, and that’s why she does what she does.

By keeping her home life and business separate, Rimi lives a happy life in Manchester and is expanding her products every single day. An inspiration to many.

So it’s now time to celebrate the women in your life and #InspireInclusion this IWD.

Who would you include on your list of amazing women from Manchester? Why not tell us which women inspire you on our socials? We’d love to hear all about them.