It started in a taxi in March 2014, with four top burdz speeding home from a jolly dinner with a fifth. We noted, through the Aperol fumes, that Aye Write was on. Why don't, one of the others slurred, we all go to Jean Rafferty's event?

"Thassa great idea," I managed to get out. "I will organise this."

Then I went home and fell fast asleep. On waking up, I discovered Jean's event was that morning.

Despite the banging head I managed a second thought. Why do we need Aye Write? I know Jean. She was an award-winning journalist before she wrote novels and started the original WIJ Scotland back in the 1990s. I know at least four people, plus me, who want to hear her talking about her new book. Let's cut out the middle man and do this in my living room.

And so we did. I invited some chums and introduced Jean. She read from her novel Moira, Beyond Saddleworth, I got the Q&A started, then everyone else piled in. Jean claims I'm the only person to ask if Moira kept her wig on while she was having sex. I can't believe that this is true. Surely everyone wants to know about that?

Afterwards they all wanted to know when we would do this again and who the next writer would be. And so what I grandly christened my book salon was born.

It ran, intermittently, until the start of 2019.  We covered novels, short stories, essays, memoirs, political polemics, poetry. There were so many great guests: Jim Naughtie, Chris McQueer, Kirsty Wark, Katie Grant, Kaite Walsh ...

Lesley Riddoch had us singing Freedom All Come Ye after reading from Blossom, her thinkaround possibilities for an independent Scotland. Donald Murray was meant to be reading from Herring Tales, his fascinating fish-based history, but turned up with a load of his poems and read them instead.

Mark Douglas Home faced some tough questions about why a sparky female character from his first novel was absent from number two. He described it afterwards as "a terrifying focus group, with wine."

Why did I stop? Boring reason - I had the builders in and the house was a guddle. Bigger reason - I felt uncomfortable that I was asking writers to turn up and perform as a favour to me. Even as I plied them with soup, cake and wine, it felt like a bit of a cheek. But I didn't feel comfortable charging my pals either.

My workaround was to ask everyone who was coming to bring a donation for Maryhill Food Bank. And while their donations were magnificent and generous, it did not feel like enough.

Then WIJ suggested reviving salon in a slightly more organised format. I bit their hand off.

In its new iteration it will still hit the sweet spot between a domestic book group and a formal book festival. The lovely venue for the first event, The Outwith Agency  in Glasgow's Govanhill, is homely and cosy but we won't be disturbing my children with too much laughing. (Yes, that happened.)

Our first guest author, Ajay Close, appeared in my front room twice and was a roaring success. She's a former journalist - I worked with her at Scotland on Sunday back in the day. Her new book, What We Did in the Dark, is about Glaswegian journalist Catherine Carswell. There will be a collection for Beauty Banks.

I can't wait.

The first WIJ Salon will take place on the 19 March. Find out more about the event and reserve your tickets here.

Why Beauty Banks?

There was always a collection for Maryhill Foodbank at the original salon. This time the collection will be for Beauty Banks, an incredibly cool charity founded by journalist Sali Hughes and beauty PR Jo Jones. They collect toiletries, beauty products, sanitary towels and tampons and distribute them to food banks, women's refuges, homeless shelters and other organisations that help people who can't afford the very basic essentials needed to keep fresh and clean. All donations are kept locally and dropped off to one of their partner organisations. Our collection will go to Glasgow South West food bank.

So if you are coming, please bring a donation if you can. Sanitary products, soap, shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, wipes are all welcome. Miniatures from hotel rooms are good too - some clients like small bottles. Any left over press samples, PR gifts, left over Xmas sets - bring them along.
Direct donations are also great - Beauty Banks has a sweet deal with Easho, a bulk toiletries supplier, which gets them the maximum cleaning power for their donations, and cuts down on postage and packaging waste. It's all on their website www.easho.org.uk.

To kick-start the new year, we invited professional organiser Kate Galbally to talk to us about how to be better organised. Kate, one of about 400 professional organisers in the UK, works mainly with female decision makers.

From dealing with overwork and exhaustion to grappling with your slothful side, Kate’s advice will help you declutter your space, manage your time and focus on what’s important.

Here’s my top ten takeaways from the session to get you going.

1.    Declutter

Organise your home, your office, your diary, your computer and your finances. Get rid of the excess.

2.    Ditch the overwhelming to-do lists

I was sceptical at first. But it makes sense. Take a diary-led approach instead. If things are scheduled, they tend to get done.

