Saving our sector - tools to use if your organisation is at risk
Here at WRC we are aware that many of our members are facing – or may already be experiencing – cuts to budgets, funding and staff. In some cases the very existence of your organisation may be at risk.
In order to provide our members with some of the tools to mitigate such threats, we have compiled a list of steps you can take:
saveoursector.pdf (54.68KB)It includes how to lobby your local authorities, possible alternative sources of funding and other hints and tips. We hope this information will enable you to feel more equipped to take on any possible challenges to your organisation.
We will be updating this list on a regular basis, as and when more resources and tools become available.
Future of London Boroughs Grants Scheme - our response
London Councils (LC) is currently reassessing its funding priorities for its Grants Scheme. An initial consultation was completed in January 2010, but with a new Grants Committee in place after the May local elections, the future of the scheme remains uncertain.
WRC and VSF have always campaigned for, at a minimum, the maintenance of the current LC Grants Scheme budget for London’s Violence Against Women (VAW) sector, as well as London’s wider voluntary and community sector.
However, in light of the possible ‘repatriation’ of funds to Local Authorities, WRC and VSF have put together a statement, which outlines our position, which you can find
here.
I
n addition, WRC will be putting together information for organisations facing funding challenges which we will be making available next week.WRC launches 'Making an Impact' report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
26 July 2010
Women’s Resource Centre launches its Making An Impact report, showcasing its remarkable work to bolster the women’s sector Download a copy of the report
here.
The Women’s Resource Centre is pleased to announce the launch of its latest report,
Making an Impact, which highlights the comprehensive work it has undertaken to support women’s organisations across the country.
With a guest introduction by noted author Natasha Walter, Making an Impact takes a broad sweep across the wide-ranging support WRC offers its members and throughout the women’s sector, from training, to lobbying and advocacy to campaign support.
WRC wanted to show those who hold the power to change the lives of UK women the breadth of work undertaken by the women’s sector in supporting women and their dependents to be valued members of society.
Women’s organisations consistently provide cost effective, holistic support despite often considerable challenges. They work hard to ensure women’s voices are heard at a local, regional and national level by those in positions of power and authority.
Making an Impact marks the extraordinary work so far undertaken by WRC to keep the women’s sector vibrant, healthy and sustainable.
“Making an Impact clearly demonstrates the undeniable significance of the fantastic work undertaken by WRC and its 300 members to support women across the country to lead fulfilling and productive lives. It demonstrates clearly the enormous value of the sector and why it is essential for funding and support from key stakeholders and influencers to continue,” said WRC chief executive Vivienne Hayes.
“The Women’s Resource Centre has helped a number of organisations and individuals to raise their voices much more effectively than would have been possible if those organisations worked alone,” said Natasha Walter.
Illustrations in the report are by cartoonist Jacky Fleming and Katharina KoallFor more information or interview with our chief executive, please contact Sarah Brown, Head of Communications, on 0207 324 3040 or sarahbrown@wrc.org.uk
About WRCThe Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) is a charity which supports women’s organisations to be more effective and sustainable. We provide training, information, resources and one-to-one support on a range of organisational development issues. We also lobby decision makers on behalf of the women’s not-for-profit sector for improved representation and funding.
Our 328 member organisations work in a wide range of fields including violence against women, employment, education, rights and equality, the criminal justice system and the environment. They deliver services to and campaign on behalf of some of the most marginalised communities of women.
Combating ‘Power and Prejudice’: Local decision makers must engage
effectively with women’s organisations to provide better support for
women in societyDownload a copy of the report
hereWRC’s comprehensive new
report, ‘Power and Prejudice’, identifies the barriers facing women’s
organisations in creating change on a local level, examines what tools
can be used to support local engagement and offers clear, practical
solutions to both public bodies and women’s organisations to improve
engagement and services for women locally.
Women play an active
role in supporting and improving their local communities, however, they
remain under-represented in local decision-making and gender inequality
still remains entrenched. Local public bodies would make better
decisions, and communities would receive better services, if informed by
the experiences and perspectives of women’s organisations.
The
report, based on 18 months of action research, harnessed the experiences
and expertise of local women’s organisations working across England to
examine the barriers stopping women’s organisations from being able to
get heard locally.
These included local public bodies acting as
‘blockers’ to prevent organisations gaining access to decision-makers,
not understanding gender analysis or the need for women’s organisations,
lack of transparency and accountability and lack of knowledge and
confidence about holding public bodies to account.
“Women who use
women-only organisations have repeatedly stated that they want, need
and value such services. Local authorities need to hear these women’s
voices and take action by engaging with women-only service providers to
ensure the sustainability and survival of women’s organisations in their
area,” said RISE chief executive officer Gail Gray, whose organisation
took part in the research.
‘Power and Prejudice’ also highlights
that training to engage in policy, support from peers, building robust,
evidence-based arguments and capturing the powerful voices of women
service users to present the best case for support are crucial to
enabling women’s organisations to engage with those in power.
“Women’s
organisations are constantly working to improve the lives of women in
their local communities in an efficient and cost effective manner, but
all too often they lack the clout to influence local decision making.
This research takes a grassroots approach in finding ways to improve
this in a robust and concerted manner,” said WRC Chief Executive
Vivienne Hayes.
The report shows that women’s organisations have
the expertise in meeting local women’s needs and have a lot to offer
local public bodies to help them meet the challenges ahead.
“We
want local government to recognise the value of women’s organisations.
Not only do they save money in the short term, but by investing in
women’s organisations local government can ensure better lives for
women, their families and communities – which will also save money in
the future,” said Policy Officer Darlene Corry, co-author of the report.
EndsFor further information, case studies, requests for
copies of the report or to arrange an interview with report author
Darlene Corry or participants, please contact:
Sarah Brown, Head
of Communications: sarahbrown@wrc.org.uk, phone: 0207 324 3040 or Karen
Moore, Head of Policy, karen@wrc.org.uk, phone: 0207 324 3033
Darlene Corry, Policy Officer / report author: darlene@wrc.org.uk or call 0207 324 3036
Notes for editors/about WRC
1.
About WRC - the Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) is a charity which
supports women’s organisations to be more effective and sustainable. We
provide training, information, resources and one-to-one support on a
range of organisational development issues. We also lobby decision
makers on behalf of the women’s not-for-profit sector for improved
representation and funding.
Our 328 member organisations work in a
wide range of fields including violence against women, employment,
education, rights and equality, the criminal justice system and the
environment. They deliver services to and campaign on behalf of some of
the most marginalised communities of women.
2. Women’s
organisations and value for money - previous WRC-commissioned research
of the economic impact of women’s organisations in 2006 found that
women’s organisations save money. A rape crisis centre demonstrated
value for money with a total economic cost to funding received ratio of 1
to 3.58, in other words, for every pound, £3.58 of public spending is
saved (The economic and social impact of the women's voluntary and
community sector - a pilot study, Matrix research and consultancy, 2006)
Don't leave women hanging! WRC urges support for women's sector despite hung parliament
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07 May 2010
Don’t leave women hanging! New government must make women’s services a priorityThe country may face a hung parliament but, despite the uncertainty, all parties must guarantee that women’s services are not left “hanging” for vital support and funding.
“Now is not the time to roll back women’s rights and support for essential women’s services under the guise of ‘austerity’ measures,” said Vivienne Hayes, chief executive of the Women’s Resource Centre.
“All parties made promises throughout their election campaigns to women. Now they must show their feminist credentials and bolster support for women’s organisations in the new government.
“Women’s organisations provide vital services which empower women to support their families, get back to work and contribute to society. The new government must acknowledge the work of these groups and ensure they are able to continue.”
--- ends ---
Notes to editors
The Women’s Resource Centre supports almost 300 women’s organisations across England and Wales.
We provide training, information, resources and one-to-one support on a range of organisational development issues. We also lobby decision makers on behalf of the women’s not-for-profit sector for improved representation and funding.
Our members work in a wide range of fields including violence against women, employment, education, rights and equality, the criminal justice system and the environment. They deliver services to and campaign on behalf of some of the most marginalised communities of women.
For more information please contact Sarah Brown, head of communications, at 0207 324 3040 or email sarahbrown@wrc.org.ukWRC urges support for women's sector ahead of UK election
The Women's Resource Centre welcomes the announcement of the UK election on 6 May and hopes all political parties will keep women's issues and the women's sector at the forefront of their campaigns ahead of election day.
Women's organisations provide free and often lifesaving services to some of the most marginalised and vulnerable women in our communities, but face losing funding and support from the government right when it is needed most.
"Women's organisations support women who have experienced violence to rebuild their lives, provide training and education to support women into employment, lobby for better laws to end the discrimination against women and empower women to participate in society," says Karen Moore, acting head of policy for the WRC.
"WRC urges all the parties to ensure that the vital work of women's organisations, which makes major savings to the state and provides value for money, is able to continue."
In addition, the Fawcett Society's What About Women campaign has concentrated on holding the parties to account in the run up to the election, you can find more information about it
here.
Eaves' Sojourner project extended
We're pleased to say the Sojourner Project, run by Eaves and funded by the Home Office to assist women with no recourse to public funds, has been extended until the end of 10 August.
The project, for women who entered the UK on a spousal visa and are eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) under the Domestic Violence Rule, will now take referrals up until 2 July.
If you have any queries on the issue, please contact the Sojourner duty manager on 0207 840 7147 or sojourner@eaveshousing.co.uk
London hustings - thankyou to all!
We're pleased to say Wednesday's London local elections hustings, hosted by the Women's Resource Centre, HEAR Network and the Voluntary Sector Forum, was a great success!
We would like to thank all the councillors who took part in the event - Cllr Nilgun Canver, Labour, Cllr Lynn Hillan, Conservative, Cllr Stephen Knight, Liberal Democrat and Cllr Ute Michel, Green Party, for sparing the time to attend.
Thankyou also to Emma Scott, director of Rights of Women, who chaired the event, Tim Brogden from the Voluntary Sector Forum and, of course, a huge thanks to all those who attended and submitted questions.
We hope to hold more such events in the future so if you have any thoughts or suggestions do let us know: info@wrc.org.uk.
WHEC consortium partners with Health Dept
The Women's Health and Equality Consortium (WHEC), led by
YWCA England and Wales, is to become a third sector strategic partner of the
Department of Health.
The consortium, which includes the
Women's Resource Centre and others such as
Maternity Action,
FORWARD UK and
Rape Crisis England and Wales, will work with the government, third sector women's organsations and other health partners to contribute to health policy on appropriate and accessible services.
WHEC, which has been operating for about a year, was set up to strengthen the women's health and care sector by tackling health inequalities. Lorraine Dongo, the consortium's manager, said they were "delighted" by the news.
'Key points' still need to be addressed - WRC responds to govt consultation on commissioning of local
services to address violence against women, girls
The
Women's Resource Centre has responded to the UK government's consultation on mainstreaming the commissioning of local services to address violence against women and girls, which you can read here:
FINAL WRC Response to Commissioning VAW March 2010 (4).doc (515.00KB) .
While the guidance is very good, there are still some key points to address to ensure that the independent, specialist VAWG sector is supported by local commissioners.
The consultation is open until 15 March, so there is still time for organisations to respond. The original consultation is
here.
WRC partners with NSPCC, Children England to support Safe Network
The Women's Resource Centre has partnered with the NSPCC and Children England to provide support and advice to its Safe Network programme, which works to assist the third sector in having effective child protection and safety measures in place.
The WRC will provide advice on promoting the greater involvement of the women's voluntary sector in safeguarding activities at local and national levels across the WRC's network of organisations and those who work with women and girls.
The Safe Network was launched on 5 June last year to offer information, training, materials and tailored advice that volunteers, parents and organisations need to provide safe environments for children and young people.
Click
here to learn more about Safe Network.
Your help needed! WRC begins survey on power and importance of women's sector
The Women's Resource Centre has launched a quick and simple survey to demonstrate the power and inmportance of the women's sector - and we need your help!
We are planning to produce a report, based on the information we collect, which we shall use to demonstrate to the government the continuing need for women's organisations, especially in light of the recession.
But we cannot do this alone, so please tell us about your work, so that we can present the best argument. It takes 15 minutes and you can complete the survey by clicking
here Best of all, by completing the survey you enter our prize draw and can win up to £100 for your organisation of one of your choice! So after you've finished the survey, please pass it to your colleagues and other organisations.
WRC launches greeting card for International Women's Day
10 February 2010
The Women's Resource Centre has created a beautiful greeting card to buy in honour of International Women's Day on March 8th.
