Diversity House are delighted to announce that Big Lottery Fund have granted £347,105 for the ‘Supporting Women and Girls’ (SWAG) Project in the Swale area. The project will address the high socio-economic deprivation and lack of social mobility of disadvantaged women and girls in Swale, including those from Roma Gypsy/Irish Traveller and Syrian refugee/asylum seeking backgrounds.
Thanks to National Lottery players, Diversity House will be delivering a number of exciting activities over the next three years. The project hopes to engage and empower the women and girls of Swale so that they are able to gain confidence, motivation and new skills, and are able to access opportunities to develop themselves professionally, psychologically and physiologically.
Mrs Christine Locke, CEO of Diversity House, said:
“Empowering women and girls is essential to achieving gender equality, where females and males have equal enjoyment of their rights, resources, opportunities, and benefits. Reaching girls in early adolescence offers an opportunity to guide their development, self-discovery and identity in positive ways. As the CEO of Diversity House, I am thrilled for the opportunities that the receipt of this funding will create for the women and girls of Swale”.
James Harcourt, Big Lottery Fund Deputy Director of Responsive Programmes, said: “It’s great to see projects like SWAG bringing a positive change to their communities. Thanks to National Lottery players, this funding will support people to overcome barriers, learn new skills and improve their lives for the future.”
Gordon Henderson, MP of Sittingbourne and Sheppey, said:
“I am delighted that Diversity House have been awarded this funding. They do some excellent work with women and girls who for a number of reasons find themselves disadvantaged. We have a particular problem with literacy in some parts of Sittingbourne and Sheppey. That has an impact on the lives of many people, including women and girls. I am working with Amicus Horizon and the Kent Messenger Group to try and tackle the problem with a number of initiatives. It would be good if Diversity House would join with us and use some of this money to empower women by helping them overcome the handicap of illiteracy.”
Christine White, Director of Swale Community and Voluntary Services, said:
“As Director of Swale CVS the major umbrella organisation that supports the voluntary and community sector in Swale I am delighted at the news that Diversity House have been successful in gaining funding for their Supporting Women and Girls project. We work in close partnership with Diversity House and their dynamic and innovative approach to the services they offer will make a huge difference to women and girls in Swale. I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations!”
About Diversity House
Diversity House delivers effective community projects that promote integration, cross-cultural understanding and community cohesion. Diversity House’s last women’s project – Swale Women Empowering Woman (SWEW) supported 7,092 women, helping to tackle isolation and improve life chances by providing opportunities for enterprise, self-employment, employability, new skills, community participation and improved lifestyle choices. The new ‘SWAG’ Project has expanded the last project further and will be supporting a new beneficiary age group and other marginalised communities.
Contact
Phone: 01795 420455
Email: http://info@diversityhouse.org.uk
About Big Lottery Fund
- The Big Lottery Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK. It puts people in the lead to improve their lives and communities, often through small, local projects.
- It is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Last year it awarded £583 million and supported around 12,000 projects across the UK for health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
- Since June 2004 it has awarded over £8 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people.
For more information visit http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk