Represent Women: Amplifying the voices of the women and girls’ sector in the North East.
Represent Women has been set up by a group of North East women’s organisations with a shared vision: to create a strong, unified voice that addresses policy and funding decisions impacting the women and girls voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. It aims to: champion organisations working for women and girls; amplify their voices and advocating for their needs.
Represent Women will address the imbalance in funding and recognition for women and girls led organisations. Research shows £4.1 billion of grants were awarded to charities in 2021, the women and girls sector received just 1.8% of that funding.
Represent Women’s vision is a North East women and girls’ sector that:
- is thriving not just surviving and feels confident about the future.
- feels supported and adequately funded
- has a strong voice that is heard and acted on by decision makers
- is recognised for the contributions it makes to the economy and to society.
- feels connected and united while still maintaining individual identity and uniqueness
Represent Women is led by a steering group of representatives from North East women and girls organisations including: Tyneside Women’s Health; WWiN; My Sister’s Place; The Millin Charity; Women’s Workshop; Rape Crisis Tyneside & Northumberland; Women’s Health in South Tyneside; The Angelou Centre; Young Women’s Outreach Project; Aspire and The Girls Network.
And staffed by: Erin Parker Leonard, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Erin spearheads our advocacy efforts, ensuring that women’s voices are prioritised in policy discussions; Jo Armstrong, Member Support, Marketing, and Communications Officer, keeps our message clear and our community engaged.
Currently hosted by Tyneside Women’s Health, Represent Women is on a journey toward self-governance and charitable status by 2025.
Erin and Jo are meeting with North East women and girls’ organisations, networks and services, hearing about challenges and successes that impact the sector and the women it supports. If you’d like to welcome them into your project, get in touch at hello@representwomenne.org.uk. To keep up to date with North East women and girls sector updates you can join the mail list to receive a monthly bulletin.
Represent Women is a membership based organisation with three tiers of free membership, joining as a member helps to strengthen the North East women and girls sector. You can find out more about membership and how Represent Women can support you on their website.