Profits from the sale of the card (pictured above) contribute to supporting women's organisations many of whom provide life-saving services to some of the most marginalised women in our communities. And if you buy 10 you get one free!
Read more and buyWomen's organisations funded to work on FGM
12 December 2009
Last week, three funders announced the names of the projects they will be funding under their special FGM initiative. The initiative will fund community based, preventive work to safeguard children from the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Read more...Beautiful Star album supports women's charities
23 November 2009
Wears the Trousers magazine (which highlights women in the music industry) has put together a tribute album to the influential folk artist, Odetta Holmes. All the profits from the album will be split between the
Fawcett Society and the Women's Resource Centre. It is now available for pre-order in advance of its release on 30 November 2009.
Read more...Women's organisations shocked by surprise withdrawal of funding
17 November 2009
Charities across the country have been angered by the Government's surprise decision to cancel its Campaigning Research programme, after the grants had already been awarded. We spoke to three women's organisations about the impact it has had on their work.
Read our statement...New government 'no recourse' scheme does not go far enough
12 November 2009
Today, the UK government announced a pilot scheme for women experiencing domestic violence but who cannot access safe housing and support due to their insecure immigration status.
The scheme will provide funding for a woman with ‘no recourse to public funds’ in a refuge for up to 40 days pending an application to remain in the UK under the Domestic Violence Rule.
Read more...New online network for the women's sector
22 October 2009
WRC has just launched the Women's Cafe, an online network for the women's voluntary and community sector.
Read more...WRC membership now free for small groups
22 October 2009
As of 1 November 2009, membership of the Women's Resource Centre will be free for organisations with annual incomes under £100,000. Earlier this year our members identified funding as the biggest challenge they face and of those who did not renew their membership with WRC, 30% stated that it was due to lack of funds. So we thought we'd do our bit to help out.
Read more...
Take action on no recourse
2 October 2009
On Wednesday 4 November, WRC is supporting a mass lobby of parliament that will bring hundreds of activists together to urge the UK government to protect all women from violence and abuse in the UK.
Read more...New UN Agency for Women
15 September 2009
Yesterday, the UN General Assembly supported a resolution on the creation of a powerful new UN “agency for women”.
Despite many important developments for women, Governments have failed to implement the commitments to women’s rights they have made in the CEDAW Convention, Beijing Platform for Action, the Millennium Development Goals and other human rights agreements.
A new agency will improve the UN’s coordination and efforts to fund and promote gender equality, and has the potential to end the ‘suffocating patriarchy’ within the UN.
Read more here New funding for Rape Crisis Centres
5 August 2009
The government today announced £3million funding to support victims of rape and sexual violence.
The money will fund Rape Crisis Centres and other organisations supporting victims of rape and sexual violence, as well as funding 15 existing and 8 new Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) and 43 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) to offer practical support for victims of sexual violence.
Read more...How can we support women and girls affected by gang violence and serious youth offending?
23 July 2009
WRC, in partnership with Race On the Agenda (ROTA) is looking at the services available to support women and girls affected by gang violence and serious youth offending. The needs of such women and girls have largely been ignored until now.
Women's body image projects are happy recipients of Rosa's first grants
10 June 2009
Rosa, the UK fund for women and girls, announced yesterday that their first round of grants will go to the
Powerhouse,
Mimbre and
Feminist Webs for their work with women and girls on body image.
New third sector minister is patron of Basildon Women's Aid
8 June 2009
Angela Smith, MP for Basildon, has been confirmed as the new Minister for the Third Sector. She replaces Kevin Brennan, who has moved on to the new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Angela Smith is a patron of
Basildon Women's Aid, and we hope her appointment will be good news for the women's sector. See Angela Smith's
website.
Women's health consortium seeks manager
26 May 2009
WRC has been supporting a new partnership of women's organisations tackling women’s health and social inequalities.
The Women's Health & Equality Consortium is now looking to employ a manager.
