A leading Welsh awards ceremony, which celebrates the achievements of inspirational women, has welcomed Vauxhall Finance into poll position as headline sponsor.

Committed to becoming an employer of choice to women in Wales, the company is supporting the Chwarae Teg Womenspire Awards 2022, which recognise women making a difference across the nation.

The gender equality charity runs the event to highlight and champion the contributions of remarkable women from all walks of life. This is well aligned with Vauxhall Finance which runs an in-house Women’s Inspirational Network (WIN) that encourages women, in a predominantly male environment, to flourish. WIN supports the recruitment, retention and development of talented individuals across the organisation and is committed to inspiring positive changes to encourage growth and passion for the business.

The Chwarae Teg Womenspire Awards have run online for the last two years due to the pandemic. However, now in their seventh year, the awards will become a hybrid event for the first time – maintaining accessibility and continuing to reach an audience of thousands.

Running live on Thursday 29 September from the Pierhead Building, Cardiff, the awards will be simultaneously broadcast online via ITV Cymru Wales’ Face Book Live and Twitter.

Cerys Furlong, Chief Executive, Chwarae Teg, said:

“Womenspire is an awards ceremony like no other, and we couldn’t be happier that Vauxhall Finance has joined us as headline sponsor. This demonstrates that the company is an engaged player when it comes to gender equality and is passionate about helping women to achieve and prosper. Thanks to its support, at Womenspire 2022, we can do more than ever to showcase our incredible finalists.

“Together we can shine a light on the individuals and organisations working towards making gender equality a reality in Wales and share their stories with some of the most engaged and proactive women in Wales and their employers.”

Sian Prigg, Senior Learning & Talent Consultant and Chair of WIN, Vauxhall Finance, said:

“Being an automotive finance organisation we’ve done a lot of work through our Women’s Inspirational Network to encourage women into the sector and to progress within it. Having worked closely with Chwarae Teg, with many employees benefiting from its programmes, we gladly snapped up the opportunity to headline sponsor the Womenspire Awards and really recognise some of the most inspirational women in Wales.

“Gender equality and diversity really matter in making a business work and it’s very important that there are more women out there, especially for young women to look up to. As they’re progressing through their education and their careers they must see good role models and realise that actually anything is possible.

“The automotive finance industry has always been male dominated and we are keen to encourage more women to apply for roles here as we strive towards a more gender balanced organisation.”

For further details about the Chwarae Teg Womenspire Awards, sponsoring organisations and remaining sponsorship opportunities go to: www.chwaraeteg.com/womenspire