Proposed Cluster Groups

The Cluster regions are listed below, but these are not fixed and can be changed as appropriate, depending on local knowledge, so please don’t think that these are set in stone.

• Berkshire
• Birmingham
• Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk
• Cumbria
• Devon and Cornwall
• Dorset
• Essex
• Hampshire
• Herts and Beds
• Kent
• Lancashire
• London
• Manchester
• Merseyside and Wirral
• Midlands
• North Yorkshire and Humberside
• Northern Ireland and Eire
• Nottinghamshire
• Oversees
• Scotland East
• Scotland West
• Sheffield
• Surrey and Sussex
• Thames and Chiltern
• Tyneside
• West Country (Bristol, Bath, Taunton)
• Wales

WES Clusters

New Cluster Co-ordinators Needed
WES regional activity is organised through a network of Clusters run by WES members throughout the UK, and an exciting new initiative is being launched to re-invigorate the regions of the UK, increase the number of women engineers we can reach and support, encourage girls into engineering, help Engineering Companies improve their diversity agenda, and generally increase our strength and influence at a local level.

A number of activities for the cluster co-ordinator to look after have been identified:
• Know the engineering scene in your area, and make contacts. Get yourself known as the WES ambassador for the locality, and engage with companies with a view to: Organising visits; Using their facilities for evening lectures/ networking events/ Council meetings/ conferences; Solicit members; Help them with their diversity agenda; Advertise jobs locally; Get sponsorship for funding local events.
• Distribute local information to your members.
• Increase membership. Advertise locally.
• Link with other local relevant organisation, and where relevant join together to organise events, and contribute your contacts to a national register of WES partners
• Engage with local schools and FE colleges to see whether they need help with encouraging girls into engineering, and make use of the STEM ambassador programme to help provide the resources
• Choose a new name for your cluster, if you want to change it.
• Make your own agenda for change, and be as active as your imagination (and time) allows.

Once we have all cluster co-ordinators in place we would like to arrange a workshop for all co-ordinators to attend in order to share good ideas, pass on best practice, and get to know one another better.
If you like the sound of being involved in this new initiative, then please get in touch with the office at office@wes.org.uk for further information or to express your interest.

Daphnet The mailing list for and about women in science, engineering and technology, including women returning to paid work after a career break. Great for advice and discussion.

Industry Groups

At WES conference 2009 a networking session, sponsored by BP, discussed connecting networks by industry sector to inform the WES development strategy. Connecting Networks Workshop Flyer.