Inaugural women’s wellbeing summit in St Andrews – Daily Business

Motivated by her own incredible life journey, which has taken her from Fife, to the Caribbean, and back to Scotland, Lesley Canis has become a fierce advocate for women’s wellbeing in the workplace.

She is now looking to facilitate real change through staging an inaugural Women’s Wellbeing Summit at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews later this year.

Once declared homeless, following the break-up of her first marriage, Lesley, from Kennoway, fought back by achieving a degree in English and creative writing, and became a lecturer and journalist.

The whole experience demonstrated to her that childcare provision was woefully inadequate for working women, and especially for single parents.

At the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic, she was isolated alone with her young child. Taking a huge gamble, as a result of seeing the Welcome Stamp Visa Programme, she moved to Barbados to work as a freelance writer, remaining there for a year before returning to Scotland with a new husband, with whom she now shares young twins.

Then working for an advocacy charity called Voiceability, in Fife, Lesley found that very little progress had been made in addressing the mental and physical needs of women facing obstacles to study and work. 

To be held on the 15 November at the iconic Old Course Hotel, the Scottish Women’s Wellbeing Summit, or SWWS, is aiming to ensure meaningful change in this area starts to happen now.

Bringing together 200 women, a committed and highly engaged mix of leading female professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners, and corporate business leaders, the summit will provide them with the opportunity to network, collaborate, and inspire, with exhibitor stalls from Scotland’s leading wellness and leadership industries, along with networking sessions and workshops to attend.

Keynote speakers will aim to attract column inches on what can be done to improve the situation for working women in Scotland.

Additionally, the summit will provide an opportunity for those attending to mentally and physically renew, with a series of immersive experiences, including ice bathing, yoga, and even fire walking. For delegates who chose to stay overnight, they will have access to the hotel’s swimming pool, hot tub and sauna.

Having qualified as a Kundalini Yoga Teacher back in 2022, running Living Fierce Yoga in the community, with chair yoga and mum & baby yoga classes part of her repertoire, Lesley took the logical next step, given her passion for wellbeing in the workplace, and launched her own yoga business. Called calmandcofficeyoga is still in its infancy, and is run alongside her current advocacy job, but is attracting businesses to think about workplace wellbeing in a new way.

Lesley explained that facilitating and staging this important summit is the realisation of a long-held dream.

“This summit, a combination of a wellbeing & leadership summit for women, means the absolute world to me. I have wanted to do something like this for a long time,” she said.

“I know there are a lot of local summits doing great things and driving change, but with SWWS, I want to get in front of women who are in leadership roles or entrepreneurs in wellness. As a group of women sitting down together, they can facilitate change at high levels, and raise incredible awareness that drips down through their organisations, and onto their customers.”

Lesley went on to say that other aims of the summit were to directly discuss the issues that matter to working women, “whether they have been affected by menstrual issues, menopausal concerns, or pregnancy.

“There are so many innovative, non hormonal, treatments for women’s health issues, such as menopause, that can be accessed in non medical settings if more women knew about them, for example. Sadly, they tend not to be available in traditional settings.  

“But, even more importantly for me personally, is my hope that this summit will be profitable enough for me to use some of these profits to start a childcare charity within Fife, not dissimilar to Flexible Childcare Services Scotland.

“I’d also like to run luxury wellbeing retreats for women in Barbados that allow for two funded spaces for women who financially wouldn’t be able to access them otherwise. Doing what I did was life changing in so many ways, and I want other people to experience that.” 

Describing the childcare provision across Fife, as “shocking”, Lesley said that “as a mum of young children in the workplace 25 years ago, and a mum of young children in the workplace now, not much has changed at all.

“I know what it’s like to be down on your luck, and to feel that you’re not valued in either the workplace or society, just because you’re a single mother. I felt I had nowhere to turn at that point in my life, so I want to make a difference.”

Lesley explained that staging the summit was “at a very high cost to me, with huge risks and outlay. It’s a wellbeing summit that is also a luxury retreat, partnering one of Scotland’s premier Hotels.

“I wanted to make it as luxe and commercially appealing as possible, in order to attract the level of corporate sponsorship and support I need. I have negotiated special overnight rates with The Old Course Hotel, for summit delegates who may wish to stay overnight on the day, which would certainly give them the very best experience.

“Staying overnight gives them exclusive access to a networking drinks reception, plus the exclusive leadership dinner afterwards. I want to make the summit an unforgettable and empowering experience that could well become a regular fixture in influential women’s yearly calendars.

“I’d like to thank The Old Course Hotel for its assistance, and support so far,” continued Lesley. “They have been absolutely fantastic in seeing my vision for this event.”

Facing, what she calls, “a full on summer “, Lesley is now busy securing summit speakers, tweaking the itinerary, and seeking key sponsorship.

“Any sponsors or exhibitors who would like to get involved, please reach out to me at  team@swwsummit.co.uk,” she said.

“I am delighted to say that I have already secured Biomel UK, a prestigious gut health brand, on board as a sponsor, along with the incredible Viking Heat Retreat in Cupar, so things are starting to move. Fife based Vivimus Water has agreed to supply the water for the event too, which is fantastic news.

“JoyWorks!, one of Scotland’s leading holistic teambuilding companies, has been confirmed as our first speaker.

“I always felt like a square peg in a round hole in the workplace,” finished Lesley. “I’ve always been a bit rebellious, not seeing the point in a lot of structures. This always made me feel like a failure because of it. It took me a long time to realise that a lot of women felt the same in the workplace, as its structure simply isn’t set up for single mothers, or for women in general.

“This summit is for women tired of asking for approval, or trying to make changes within the current system. It’s for the rebels and the changemakers who aren’t asking for permission anymore, for people who know there’s a better way to lead. If Covid proved anything, it’s that there are other ways to work that still work.”

Further details www.swws.co.uk.

Tickets for the Scottish Women’s Wellbeing Summit are now on sale through the website swwsummit.co.uk