Author: whiteleyassociation

Last night, the Whiteley Association gathered at The Club Hotel & Spa for our 2025 Annual General Meeting — an evening filled with connection, celebration, and a shared sense of purpose. With around 50 members and guests in attendance, the room was buzzing with energy and warmth from the moment everyone arrived.

Reflecting on a Vibrant Year

We began the evening with the Chair’s Report, highlighting a truly outstanding year for Whiteley. Across 2025, members enjoyed seven inspiring and varied events, each designed to bring women together, spark conversation, and strengthen our community. From thought-provoking speakers to unique hands-on experiences, this year’s programme showcased the passion and diversity that make Whiteley such a special association.

A Positive Financial Outlook

Our Treasurer then presented the financial review for the year. We were delighted to report that the Association finished the year with a stronger balance than we started, thanks to prudent management and enthusiastic member engagement. Even better — we had great fun investing in memorable events, demonstrating that financial health and community enjoyment can absolutely go hand in hand.

A Wonderful Dinner & A Record-Breaking Raffle

After the formal AGM business concluded, guests enjoyed a fabulous dinner together — a perfect opportunity to reconnect, meet new members, and share stories from the year.

The evening concluded with our annual raffle which, thanks to the generosity of members and local supporters, raised over £1,400 for our chosen charity Tiny Seeds.

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Our October event was a magical tour of the beach at night as 22 members donned wellies and a sense of adventure to look for bioluminescence. Expertly led by Derek Hairon from Jersey Walk Adventures, we let our eyes adjust to the darkness of a moonless night and splashed through the pools around La Rocque. A UV torch revealed stunning snakelocks and daisy anenomes glowing in the sand. 

As we went deeper into the gullies, we were utterly spellbound by the tiny creatures which twinkled and sparked beneath our feet. We learned all about the tiny glowing worms and how and why they emit light. And we were treated with a fabulous show above our heads as well, with the dark skies offshore revealing the constellations and Milky Way in all their glory.

The walk was preceded by a delightful meal at Seymour Inn where members could network and chat.

For anyone interested in discovering the fascinating creatures that come out after dark on our southeast coastline, contact www.jerseywalkadventures.co.uk

To mark the 35th anniversary of the Whiteley Association, we invited members to bring along the next generation of potential Whiteley members for a special evening in Jersey. The event was designed to showcase the breadth of career opportunities available on the island and to share personal insights into the journeys that have led our members from education to their current roles.

The evening began with a networking session over welcome drinks, giving guests a chance to connect informally and set the tone for the discussions ahead.

We then hosted an engaging panel session with five of our Whiteley committee members, who shared their own career paths — from education through to their current roles. The discussion highlighted that even traditional routes can lead to diverse and exciting opportunities. Careers represented on the panel included legislative drafting, metal trading, hospitality and events, UN lobbying, and luxury ski chalet operations, demonstrating the wide range of expertise within our membership.

Earlier this year, we polled our members to gather career insights and top tips for applicants — including what makes a strong CV and, just as importantly, what to avoid. Key highlights were shared with attendees, with the full survey results available to read on the evening.

The celebration concluded with a lively dinner, where members and guests continued the conversation, sharing stories, ideas, and inspiration with those who may one day join the Whiteley community.

We then enjoyed a lovely dinner where members had lively discussions with the next generation of potential Whiteley members.

Members and their guests gathered for lunch at Sirocco in The Royal Yacht this week to hear from Lindsay Wood, the new CEO of Andium Homes. Lindsay joined us to share insights about Andium’s important work in the community and explain why their mission matters to all islanders.

Lindsay has been with Andium Homes since its incorporation in 2014, bringing extensive experience from her previous roles as Chief Financial Officer and Operations Officer. During her presentation, she outlined Andium’s vital work in providing rental homes and affordable first-time buyer properties for Jersey residents. She also highlighted their meaningful charitable partnership with Les Amis, demonstrating their commitment to supporting the wider community.

