Edinburgh Women’s Aid (EWA) will run its first International Women’s Day campaign from 8-15 March, to help raise funds for its Work 4 Women, (W4W), programme which provides survivors of domestic abuse with employability skills, with all funds raised doubled by the online match funding platform, The Big Give.
Women who have experienced domestic abuse often have specific challenges to employability. They may have been kept from developing skills by their perpetrator, their confidence may have been impacted by the abuse and their path back to work may be consistently interrupted by homelessness, legal complications or continued abuse.
In partnership with Shakti Women’s Aid, EWA provides employability support through its W4W programme that focusses on the needs of women who have survived domestic abuse to help increase their self-esteem, give them financial independence and rebuild their lives free from abuse.
The programme covers areas including CV writing, mock interviews, job search help, personal development workshops, peer support groups and through links with various businesses, provides opportunities to job shadow and internships.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is Break The Bias. The aim is to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality, which ties in with the W4W programme.
The EWA International Women’s Day campaign is designed to appeal to people to help raise funds which will enable the charity to continue running the employability programme and help more survivors of domestic abuse find work.
The Big Give, which is an online match funding platform, has confirmed it will double all funds raised throughout the campaign.
Linda Rodgers, CEO at Edinburgh Women’s Aid, said: “Our employability programme, W4W, is one of the essential services we provide for women who have experienced domestic abuse.
“It provides practical and emotional skills that can help increase their ability to attain employment and help alleviate social deprivation and make a lasting difference to their life chances and also their children’s, which is why we are appealing to people to help us raise funds so that we can continue to empower women through employment.
“We are delighted that The Big Give has guaranteed they will double all the funds we raise which will help us even more to double our impact in W4W programme.”
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