Archive for the ‘womyn's gym’ Category

Screening: Under One Sky

Monday, January 25th kicks off with a screening of Chris McDowell and Moira Simpson’s film (screened at VIFF 2009) Under One Sky at 6pm. We are excited to have the film makers in house And one of the martial artists from the film (Please see information from Inside Douglas College Newsletter below) offer a demo and a mini workshop with the women. Photographer, Ken Villeneuve will be taking photos of the women in their favourite martial arts pose. Our makeover program and Kids Club will run as scheduled starting at 6pm.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2009
Media tech’s film featured at VIFF

“This film is a testament to every woman who has fought back.”

Womyns Gym Program Coordinator, Tyla Flexman and National Executive Director, Caroline MacGillivray thought the film would be a great way to inspire more women to explore the different tools for healing offered through physical fitness. With our 2010 Womyns Gym session starting on February 9 on Monday and Wednesday nights, we wanted to remind our participants of the different tools that can be used to create life makeovers.

For the 2010 session of Womyns Gym, Flexman and MacGillivray aim to have several women complete the Sun Run on May 9, 2010. We will be coordinating a running clinic for the Womyns gym participants who would like to complete the run.

Beauty Night Society’s fitness program, ‘Womyns Gym’, has just wrapped up it’s 10-week program for the 2009 season. The sessions ran twice a week every week from September to December. It required a heavy commitment by our clients and trainers, and we managed to find the perfect group. Although our number of participants varied in the initial few weeks, we were able to finish our sessions with 5 very committed and enthusiastic women.

A few changes were made to increase participant’s satisfaction as well as to increase adherence to the program. With the help of our up beat trainers we ran a circuit style workout. Circuit style allowed each trainer to teach 2 or 3 specific exercises to every client while still maintaining a one-on-one relationship. Based on the laughter, smiles and encouraging slogans being heard throughout the gym it was obvious this was a successful change.

Another great addition to Womyns Gym was the childcare we offered to our participants. Not only did this increase the accessibility and adherence to the program, it also introduced the children to a healthy lifestyle at a young age. Fostering an interest in exercise is extremely valuable and helps make it a natural occurrence in their lives as they grow up. As it turns out, the kids loved playing with all the exercise equipment and were frequently trying to mimic the exercises ‘Mommy’ was doing. This reminded us that exercise can and is meant to be fun – maybe we should think of it more as adult play time?!

As I reflect on the past sessions of Womyns gym, I am reminded of one workout that was particularly enjoyable. The trainers decided to surprise the clients with a themed workout… Retro Style! All the trainers brought out their neons, spandex, headbands and leg warmers for a jane fonda inspired workout session. The music consisted mostly of Madonna, David Bowie, Donna Summers and Billy Idol to name a few. Everyone’s heart rates were high and faces flushed as we danced around between exercises – I think it may have been the hardest workout, and yet it was an absolute blast!!

After the Christmas season Womyns Gym will resume it’s programming, however the sessions will most likely be in a drop-in format to start. Our current participants as well as our wait –listed clients are eagerly awaiting our January start date. As the program coordinator, my Christmas wish list is to recruit 10 women to workout twice a week and to have everyone complete the Vancouver 2010 Sun Run!

Womyns Gym is only possible with hardworking and enthusiastic trainers who create a fun, invigorating atmosphere to workout in, as well as inspired and enthusiastic participants, so thank you to all who were a part of Womyns Gym 2009! Also a huge thank you to Telus for allowing us to create a sustainable program that provides quality training.

Thank you everyone and have a fit and fantastic New Year!

- Tyla Flexman, Womyn’s Gym Program Coordinator

Behind each Beauty Night Society (BNS) Program, there is a fantastic program coordinator. Without these ladies, our programs would not benefit our communities through the vast diversity. Each program offers a piece of the body/mind/spirit puzzle that many of us struggle with. Each program coordinator is a leader in her own right and inspires our participants and volunteers.

