AN INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day event held in Bournemouth town centre has raised £3400 to date.

BCHA and J.P. Morgan hosted a programme of free International Women’s Day activities in Bournemouth Square on March 8, including yoga, poetry and inspirational music.

Highlights from BCHA’s #BreakTheBias event included a performance by Tracey West an author, editor, publisher and broadcaster, who performed some of her upbeat poems focused around surviving domestic violence and divorce.

There was also a Choir by Candlelight session by the Sound of Soul Choir and sessions led by Dorset-based yoga and embodiment practitioner Alice Flynn.

Colleagues from BCHA and J.P. Morgan slept overnight in the Square to raise funds for a Shepherd’s Hut for outdoor teaching and activities at Bournemouth Women’s Refuge.

The Mayor Bournemouth councillor David Kelsey officially opened their ‘Big Sleep Out’ which raised £3,400.