3.    Just do it

If a task is going to take two minutes or less, just do it. Don’t put it on a to-do list. I’m applying this thinking, when possible, to tasks that take 15 minutes or less. So far, productivity levels are through the roof.

4.    Tag it on

The easiest way to introduce a new habit is to tag it onto an existing habit.

5.    Set a timer

The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management method Kate recommends. Pick a task. Set a timer to 25 minutes. Work until the timer sounds. Take a five minute break. Repeat four times, then take a ten-minute break. You could, of course, work for longer bursts. This technique encourages concentration and helps to manage distractions.

6.    Delegate

Think what tasks you could remove from your diary. It may be worth paying someone else or using Trint to transcribe interviews, ordering your food shop online or sending your ironing out.

7.    Adjust notifications

Working in a reactive job, turning your phone off isn’t an option. However, it’s worth considering muting social media and group chats that ping throughout the day.

8.    Systemise

Consider what processes you can put in place. If you travel a lot, you could create a packing list to remove the thought from preparing to go away. Or, if you find yourself forgetting to pay bills, have a house ‘in-tray’ so anything requiring action is in one place.

9.    Compartmentalise

When organising physical items or tasks, group like with like to save time.

10. Think of the benefits

Feeling disorganised can take a toll on wellbeing. It can also have a knock-on effect on others, impacting relationships and colleagues. Being organised, on the other hand, makes me feel like a powerhouse of productivity.

Writing this, Nigella’s Sunday Times Style column from earlier this month came to mind. Nigella wrote ‘I have learnt to accept much about myself, not all of it entirely desirable, and one of those things is that I am messy. Actually, it goes further than that: I am a mess magnet.’

If you really can’t get on board with Kate’s advice, at least you can embrace the chaos in good company…

Hannah Baird 

Women in Journalism Scotland are encouraging amazing women journalists to enter the Scottish Press Awards to redress the gender balance

In 2017, there were 64 men shortlisted for awards at the Scottish Newspaper Society’s Scottish Press Awards, and just 18 women. In 2018, 56 men were shortlisted compared to 18 women. In 2019, there were 64 men to 18 women.

Things are not getting better.

NB. These figures do not include the Nicola Barry award which was set up in 2018 and is only open to women journalists.

At Women in Journalism Scotland we know of hundreds of talented women journalists right across Scotland who should be recognised for the high quality of work they produce, but who don’t put themselves forward for these types of awards.

The period following Christmas and New Year can be a financial struggle for many. We want to help to remove barriers for women who might be put off nominating themselves because of the entrance fee, and are offering to cover the cost of ten women entries into any categories other than the Nicola Barry award.

To enter the lottery for having your fees covered by Women in Journalism Scotland, email wijscotland@gmail.com.

We’ll let the winners know on 11 January.

We are too often our own worst critics and often reticent to put ourselves forward thinking that our work isn’t ‘good enough’. But it’s vital that women enter these awards to redress the balance, recognise the incredible women in journalism of Scotland and to inspire young women to become journalists, changing the male-dominate nature of the industry.

That’s why we’re also asking people to nudge women journalists to enter using the following template tweet:

I think @XXX should win the YYY category at the Scottish Press Awards for her work: ZZZ

#WIJS2win

We can also provide support. If you’re considering entering but not sure which of your articles to submit, get in touch and we’ll happily provide a sounding board.

For full information on the awards and how to enter, visit the Scottish Newspaper Society website.

The categories available for individuals to enter are:

• SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHER of the Year Winner and Runner Up

• NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER of the Year 

• ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST of the Year

• YOUNG JOURNALIST of the Year 

• INTERVIEWER of the Year

• Political Journalist of the Year

• Columnist of the Year

• LOCAL/WEEKLY SPORTS WRITER of the Year

• SPORTS COLUMNIST of the Year

• Sports Feature Writer of the Year

• Sports News Writer of the Year

• Financial/Business Journalist of the Year

• LOCAL/WEEKLY FEATURE WRITER of the Year 

• Feature Writer of the Year

• PODCAST of the Year

• VIDEO of the Year

• Scoop of the Year

• LOCAL/WEEKLY REPORTER

• Reporter of the Year 

• THE NICOLA BARRY AWARD

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Nicola Barry was one of Scotland’s most successful and best known journalists and authors. She died in January 2017 at the age of 66. In a career spanning over 40 years, Nicola won around 30 UK and Scottish press awards, mainly writing about social issues. She won Columnist of the Year while at the Press & Journal in three consecutive years. Nicola worked for almost all Scotland’s main newspapers, including the Edinburgh Evening News, the Scotsman, the Scottish Sunday Express, the Daily Record and the Press and Journal. She was Editor of The Big Issue. During her career as a newspaper columnist and features writer, Nicola was driven by a passion to help the underdog, to give a voice to those who had none. 