Tyla Flexman
Womyn’s Gym Program Coordinator

Tyla Flexman is a recent kinesiology graduate of the University of British Columbia. She is very interested in the health and fitness field and is a personal trainer as well as a community field hockey coach. Tyla has six years of coaching experience including coaching high school sports, development camps and provincial high performance teams. Her hardworking attitude and determination is what makes her a positive role model for young athletes in the community. She is a strong advocator of women in sport and strives to encourage female participation in exercise. She began volunteering for the Beauty Night Society in 2008 and is now the program coordinator for the Womyns Gym Program. She currently plays on the Canadian Women’s National Field Hockey team and was the 2008 recipient of the Gail Wilson Award, given to a female varsity athlete displaying leadership on the field and in the community. Tyla is excited to be a part of The Beauty Night Society and hopes to run the Sun Run this year with Womyns Gym clients!

Alexa Fox
Kid’s Club Program Co-coordinator
Mom & Tot Nutrition Program Co-coordinator

Christie Gray
Mom & Tot Nutrition Program Co –coordinator

Christie Gray has been a Vancouver resident for a year and a half. With a strong belief in helping people reach their potential and feel good about themselves, Christie finds Beauty Night Society(BNS) a great place to help make a difference. Christie is a Registered Natural Health Care practitioner with a love of cooking and formulating healthy, nutritious recipes. Christie believes that there is a strong connection between eating well and health in mind, body and spirit and hopes to help more people understand that connection through her work with BNS.

Sophia Hughes
Kid’s Club Program Co-coordinator

Caroline MacGillivray
Group Fitness Program Coordinator

Laura Mah
Knit Fit Program Coordinator & Founder

Laura Mah is currently in her final year of high school at Vancouver Technical Secondary. In 2004, Laura was strongly inspired by her cousin and the Founder of Beauty Night Society, Caroline MacGillivray, and created a knitting club at her elementary school. Now known as Knit Fit, this small group has transformed into a diverse program made up of individuals from all around Vancouver. The goal of Knit Fit is to knit scarves for the homeless and less fortunate people of Vancouver’s Downtown East Side and at the same time, to teach people the importance of giving back to our community through a fun new skill and hobby. This year, Knit Fit has expanded to elementary and high school. Six schools in Vancouver have been involved in Knit Fit so far. Every year, Knit Fit hands out scarves at Beauty Night Society’s annual Christmas Stocking Drive event, and we are in highly anticipating this year’s event! Laura cannot wait to see what Knit Fit has in store for the future. Laura is also largely involved at Vancouver Technical Secondary, and has served on the Student Council for the last 5 years; this year, serving at the council’s President.

Tiffany Telford
Makeover Program Facilitator (Vancouver)

This Blanche MacDonald Make up Program graduate started volunteering for Beauty Night’s makeover program in February 2008. She had just moved to Vancouver and was looking for a volunteer opportunity and “loved it”. Tiffany loved it so much in December 2008, she brought Beauty Night to her home town. She facilitated a Christmas make over night in Prince George. When she came back to Vancouver, Tiffany became Beauty Night’s Outreach facilitator. Since May 2009, Tiffany facilitates our makeover program events on a weekly basis. Her fresh innovative ideas help strengthen participant relations, volunteer coordination and creating posters for our events. When she is not at Beauty Night, this makeup artist works on film and television projects shooting in Vancouver.

Saafi Warsame
Makeover Program Facilitator (Toronto)

Saafi has recently relocated from Vancouver and is helping facilitate Beauty
Night events in her new city of Toronto. She truly enjoys interacting with
Beauty Night participants, from sharing life stories to discussing the best way to apply nail polish. Saafi is also a volunteer with North York Women’s shelter as well as a couple of organizations that run in the Somali
community. In her spare time, she reads a lot and is looking to become a
lawyer.

Hope is such a powerful word. One definition reads “To look forward to with confidence or expectation.”

Hope is something many of our clients seem to lack. Hope is something that we at Beauty Night try and inspire, in our clients, our volunteers, and other people in the world. We love to tell the story of how we have helped other people be inspired and create their own cause, as is the case in Womyn’s Gym and Jen’s Kitchen.

