Channel 4 to hand airwaves to seven ‘talented and inspiring women’

Updated

Channel 4 will hand over its airwaves to seven influential women, from scientists to food poverty campaigners, in celebration of International Women’s Day.

Figures including Kate Bingham, former chairwoman of the UK vaccine taskforce, and matron May Parsons, the first person to administer a Covid-19 vaccine to a patient outside of clinical trials, will feature as continuity announcers throughout the day.

The British vaccinologist who led the team behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, Professor Sarah Gilbert, is among those who will tell their story.

RSA Albert Medal
Professor Sarah Gilbert (John Cairns/University of Oxford/PA)

Sarah White, the headteacher of Coates Lane Primary School in Barnoldswick, whose sympathetic letter to parents about home schooling went viral, will also feature.

Also featured are Alyson Walsh, commercial director of food waste charity FareShare, Dr Nisreen Alwan, who campaigned for more awareness of long Covid, and Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, the UK’s first sickle-cell and thalassaemia nurse specialist.

Channel 4 will also feature a special ident throughout the day and will share each woman’s story on social media using the hashtag #ChampioningWomensVoices.

Zaid Al-Qassab, chief marketing officer and inclusion and diversity director of Channel 4, said: “We’re hugely proud to be handing over the mic on International Women’s Day to such talented and inspiring women, highlighting their incredibly powerful achievements and providing a national platform for their important stories.”

Off air Channel 4 will mark the day with a programme of events for its staff and partners.

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