Following Lindsay’s informative talk, members enjoyed a delicious lunch and participated in a lively question and answer session. The discussion provided valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing Jersey’s housing sector.

Andium Homes generously sponsored our raffle prize, donating a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a £200 floral voucher. The raffle proved to be a great success, raising £700 towards our annual contribution to Tiny Seeds our chosen charity.

We thank Lindsay Wood and Andium Homes for their engaging presentation and generous support of our charitable efforts.

On a warm June evening, members of Whiteley and their guests gathered at the Greenhills Hotel, enjoying a glass of bubbles in the beautiful courtyard before heading inside for a sold-out event that proved both powerful and thought-provoking.

We were honoured to welcome Deryn Evans, Lead Forensic Medical Examiner for the States of Jersey Police, who shared her experiences working at Dewberry House — Jersey’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre — in a talk titled “When Medicine and Law Collide.”

Deryn delivered a deeply insightful and educational presentation, helping us understand the role of a Forensic Medical Examiner and what steps we can take to support someone who has experienced abuse.

After the talk, members and guests enjoyed a delicious two-course dinner, followed by a lively and wide-ranging Q&A session.

A huge thank you to Deryn for sharing her expertise with such clarity and compassion — and to everyone who joined us for an unforgettable evening.

Our May event featured an engaging and practical workshop led by Jersey Krav Maga, titled Security and Awareness for Everyone. Over the course of an hour, Richard Collett and his colleague guided us through hands-on techniques to improve personal awareness and safety. Attendees learned how to identify potentially unsafe situations and how to respond effectively if confronted with discomfort or danger. The interactive format, including partner-based demonstrations, made the session both informative and empowering.

Following the workshop, we continued the evening next door at Botana restaurant, where we enjoyed tapas and drinks. This provided the perfect setting for networking and further discussion on personal safety—both here in Jersey and when travelling abroad.

Richard conducts these sessions for both groups and companies alike, to get in touch please contact him at richard@safeprograms.je

Our second speed networking evening was held at The Kings Bar on 21 March 2025. As a members only event, it enabled our members to get to know new members and find out interesting and new facts about people they have know for years. Sharing news and information over drinks and sharing platters meant the evening sped by and a fantastic evening was had by all.

Our first event of the year was a lunch networking event this week at The Royal Yacht, with guest speaker Kathy Gillen from Genealogy. With the talk titled “Who do you think you are?

We enjoyed a pre-lunch talk with Kathy from who works with families from all over the world, helping create family trees and tracking down long lost relatives. She led us through how her business has grown and spoke about how it is not only the research of dates and events but the social research which brings family stories to life. She also explained how DNA testing can help enormously in identifying family members. It was a fascinating insight into how we often don’t really know who we are!

After we enjoyed lunch, we had a lively Q&A session before the networking continued around the room with 5 new members joining us for the first time and 11 guests accompanying current members.

Our AGM was held at The Club Hotel in St Helier with more than 50 of our members in attendance. We thanked the outgoing Chair – Julia Williams for all of her hard work leading Whiteley over the last three years and welcomed Ceri Tinley as the her replacement. Julia remains on the committee, taking on the role of Treasurer from Martha Bernstein. Kate Huntington takes over the role of company secretary.

We enjoyed a delicious meal before the raffles were drawn, giving plenty of time afterwards for our members to network and catch up with each other.

We are excited about our growing membership and are looking forward to another year of interesting events. Should you wish to join our association please contact us >>

We met this week at The Royal Yacht for a lunch networking event with guest speaker Kim Hacquoil from Exploristics. With the talk titled “From Spreadsheets to Superheros, how statisticians turn chaos into cures in clinical development”.

We enjoyed a pre-lunch talk with Kim from who is a statistician within the pharmaceutical industry. She led us through her career and explained how statistics can help bring a drug to market much more efficiently. Also how it can also help improve the efficiency of trials to reduce animal testing. It was a fascinating insight into how numbers really can help guide the process of successfully bringing a drug to market.

After we enjoyed lunch, we had a lively Q&A session before the networking continued around the room.