Something that has me hopeful is seeing the youth in our community working towards making the world a better place. As is the case with Knit Fit, or some of the people I met who are involved with The Third World, it re-instills my faith in a powerful way.

No one is too young, or too old, to make a difference. Beauty Night appreciates your support, and we hope to bring some help in the lives of those who need it most.

Beauty Night Programming Sept 28 2009 - Oct 4 2009

We have another week full of great activities.

• Tonight, September 28, we have our regular Beauty Night makeover session at the Lifeskills Centre. We are in need of hairdressers, if you are a hairdresser and have been wanting to come out, tonight is the perfect night!
  We are also having a volunteer orientation session tonight at 5:30 for those who are interested. If you’ve always wanted to know more about Beauty Night, and to see how you can help, we would love for you to come see what we’re about. The orientation will also be at the Life Skills Centre (412 E Cordova).
  Children’s Programming will also be occuring so that the mommies can fully relax while being pampered. Spread the word!
• Tuesday, September 29 - Stroller Disco! This is a super fun way for moms to get fit while bonding with their child.
• Wednesday, September 30 - Closed Board Meeting
• Thursday, October 1 - Womyn’s Gym Training
• Sunday, October 4 - Stocking Cutting Session - we are in need of people to help sew, cut stockings and knit scarves and more. If you’re interested in coming out, please email [email protected]. If you click on this button, it will add the event into your google calendar for you!

We are still in need of fabric and wool for our stockign drive. If you are not able to help in that way, perhaps consider donating some funds to help our programming. Or your valuable time!

We love to hear feedback, what you would like to see featured on the blog, ideas you have for programs…even if you would like to suggest areas we could improve on, we always love to hear from you!

Happy Monday everyone!

Last year, Katie Benjamin the founder of our Womyn’s Gym program received $10 000 from Telus to make Womyn’s Gym a reality. Last night Telus Community Giving Board held a celebration welcoming their community partners and donors. Since Katie is at the University of Economics, I went in her stead.

It was an inspiring evening mixing with people from different organizations supported through the Telus Community Giving. I enjoyed hearing the stories about how Telus has made an impact through supporting different organziations and in turn shared our story.

Womyn’s Gym which is one of the programs under the Beauty Night Society umbrella was supported tremendously through Telus Community Giving Board. Katie thanked Telus during her acceptance speech when she became the recipient of the 2009 YWCA Young Woman of Distinction Recipient.

Emceed by Bard on the Beach’s Artistic Director, Christopher Gaze, the evening got off to a roaring start. Gaze pointed out that it was important to support a corporation that gives so much back to our communities. With humour, Telus President and CEO, Darren Entwistle and Chair of Telus Community board, Nini Baird told the their engaged listeners how Telus is increasing the funds that they will be reinvesting in the community. It was inspiring and exciting to hear a corporation that encourages its employees to volunteer and give back increase their efforts. Perhaps Telus has a message for all of us - to keep working toward making a difference in the lives of others by being proactive and to continually raise the bar.

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Good morning!

We are back at PHS Lifeskills Centre 412 E Cordova tonight for the first time in two weeks. While I will be running the volunteer orientation (starts at 5:30pm - 7:30pm tonight), Tiffany will be coordinating the volunteers for the first makeover at Lifeskills this month!

For our volunteers (must have gone through orientation) we will be working with a new skincare line tonight sponsored by Advanced Spa Technologies. We are still looking for volunteers for this evenings Beauty Night makeover program (in Vancouver and Toronto). Hair, makeup, nails, massage, and skin care volunteers are most welcome.

Part of tonight’s volunteer orientation for those who have never been to the Beauty Night space will cover:

Tour of the Space
Overview of Beauty Night Society
Code of conduct
Safety Precautions
Volunteer opportunities
Volunteer Benefits

After the general orientation, some of our hair dresser volunteers will be directed to Tiffany to begin volunteering this evening. Our child care volunteers will stay for more indepth orientation. For our Womyn’s Gym program (Created by Katie Benjamin), we offer child care for the low income women who access the services. By September 2009, we aim to offer childcare four nights per week.

