October 2017 enews: Women's Resource Centre

Source: mass emailing

Become a FREE member of the Women's Resource Centre now! The Women's Resource Centre wants to ensure that our membership remains a powerful, strong and effective voice for the Women's sector. Importantly, we want to continue to remain connected to the organisations we exist to support by helping them to remain resourceful, enterprising and an integral part of the voluntary and community sector. If you are a women's organisation you are eligible for FREE membership receiving our monthly e-newsletter, regardless of your income. For other membership benefits there are other options under the Bronze, Silver and Gold schemes. For a full breakdown of the new membership structure including memberships available to third sector organisations and waged individuals visit our membership page here.

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Black History Month 2017

October has been set aside to celebrate Black heritage and its contribution in the UK for more than 30 years now. Observed around the world like the US, Canada and the Netherlands, it is always full of events and historical lessons highlighting achievements of the Black community. Although it is celebrated in February across the Atlantic, the celebrations are already underway with many events planned all over the country here. For more information on Black History Month and its events, go to www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk.

BBC's 12 Great Black Women Of notable mention is the BBC who have put together a brief tribute titled "Black History Month in Britain: Great women you should know about". It highlights 12 black women who have done great things and contributed to the history of Britain. Going from the likes of Mary Seacole to Zadie Smith, it covers amazing women from different sectors past to present. Click on the title to read the mini tribute. Obviously there are more inspirational women out there and so the women of the WRC office decided to include  more to women to the list.

WRC's amazing women you need to celebrate

Linda Bellos MBE As one of the originators of Black History Month, Linda Bellos gets first mention on our list. Linda was the first black lesbian to join the iconic Spare Rib.  She became involved in politics and was elected as a Labour councillor to Lambeth London Borough Council.  Successfully helped the Black Sections campaign, as vice-chair. After her departure from politics she was involved in Africa Reparations Movement, Southwark LGBT Network as well as advising the British Army, the Metropolitan Police Service, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers. Her fight for equality continues to this day through her company which advises on the Equality Act 2010 and other equality law. Audre Lorde Although not British, Audre contributed so much towards the feminist movement here, particulary for Black lesbians.  Born in New York, she taught herself how to read and her career began from there. Writing poetry and prose, her expanse of work questioned social injustices which are still relevant to this day.  She spoke for people who may not necessarily have had an avenue with which to vent their frustration. She wanted to be more than one stereotype, defining herself as "lesbian, mother, warrior, poet".  Her publications are a must read for any women.

Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies  Initially a princess of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba people, she was captured and taken for slave trading during a "slave hunt" war. Frederick Forbes found, rescued and gifted her to Queen Victoria.  Impressed by her intellect, the Queen continued to pay for her tuition when Forbes died in 1851. Outshining even her tutors she was admired throughout the royal court winning "the affections, with but few exceptions, of all who have known her".  Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE Anne-Marie's achievements are many and they are unlikely to stop anytime soon. Her academical abilities are astounding: she passed two GCSEs aged only 10, is the youngest girl ever to pass A-level computing (aged 11) and was awarded a Master's in Mathematics & Computer Science by Oxford at 20 years old. She has gone onto co-found Stemettes, a social enterprise which help inspire girls to join STEM related roles.  Amma Asante Amma began her acting career in the drama Grange Hill. Even at that age she fronted "Just Say No", a campaign against drugs in the 1980s. Due to this she was invited to the Reagan White House. Amma won 17 international awards for her film Way of Life released in 2004. Since then she has created two more films tacking the issue of race and equality: Belle (championed by Oprah Winfrey) and A United Kingdom, both based on true life events.

