Apprentice Candidate Talks to Connect Women's Network

By Jane Campbell

Sharon McAllister's visit to Stornoway in May 2006 was hailed a great success by the women of "Connect" in Lewis and Harris. TV Apprentice candidate Sharon McAllister spoke to over 50 ladies of "Connect" Womens Network at an evening in An Lanntair Arts Centre. Connect had the use of the Arts Centre facilities for the evening and prior to Sharon's talk, An Lanntair served a buffet in the restaurant area which gave members a chance to network. Connect members were then shown into the Auditorium to hear Sharon's story.

Sharon was brought up in Alloa, near Stirling. She started her talk by telling members about her very inspiring Maths teacher in School, past First Minister Jack MacConnell, who she still keeps in touch with. On leaving school, she did some travelling and became a holiday rep for Club 18-30. After three years, she returned to Scotland and went to University in Aberdeen to study for a degree in Corporate Communication and then a Post-graduate qualification in Personnel. At the age of 24, whilst studying for her Post-graduate diploma, she became pregnant with her son Reece, and she sat her final exams three days after giving birth to him. Unable to find a job which suited her new single mum status, Sharon was spurred on to start her own business selling baby gift baskets. Problems finding a tartan she liked, and which conveyed a meaning other than battle for Reece's christening at Stirling Castle, led Sharon to design her own baby tartan which she named "The Child". Sharon's business grew and became very successful but on a visit to the States to promote her products, the events of September 11th intervened and led to a quantity of Sharon's stock being impounded by customs causing her financial difficulty. Once again, faced with a problem and a need to earn money to support her son, Sharon took a job at Forth Valley College as a part-time Lecturer and it wasn't long before she was promoted to Head of the Enterprise Education Department. In 2005, 'The Apprentice' Auditions were being held in Glasgow and Sharon decided to go along. Much to her surprise, she found herself in the final three in Glasgow and following another two London auditions, she was chosen as one of the final 14 'Apprentice' candidates to star in the BBC2 show. Sharon's job at the College was held open for her and she did return to it until 'The Apprentice' was aired on TV earlier that year. Sharon still keeps in touch with Sir Alan Sugar and many of her 'Apprentice' colleagues and other contacts she made through the show. The Connect evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all and the Committee were delighted that so many came along. Sharon and her mother, who she had brought along on the visit, were both very taken with the island and the sense of community here and look forward to making to making a return visit.

Uist Connect Study Visit to India

by Sarah Maclean

Laura Donkers reported of their visit: Women's experiences of life are undoubtedly similar, regardless of where they live and what they do in the world, but the hardships borne by the ones who are living in archaic societies are undeniable... It was humbling for us to observe the conditions they had to tolerate:

A mundane, menial life of twelve-hour days of hard toil. The frightening, daily living and working conditions, which we could only guess at, as this was the coolest time of the year at 30 degrees - it gets up to 50 degrees by May! The 'dowry system' whereby the family of a girl is obliged to provide property or money for an intended husband, leaves people already living a hand to mouth existence with no choice but to borrow money that they can often never repay, this leads to their children being kept as slaves of the landowners. Women's position in society as illiterate means they will never be able to better themselves, and they know their children will meet only the same fate.

And yet there were uplifting observations too. Evidence of change and opportunity - not for everyone, of course, but chances such educational hostels and orphanages for children, government sponsored literacy programmes and the values of fair-trade are opening up to help some to escape from the inevitability of grinding poverty.

The talk was inspiring and eye-opening and was very much enjoyed by all those present. Thanks to Laura for making the journey North to speak with us and we hope in the future we will be able to further develop links between Connects groups in the Highlands & Islands.

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