Womyn’s Gym will be starting the September Session on Monday and Wednesday evenings while our group fitness classes run on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Our makeover program will continue on Monday evenings at PHS Lifeskills Centre. Wednesdays will continue to be led by Tiffany Telford, our outreach facilitator. On Wednesdays we provide our makeover program to other organizations that include health services, transition homes, addiction services, drop in centres and other resources for marginalized women and youth.

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 16th at 6:30pm at PHS Lifeskills Centre. If you are interested in serving on our board, please notify us prior to August 19th. Our last board meeting before the AGM will be held on August 19th. If you would like to attend the meeting, please email [email protected].

Other exciting news - Beauty Night Society is one of the recipients from the Lush Charity Pot. The proceeds from the Lush Charity Pot (a fantastic hand and body cream) are donated to charities that Lush choses. Each charity pot has the logo and the mission statement of the charities that they support. Beauty Night is the recipient of $4000 donation from the Charity Pot Funds.

Huge thanks to those who sponsored me for www.blogathon.org. If you check out the www.sexyinvancity.com website, you can see the 48 blogs posted in 24 hours to raise monies for Beauty Night. If you have not made your donation yet or want to make a donation, please visit our website at www.beautynight.org and hit the donate now button.

Or cheques can be made out to:

Beauty Night Society
PO 95029
RPO Kingsgate
Vancouver, BC
V5T 4T8

Sincerely,

Caroline MacGillivray

Founder and President of Beauty Night Society
beauty night… because dignity is beautiful.

Beauty Night Society is excited to announce that two of our volunteers are short listed for the YWCA Women of Distinction 2009 Nominations. Katie Benjamin who spearheaded Womyn’s Gym and Caroline MacGillivray, founder and president of Beauty Night Society are included in the list of 61 women who have been nominated for their achievements in the lower mainland.

From Caroline MacGillivray:

Although we have been running the makeover program in Toronto for over 6 years, many people are surprised to hear about it. Ann Roche, who ran the Toronto programming resigned in December. It is going to be difficult to replace Ann. She has been a wonderful asset to Beauty Night.

I am in Toronto until April 8th looking for facilitators to run two makeover programs each month. I can be reached at 647-995-4526.

We are also looking for storage space for our supplies that have been stored at CAMH. CAMH is renovating their space and we are looking for new storage space in the downtown Toronto area. Please let us know if you know anyone who might be willing to donate space.

The Toronto events this week are:

Saturday, April 4th
Massage by donation
Aradia Fitness Toronto
721 Queen Street West
2-4pm
Females only
* I am still looking for volunteers for this event

Sunday, April 5th
CAMH
1pm Moving our supplies from one space to another
* CAMH has generously donated space for our storage and drop off location for supplies. We will be sorting and dropping off donations to other organizations that might need it. We will also be sorting through supplies that are older and need to find homes.

Monday, April 6th
Volunteer orientation
6pm
Starbucks Chapters.
We will be meeting at the Starbucks in Chapters at the corner of John and Queen Street West. If you have friends that might be interested in volunteering, please have them email or facebook me.

Although I am in Toronto working on Toronto Beauty Night, things are still active in Vancouver. Katie Benjamin and Tiffany Telford are running the makeover events in my absence. These two dynamic volunteers are busy in their own right.

Tiffany spearheaded the Xmas Beauty Night in Prince George and runs the monthly Beauty Nights in Coquitlam and at the Health Contact Centre. This month, she will be running the makeover program with CHIUS (community health initiative by university students) at Urban Native Youth Association. For these events, we are still looking for volunteers. Please facebook or text me if you are able to attend.

Wednesday, April 1
Health Contact Centre 6-9pm
166 East Hastings Street

Thursday, April 2
Kinsman Hall (Partnering with Soroptimists)
Port Coquitlam
6-8pm
The address for Kinsman Hall is 2175 Coquitlam Ave, Port Coquitlam, built in Aggie Park. The map is on the link below, and your team of volunteers may want to get the directions from the link.

http://maps.google.com/?q=2175%20Coquitlam%20Avenue%2C%20Port%20Coquitlam%2C%20BC.