Rt Hon Patricia Scotland  Patricia has a list of firsts to her name such as being the first black woman to become a Queen's Counsel in 1991 (while also being the youngest women ever!). She was a key figure in introducing the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act along with other reforms.  She has now become the first woman to hold the position of Commonwealth Secretary-General. Claudia Jones Claudia is known for helping to launch the Nottinghill Carnival in 1959. She advocated for human and civil rights in the US and was an accomplished speaker. Deported for her political activities, Britain gave her asylum in 1955. A change of scenery would not silence Claudia and she ended up starting The West Indian Gazette, Britain's first major black newspaper. Nicola Adams OBE An accomplished athelete who stumbled onto boxing by chance, Nicoal is an inspiration to girls and women alike. Dubbed "The Lionness", she is the reigning Olympic, World, Commonwealth Games and European Games champion in her category. Also the first LGBT person to win a Gold medal in Olympic boxing. She also recieved an OBE this year. You can currently find her as the face of E45 cream.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE Maggie struggled with dyslexia while in school, which remained unrecognised till a later stage. She overcame all this and went on to attend Imperial College London and recvied a BSc in Physics and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.  Her work history include the MoD and creating projects for landmine detection and presenting shows for the BBC.  Chi-chi Nwanoku Chi-chi is the founder of the Chineke! Foundation.  The foundation helps young BME classical musicians in the UK and Europe with career opportunitie.  She is also the founder of Europe's first majority BME orchestra. They made their debut at the BBC Proms this year and was highly praised. Jackie Kay MBE FRSE Jackie was born in Edinburgh. She went to the University of Stirling and currently teaches in Newcastle University. Her works include poetry, novels and plays. Twice Over was the first play to be produced by the Gay Sweatshop Theatre Group which was written by a Black writer.  She has many honours and awards under belt and is currently the Scots Makar.  As an open lesbian writer, she is involved in the LGBT Foundation and appeared in their "sexuality is not a barrier to success" feature.

WRC News

How Will Brexit Impact Women's Organisations? When the UK exits the EU, equality and human rights legislation, employment rights and measures aimed at tackling VAWG are at risk of being rolled back or eliminated altogether, and there are huge direct and indirect risks to women's rights and gender equality. The impact of which will be significantly felt in the women's sector. This briefing summarises the risks the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill presents Women's organisations.  Go here for the briefing and useful links. And please respond: a)    Are these the right priorities for women's organisations? If not, what is missing? b)    What can we do as a sector to retain rights and protections? Contact Jane Tanner on 0207 697 3470 or jane@wrc.org.uk

The Way Ahead The Women's Resource Centre is funded by the City Bridge Trust to help shape the way voluntary and community sector, and more widely regarded civil society is supported in London. What this means for the Women's sector – we are focused on bringing a sector perspective, needs and contribution and in doing so: Ø  Identify and share a clear declaration of the sector's position and provide a 'by and for' response on Women's sector needs. Ø  Uphold the case for strategic planning with addressing intersectionality of needs as a priority Ø  Support the objectives set by The Way Ahead – Equality Impact Assessment Group (EIA) WRC contributes to the EIA to uphold the equalities scrutiny of developments in The Way Ahead. Watch out for more news or contact jane@wrc.org.uk if you would like more information.

#OurWayAhead #OurWayAhead was a response by a wide range of voluntary organisations, community networks and activists who felt the development of The Way Ahead has been at risk of a 'top down' approach and not fully engaging the wider grassroots networks. A public event was held 12 July 2017 at London Metropolitan University which saw over 200 groups and individuals engage in an afternoon and evening series of Open Space dialogue, networking, campaigns and presentations. The organisers have continued to come together to facilitate the involvement in the Way Ahead of a wider, more diverse representation of voluntary and community sector interests. Hold the date: There will be #OurWayAhead event on 16 November at the London Metropolitan University aiming to undertake a community-led mapping in order to co-design a wider ecosystem of London civil society infrastructure support. More news to follow, contact jane@wrc.org.uk if you would like more information.

Greater London Authority London Health Inequalities Strategy consultation The Better Health For All Londoners - the draft London Health Inequalities Strategy outlines the main issues that lead to inequalities in the health of different groups of Londoners, and a set of aims for reducing them. Deadline for response: 30 November.  Just register or login above to take part. If you represent an organisation, see this additional information. Ø  WRC will be coordinating a women's sector response, if you'd like to contribute to this please contact jane@wrc.org.uk Ø  Human Rights and Equality Network (HEAR) are holding a consultation event at the GLA Thursday 26th October, 2pm-5pm at the City Hall. If you'd like to reserve a place email hear@reap.org.uk London Housing Strategy Consultation The Mayor has published his draft Housing Strategy. This vision, and the policies and proposals that underpin it, provide a long-term framework to turn the current housing crisis around. WRC recently held a partnership event with the GLA about its Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and our response raised issues facing the women's sector and specific issues and recommendations about women's hidden homelessness[1] Deadline for response: 30th November. Just register or login above to take part. If you represent an organisation, see this additional information.  The GLA has committed to play a part in supporting London's Civil Society and has been consulting on: Ø  the best ways to engage Civil Society organisations with the GLA; Ø  how to encourage innovation within Civil Society organisations and recognise their contribution; and Ø  how to best amplify the voices of grass-roots organisations. WRC has provided a brief response here based on some of the views from Women's organisations, community groups and civil society advocates.

