S1 Ep2: The Extraordinary Ordinary with Sara Ward and Phyllis Logan

The Extraordinary Ordinary, the podcast from Women of the Year

Sara Ward joined Black Country Women’s Aid over 20 years ago, and has transformed the independent charity, which supports victims of abuse and exploitation, in the West Midlands from a small refuge provider, to a dynamic regional crisis centre. Sara oversees the provision of support to over 8000 victims of abuse each year.

In this powerful episode, Sara calls for a collective response to violence against girls and women, the need educate young men about their attitudes and behaviours in ways that are encouraging and nurturing, and the importance of speaking out against injustice. She describes the values she has brought up her two sons to believe in and how her work family embraced them all when her husband suddenly died. She reflects on how she changed from a quiet, watchful teenager, to a woman who very definitely won’t take no for an answer! And she reveals what she sees as her greatest achievement.

In this episode we’re also joined by the wonderful actress, Phyllis Logan who admits that when she came to the Women of the Year lunch she expected it to be full of strident feminists who didn’t take any prisoners, but left walking on air, and she recalls a particular moment that still gives her tingles thinking about it.