Wednesday, April 8th
UNYA * please email for addresss
6-8pm

Katie Benjamin, a long time volunteer for Beauty Night has created her own initiative, Womyn’s Gym. Funded through Telus, Womyn’s Gym creates one on one personal training opportunities for Beauty Night clients. Together with Tyla Flexman and Miranda Landry, Katie has been training kinesiologist students to work with our clients. This initiative is in it’s third week. Goal setting, nutrition and fitness are key components of this wonderful program that runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

We are looking for child minding volunteers for the participants children. Alexa Fox has been coordinating the child care. We are in need of volunteers that have their criminal records check, extended first aid, current CPR, and enjoy working with children. Early childhood education is a huge asset.

We are also looking for green space in the Downtown Eastside to start a gardening project. We have had a donor offer donate apple and fig trees to this project. We just need somewhere to plant them. I am hoping this project will harvest food for our nutrition and fitness programs as well as a strong sense of community for the women. Perhaps if this happens before summer, we will be able to move our yoga classes under the shade of the trees.

On April 14th, we are adding our Chillaxing Wellness Nights to our existing programming. We will have a foot care clinic (pedicures) run by health care students and professionals; reiki, massage and reflexology. We are looking for more volunteers for this program. Orientation will be April 13th (Easter Monday). If you are a current volunteer, just let me know your availability.
The night will run in conjunction with our yoga classes, womyn’s gym, child care and women’s writing group that run on the Tuesday evenings. Thera Wise has donated product for our foot clinic and Sage has donated products for the relaxation services.

Thank you for everything that you do.

Sincerely,

Caroline
778-885-4526
647-995-4526

Hi everyone, Happy New Year! Today is the first Monday back at Life Skills for the Makeover Program! I want to thank everyone who supported Beauty Night last year and hope that you continue to be involved this year! Our schedule is up under the volunteer 2009 schedule.

So far our schedule is similar to last year. Most of our programming is at Portland Hotel Society’s Life Skill Centre at 412 E Cordova. 6-9pm.

Makeover Nights Monday Nights from 6-9pm.

Stretch and Women’s Writing Group Tuesday Nights from 6-9pm.

Wednesday (first Wed of the month except July 1st) Health Contact Centre 166 E Hastings 6-9pm

Wednesday, Cheque issue - board meetings, location tba

Thursday,Chair Fit and Women’s Writing Group 6-9pm

On Monday, February 9th, we will celebrate Valentine’s Day. Thanks to the overwhelming response to our Annual Xmas Stocking Drive, we have managed to stuff 8 boxes of gift bags for our 2nd annual Valentine’s Day celebration. Last year, a certain gentleman dolled up in his tux and presented each lady with a box of chocolates and a rose. I am hoping we will be able to do the same thing this year. Our planning meeting for this event will be this Sunday at noon. Location TBA - please call me if you are interested in getting involved.

Starting in February 2009, Katie Benjamin and Tyla Flexman will be starting the Womyn’s Gym project. This program sponsored through Telus will be facilitated by Katie and Tyla. They will be coordinating kinesiologist students with Beauty Night clients. They will work on setting and achieving fitness goals on a one on one basis. Katie has volunteered for Beauty Night for years. Both Katie and Tyla have volunteered for the fitness program since September 2008 and we are excited to add personal training to the group fitness component.

Other developments are through the literacy program. We are just confirming upcoming workshops in blogging, journaling and card making. We are still taking applications for 3rd party fundraisers.

If you are interested in throwing one, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]. Previous 3rd party fundraisers have included hair cut a thons, fashion shows, auctions, and many more.

Beauty Night Toronto.

Toronto’s executive director Ann Roche has given her resignation. Ann has been a tremendous asset for Beauty Night. Toronto Beauty Night will not be the same without. She has been the life and soul of Toronto hosting two Beauty Nights a month. We are looking for volunteers to facilitate Beauty Night in Toronto. Please email [email protected] with a cover letter and your resume if you are interested in getting involved. Looking forward to seeing you in the New Year!

Sincerely, Caroline