News in Brief

Unconscious Bias The World Economic Forum discovered, last year, that gender equality could be a further 170 years away. Considering the number was initially 80 years, there seems to be considerable slowdown around the whole world. We have a lot of work to do. Laura Liswood, Secretary General of Council of Women World Leaders, recently wrote an article on what she thinks is contributing to this delay: unconscious bias. Using the infamous "manifesto" written by a Google employee of the male gender to highlight her case, she adequately puts into words situations that women encounter on a daily basis. Read the full article here.

Where has BME funding gone? Novara Media released an article at the beginning of the month covering the decrease in funding for BME refuges in London. From 2009 to 2016, they lost from 45% to 52% of their annual council funding. This is a startling figure considering nearly 40% of the capital are BME. This article highlights the need for refuge spaces and services led "by and for" the women they serve, citing the proud legacy and heritage from the 70s. Read the article here.

New Report: Intersecting Inequalities  In relation to the news above, on October 10th a report was launched which coincided with Theresa May's race equality audit, showing that BME women are the ones being hit the hardest by the austerity cuts since Conservatives came to power in 2010.  Part of an ongoing project, the study was conducted by two organisations specialising in gender and race research, Runnymede Trust and the Women's Budget Group. They were spurred on by the lack of transparency of the budgets released by the governements and so decided to produce their own "intersectional distributional analysis". Considering the 2017 budget released this year also failed to include an equality assessment impact, this study and the results were much needed. Since BME women have lower incomes, it comes as no surprise that they are being hit the hardest, with Asian women set to lose 19% of their income by 2020.  Research encompassed many aspects of life such as work life. It discovered BME women face discrimination in recruitment from their CVs, application forms to interviews and even after their success at getting a post. The nearly 60 page report is very thorough and a must read for any women or women's organisation.  For those short on time, they have composed a handy key facts document highlighting the most pressing results. Find it here now.

Race Disparity Audit Mentioned above, the government launched their Race Disparity Audit and its official website this week.  It was published with the aim to provide an "overview of disparities that have the most impact across all aspects of people's lives".  As JUST Yorkshire says "the findings confirm what we have known for a long time". This publication allows for the questioning of the Equality Act 2010 and whether it has made any difference to tackle discrimination and create equal opportunities.  Facts like employment rates being higher for white people compared to the ethnic minorities are eyeopening enough without adding in the fact that this gap is wider in the north (13.6%) compared to the south (9%). Regional disparities were found across many sectors such as education and health.  Employers and institutions may say they are doing their best to create equality but this audit shows otherwise. With all the facts laid bare, let's hope action and change follow swiftly. Read the full report here.

London's Poverty Profile Trust for London have published their London Poverty Profile for 2017 this week. The data can be broken down by borough, topics (education, health etc) and populations (children, women etc).  Some key findings include: - Income inequality may have been decreased over the past 5 years but wealth inequality has decreased. - 2.3 million people are living in poverty in London despite employment being recorded at the highest ever at 73% of the working-age population. - Despite a decrease in the poverty rate, it is still higher than the rest of the country.  Read the full report here.

Take Action

Positive Action: Room for Refugees Room for Refugees was pioneered in 2002 in Scotland. It now runs UK wide as an online system to help caseworkers make fast online referrals for hosting and crisis grants. In turn, they can match destitute refugees with potential hosts with homes in almost every location you can imagine.  The purpose of the scheme is to provide free temporary shelter, offer pastoral support and build lifelong bonds between human beings while they attempt to regularise their status and rebuild their lives. This is especially important at a time when governments are building walls and fermenting anti-immigrant feeling. They provide a simple, online form, and you can refer previous clients again for hosting with another volunteer, perhaps towards the end of a stay or if they need to move to a new area. They also provide a list containing all the clients you have referred in the past, so you can see the progress and outcome of previous and ongoing cases. Each caseworker in your organisation who needs to refer clients will get an individual account, saving them from repeatedly entering their own information for each referral and letting them focus on the client they are referring.  For more information about this groundbreaking scheme please go to www.roomforrefugees.com. A quick information sheet can also be found here.

