EVENING Times Scotswoman of the Year Cara Henderson is one of the key speakers at a major Scottish Parliament event encouraging women to be the best they can be.

 

Cara, who set up anti-sectarianism charity Nil By Mouth, joins leading politicians and business figures at Inspiring Young Women on Monday (March 23) in Holyrood.

The 35-year-old, who was named Evening Times SWOTY 2014 for her outstanding campaigning work, is delighted to be part of the impressive line-up, which also features Glasgow Girls campaigner Amal Azzudin and Glasgow Caledonian University principal Professor Pamela Gillies.

She said: "It's a real honour to be asked to join this event and I am very much looking forward to it."

The event, designed to encourage young women to achieve their potential, brings together 128 young women from schools across Scotland.

Cara, Amal and Professor Gillies will be joined on the panel by Khaleda Noon, youth development manager for Sikh Sanjog, and Louise Macdonald OBE, chief executive of Young Scot.

Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick, the driving force behind the event, said: "These are all outstanding women who saw issues in their communities that needed to be addressed and set out to tackle them.

"The young women attending next week will have the capacity within them to be as inspiring as the women we are announcing today, they just won't know it yet."

She added: "The event on Monday will provide a platform to share our experiences and help the young women be the best they can be."

The event will explore themes of confidence, leadership and barriers that hold young women back.

Cara explained: "I will be talking about self-confidence, which is something I struggled with for most of my life in spite of the fact that on paper you could say I've achieved quite a lot.

"In 2012 I was injured in a gas explosion, and that forced me to get in touch with how I actually felt, rather than always trying to run away from the bad feelings."

She added: "From what I have learned through overcoming post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, being in touch with how you actually feel is the key to genuine self-confidence. When we are in touch with our feelings, we can learn how to trust ourselves and when that happens we are not scared of challenging things that we perceive to be wrong, be it sexism of any other form of prejudice."

Schools taking part include Barrhead High, Springburn Academy, St Stephen's High in Inverclyde, Braidhurst High in Motherwell, Castlehead High in Paisley and John Ogilvie High in Hamilton.

Following a morning of discussions, the Presiding Officer will chair a panel session with four MSPs in the Debating Chamber. This will be broadcast live on the Parliament's website, and members of the public can book tickets to watch from the Public Gallery. Call 0800 092 7600 or 0131 348 5200 in advance, or emailing sp.bookings@scottish.parliament.uk