The Nicola Barry Award is open to all women journalists of any age working in print and online media in Scotland deserving of recognition for their work in issue-led reportage or commentary. This reflects the late Nicola Barry's passion for standing up against injustice in the workplace and in the wider world through her writing.

This annual prize was first presented at the Scottish Press Awards in 2018. It goes to the journalist whose submissions most effectively highlight injustices, curbs on freedom or other forms of discrimination. These were topics Nicola regularly confronted in her life as a journalist. The award came about after Nicola’s husband, Alastair Murray, approached Women in Journalism Scotland’s committee asking if it could explore ways of ensuring his late wife’s legacy in journalism would continue while supporting other women in the profession.

It was won in 2018 by Dani Garavelli and in 2019 by Karin Goodwin

DANI Garavelli has been announced as the winner of the inaugural Nicola Barry Award at this year’s Scottish Press Awards ceremony.

This new peer-led prize aims to encourage the kind of elegant prose and campaigning reportage for which the late Nicola Barry, an award-winning columnist and feature writer, was renowned.

The award has been established by Women in Journalism Scotland, and was presented to Ms Garavelli, a freelance journalist who writes a regular column for Scotland on Sunday, by Nicola Barry’s husband, Alastair Murray. Nicola Barry died in January 2017 at the age of 66.

The runner-up was Sunday Post reporter Marion Scott.

Presenting the award, Murray, who is also a journalist, said: “It would be easy to ask for an award for every journalist who dies, but there are so few of us who could legitimately be described as exceptional, brilliant even. And those words apply to Nicola Barry.

“She was an ardent feminist long before it was fashionable and an advocate of women’s rights. She spoke out against injustice in the workplace and in the wider world through her columns.

“I see many of the same traits in the writing of Dani Garavelli, who in her writing, combines insight and passion with equal fluency.”

Women in Journalism Scotland co-chair Libby Brooks said: “Nicola Barry was a much-admired columnist, and in Dani Garavelli we found a writer whose depth of analysis, range of subject matter and quality of prose likewise set her apart.

“It’s acknowledged that Garavelli is one of the finest columnists writing for the Scottish press today of either gender. Never polemical for the sake of it, always intelligent and considered, Garavelli’s approach to her chosen subjects is as humane as it is illuminating.”

Of runner-up Marion Scott, Brooks, said: “Nicola Barry made it her business to amplify the voices of those who had not been heard by the establishment or the public.

“Marion Scott’s tenacious reporting of the Denise Clair rape case, from its early days, was a prime example of doing just that, and sticking with a story despite the odds. In the end, she saw her subject win a significant legal victory, which has set a challenging precedent for rape law in Scotland.”

Shelley Jofre, Investigations Editor at BBC Scotland and co-chair of Women in Journalism Scotland, said: “This award is exactly the kind of thing which Women in Journalism Scotland was set up to achieve.

“Since our launch by the First Minister in November 2016, our membership continues to grow. We’ve held a series of successful events aimed at helping boost the skills, knowledge and confidence of women journalists working across Scotland.

“Stronger Voice for Women on Air training events have been held in both Glasgow and Dundee, and WiJ Scotland has been a partner in the BBC’s prestigious Expert Women Scotland programme, an integral part of the broadcaster’s aim to achieve a 50:50 gender balance by April 2019.

“We have also held networking events across Scotland, with more in the pipeline. Our aim is to create an easy-to-access database of women experts which we hope will become the essential go-to guide for all broadcasters in Scotland.

“Since WiJ Scotland started up, there has been a sea-change in the way in which women’s voices are heard. As an organisation, we will continue to lobby for change and, most importantly, offer support for women in the media at every stage of their career.”

John McLellan, director of the Scottish Newspaper Society, said: “Having worked with them both, Dani Garavelli is a very worthy first winner of the Nicola Barry Award.

“I know from personal experience that Nicola was a very special talent and her empathy for the dispossessed, vulnerable and excluded shone through in her writing.

“The SNS is delighted to be working with Women in Journalism to encourage new female writers and to keep Nicola’s memory alive.”