Imkaan Needs Your Help Improving Responses to Violence against Women and Girls Far too many women and girls suffer harassment, abuse and violence on a daily basis at the hands of partners, family members or strangers. The Mayor of London is committed to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls and will be publishing a London Violence against Women and Girls Strategy in the coming months. In order to inform the Strategy, Imkaan has been commissioned by Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), to undertake widespread consultation with survivors to hear first-hand their experiences of violence and abuse and their help seeking journeys. Imkaan will collate the views of women and girls from the consultations and incorporate these into a report for MOPAC. WRC have been asked to circulate an online survey to help support this. We would very much appreciate any survivors reading this enews to fill out the survey. Thank you in advance!

Aviva Community Fund is open for entries The Aviva Community Fund offers you the chance to get funding for an important cause in your community. They will finance over 500 projects throughout the UK. It's open to everyone – the general public as well as Aviva customers, employees, insurance brokers or financial advisers (whether associated with Aviva or not). They want you to enter a project for your community and tell them what a difference these much-needed funds could make. Get enough votes from friends, family and supporters in your community and your project could be entered into the Finals, where a judging panel will award the funds.  Find out more here.

Surviving and Thriving - Are you fed up of being on the funding hamster wheel? - Are you worried about being able to plan ahead for your services? - Would you like to take part in some research exploring more sustainable finance for your organisation? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then read on. The University of Hull Business School is supporting one of its PhD students, Lisa Hilder, a Trustee of Preston Road Women's Centre, to explore social enterprise income generation models as a means to building financial sustainability for feminist women's organisations in the voluntary and community sector Lisa is looking for organisations that would like to take part in the research which will look at the opportunities and barriers for feminist women's organisations in achieving financial resilience and sustainable services for their clients If you would like to express an interest in the research, please fill in this short online survey.

Events

FiLiA  The largest Feminism Conference in the UK is occurring this weekend.  With over 100 speakers attending, they are going to be talking about issues like public life, women and the law, reproductive rights and much more. Various workshops are also taking place which can be prebooked in advance. Taking place at the Institute of Education, it is sure to be a success and the tickets are selling out fast. Click below to get more information and tickets for specific days. Book Now

Annual Equality Lecture 2017 The British Library and the British Sociological Association are hosting a lecture titled The Persistence of Gender Inequality. It will be held on Monday 23rd October.  Professor Mary Evans will be speaking about the inequalities between men and women and what the term 'equality' actually means.  Join them at the British Library by booking below. Book Now

The Big Stink THE BIG STINK - Harmful Chemicals in Everyday Products & What You Can Do About It Film screening of STINK, PANEL, Q&As, REFRESHMENTS & NETWORKING TICKETS are just £10 at www.wen.org.uk/the-wen-forum The panel: Francis Blake, Chair of the COSMOS-standard AISBL and former Standards Director, Soil Association Helen Lynn, Co-founder, CoolGreen and Health Adviser, WEN Nat van Zee, International Make Up Artist & Clean Beauty Curator @vanzeebeauty Dr A. Michael Warhurst, Executive Director, CHEM Trust Jayn Sterland, MD, Weleda (UK & Ireland) BUTTON

Bringing Women's Voices into the Heart of Government

Hosted by Helen Grant MP, the Women's Resource Centre invites you to join us for our 'Bringing Women's Voices into the Heart of Government ' 2.30pm – 4pm, Jubilee Room, House of Commons, 24th October This event will consider how we can bring women's voices into the heart of government so that they can support policy and decision makers to meet their obligations under the United Nations' CEDAW (Convention on Ending Discrimination Against Women). With speakers from WRCs Women Speak Out Project, Maria Miller MP (Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee) and Hannana Siddiqui this will be fantastic opportunity for MPs, Women's organisations and individual women to share good practice, learning and experience and to identify how government can ensure that a gender lens is applied when developing policy and legislation across all government departments.