Read more...Measuring the value of the women's sector
5 May 2009
WRC is looking for 5 women's organisations to take part in a new project measuring the impact of the work of the women's sector. If you want to demonstrate the economic, social and environmental impacts of your work to funders, supporters and policymakers,
read on...Equality Bill published
28 April 2009
Yesterday the government published the Equality Bill. You can download the bill in various formats from the Government Equalities Office
website. The Bill aims to narrow the gap between rich and poor; outlaw age discrimination; significantly strengthen Britain’s anti-discrimination legislation; and will require businesses to report on gender pay.
WRC will be producing a briefing for women's organisations. If there's anything else you'd find useful,
get in touch.
Launch of 3rd 'why women?' report
23 March 2009
WRC have launched their latest report in the
why women? campaign. The report,
Not just bread, but roses, too maps women’s organisations across all of the English regions. We’ve looked at the areas organisations work in, the equalities strands they focus on and have tracked income and expenditure data for 2004 to 2007. One of the key findings is that 1 in 5 women's organisations became inactive during 2004-7.
You can
download the report to read about the research and its key findings in full.
Home Office launches nationwide violence against women consultation
12 March 2009
The Home Office is encouraging a national debate on how to prevent violence against women, how to protect women and children experiencing violence and how to convince women to report it.
EHRC threatens legal action over lack of services for female victims of violence
30 January 2009
The
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) today announced it will target over 100 local authorities with the threat of legal action over their failure to provide specialised services for women who have experienced violence.
The threat of legal action comes as a new report,
Map of Gaps II, published today by the EHRC and the End Violence Against Women coalition (EVAW), reveals a major funding gap for services that help women escape violence and abuse.
Read more on the EVAW website or go to
www.mapofgaps.org to see how your area is affected.
WRC Policy Forum member wins award
29 January 2009
Yeukai Taruvinga has just won the
Campaigner of the Year award. Yeukai is the Chair of
Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) London and sits on WRC’s Policy Forum.
Yeukai, a refused asylum seeker who has been previously detained, has been volunteering and campaigning tirelessly around the issues of destitution and permission to work. Yeukai wrote about her
experiences seeking asylum in Britain from Zimbabwe in The Guardian on 20 December 2008. Heartfelt congratulations to Yeukai!
Oral histories of the Black Women's Movement
5 January 2009
Black Cultural Archives is collecting oral histories of women involved in and inspired by the Black Women's Movement in Britain. They are
recruiting volunteers to carry out interviews and transcribe them. For further information please contact Mia Morris, Oral History Project Co-ordinator, on 020 7582 8516
mia@bcaheritage.org.uk or visit the project blog
http://heartoftherace.blogspot.com.
Rosa announces theme for first grants
22 December 2008
Rosa, the new UK women's fund, announced today that their first set of grants will focus on projects supporting women and girls to develop a positive body image. £25,000 will be available and more details will be available in February.
Read Rosa's latest update.
New training to make women's organisations more financially resilient
1 December 2008
WRC will be running a series of free training sessions for women's organisations in London. The sessions will provide organisations with the skills and knowledge to diversify their income streams, build effective relationships with funders and develop partnerships. The first session -
Introduction to developing a sustainable funding mix - is on 10 December. For more details see the full
training calendar.
New guide: how to influence local agendas
26 November 2008
Can't tell your LSP from your LAA? WRC has produced a
new guide to help women's organisations influence local agendas. Decision making powers are increasingly being devolved to local areas. Women's organisations must engage with the local agenda to ensure their issues and services (and funding for them) are taken into account.
Winners of 2008 Emma Humphries Memorial Prize announced
31 October 2008
Fabulous women campaigners received awards at the annual Emma Humphries Memorial Prize ceremony. Sabrina Qureshi, treasurer of Women and Girls Network and one of the driving forces behind this year's Million Women Rise march, won the individual award. Women Asylum Seekers Together (Manchester) won the group award, and Southall Black Sisters received a special award.
New support for London's violence against women sector
8 October 2008
The Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) is pleased to announce the success of our joint bid with
Women & Girls Network for
London Councils funding. Together we have been awarded £150,000 per year for four years to deliver support to London-based organisations working in the field of violence against women. Women & Girls Network will be delivering most of the services, which will include accredited training and events for frontline workers in violence against women services. WRC will provide some training and one-to-one support on organisational development issues (e.g. monitoring and evaluation).
The project will launch in early 2009. For more information contact Supriya on 020 7324 3038 or
supriya@wrc.org.uk.