Welcome Women: Upskilling is a boost to confidence

“Our project creates a link between services and aspirations, and draws on the existing skills and experiences of participants to support their growth. We work with people who have lived through trauma and are extremely resilient but need support to become more active in our community.

Many project members worked in frontline roles during the pandemic. Without being able to access English classes and without basic skills such as using computers they wouldn’t have been able to do this.

Our project has supported people to find employment and become financially independent which has a huge impact on health outcomes.

We’ve provided support with skills like navigating and paying for public transport to attend jobs and access education. We also set up an initiative where people could learn to cycle and repair bikes so they have more control over accessing the local area and services.

People need to be supported to grow with time, space and resources. We make our classes family orientated or provide childcare so participants looking after children can also attend.

The women we work with have so much to give and supporting them to learn these basic skills allows them to fully participate in the local community.”