TRAINING

Partnerships: all you need to know This is a new course which combines Partnerships: Getting off to a Good Start and Partnerships: Putting it into practice. This course will provide guidance on how and why, as an organisation you want to develop a partnership and identify potential partnerships as well as learning about what makes sucessful partnerships. The course has a very practical focus and will enable participants to explore in some detail some of the challenges you may face or that may arise, particularly those related to smaller organisations partnering with larger ones. This course also offers a range of tools for sucessful partnerships including risk assessment, defining clear roles and responsibilities, legal requirements and exit strategy. Thursday October 9th Register here Bringing women's voices into the heart of the government This event will consider how we can bring women's voices into the heart of government so that they can support policy and decision makers to meet their obligations under the United Nations' CEDAW (Convention on Ending Discrimination Against Women). We will discuss how the Women and Girls sector, in partnership with government can ensure that women have the ability to actively shape the policies that affect their lives at the national level. It will be an opportunity for MPs, Women's organisations and individual women to share good practice, learning and experience and to identify how government can ensure that a gender lens is applied when developing policy and legislation across all government departments. Tuesday October 24th Register here

Strategic Planning Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith (Esua) will introduce you to her specially-designed ten-step participatory strategic planning process, to make strategic planning, dynamic, motivating, and ensure by-in from all the team. This involves asking the fundamental questions: "Who are we, what do we want to achieve, and why?" and working step by step through to identifying the impact you want to make and how to measure success. It includes creation of shared vision, mission, values and theory of change; environmental monitoring and stakeholder analysis; aims and objectives and operational strategies. Thursday November 9th Register here Training: Equality Act 2010 This is a key piece of legislation that is relevant to work being carried out in all sectors and at all levels. The course is designed to be accessible to a wide audience and avoids legal jargon. It focuses on deepening participants understanding of how the Equality Act 2010 can be used as a valuable tool to assert rights and challenge discrimination. It is delivered by Rights of Women and primarily uses case examples from women's rights and tackling violence against women and girls contexts. Thursday November 2nd Register here

JOBS IN THE SECTOR

Volunteer Treasurer at Not Buying It Are you an Accountant? Are you concerned by the Porn and Sex Industries and their Normalising? Want to join a fun, innovative team in challenging it? Then becoming a treasurer at Not Buying It might be just for you! Read more Mental Health Services Manager at WGN Female Applicants Only This post is based across Women and Girls Network's Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham offices Women and Girls Network (WGN) is a specialist therapeutic service leading in developing and delivering innovative and effective counselling services for women and girls who have experienced all forms of gender-based violence. The Indigo Project is an exciting innovative service that is funded by the Big Lottery and aimed at providing a resource for women and girls from a background of multiple disadvantages, complex, high-risk needs primarily associated with experiences of gender based violence. The service will deliver specialist, trauma focused, integrated holistic, high-intensity care pathways from a multi-disciplinary team. Read More

Mental Health Advocate at WGN Female Applicants Only Women and Girls Network (WGN) is a specialist, feminist, women-only, holistic organisation leading in developing and delivering innovative and effective services for women and girls who have experienced or are at risk of all forms of gender-based violence. The service will deliver specialist, trauma focused, integrated holistic, high-intensity care pathways from a multi-disciplinary team. The Mental Health Advocates will be an essential part of this multidisciplinary team. This is an exciting opportunity, working with a diverse remit to ensure quality of advocacy provision and innovation as central to service delivery. Read more Senior Counseller at Women's & Girl's Network  Female Applicants Only Women and Girls Network (WGN) is a specialist therapeutic service leading in developing and delivering innovative and effective counselling services for women and girls who have experienced all forms of gender-based violence. They are currently looking for a Senior Counsellor to work in collaboration with WGN's Clinical Management Team to support their specialist counselling services. Read more

Regional Development Officer for South of England (full time) and North East (part time) Working with Imkaan, Women's Aid has formed the Imkaan and Women's Aid Sustainability Partnership to support small women's domestic violence organisations with their capacity and sustainability issues. They are looking for various roles to deliver support. The candidate will have a clear understanding of the gendered nature of violence against women and girls and the role of specialist women's services in providing support to survivors.  Read more Quality Assurance Officer at Women's Aid Women's Aid has established its own Quality Mark accredited against the Women's Aid Federation England National Quality Standards for services supporting women and children survivors of domestic violence. The candidate will have significant experience of delivering and/or managing domestic violence services, be familiar with the local commissioning environments in which domestic violence services operate, and be familiar with quality assurance and accreditation processes in this or other fields. Read more ask me scheme Project Worker at Women's Aid Women's Aid are working with local partners to pilot an exciting new response to domestic abuse that will widen the opportunities there are for survivors in local communities to access help.  They are looking for someone who has excellent knowledge of good practice in relation to domestic abuse and understanding of the needs of survivors and the challenges they face in accessing support. The ideal candidate will have an in-depth understanding of the needs of Waltham Forest's diverse community and be skilled to successfully engage with these groups. Read more