Shining a Spotlight on the Women and Girls Sector
The first event in a series of six was held in Sunderland yesterday
26th March at Sunderland City Hall to launch Represent Women and shine a much-needed light on the women and girls’ sector.
The event began with an introduction to the work of Represent Women, followed by presentations from North East women and girls’ organisations. The highlight of the event was hearing about the essential work being done by these organisations to bring real change to our communities. The Sunderland event featured speakers from Sunderland Women’s Centre, ICOS Women’s Group, WWIN, Sangini, and Own My Life.
Standing on the shoulders of giants
Cullagh Warnock, a founder and Steering Group member of Represent Women, provided an introduction to their work:
‘We stand on the shoulders of women who have gone before – notably the North East Women’s Network, alongside many other initiatives and networks. In 2020, there was a wrap-up event in the region following a large funding programme for the women’s sector by the National Lottery Community Fund.
Organisations at that event voiced a need for more funding and a collective voice to advocate on behalf of the sector – the NLCF began conversations about how they could fund this voice.
‘In 2022, a small group of women’s organisations, including Tyneside Women’s Health, The Millin Chaity, RCTN, Girls Network, My Sisters Place, and WWIN, began developing a proposal.’
Represent Women received five years of funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, with staff coming into post in the summer of 2024.
The Sunderland event was hosted in the Mayor’s Parlour at Sunderland City Hall and achieved excellent engagement with attendees representing the VCSE sector, funders, commissioners, and local authorities.
Coming together
For Erin Parker Leonard, Director of Policy and Advocacy, the first event was an opportunity to bring the women and girls sector and its allies together:
‘The key takeaway from our first launch event was how valuable and inspiring the women and girls’ sector is here in the North East. Our speakers today shared a strong message of hope, joy, and sisterhood.
The impact of their work is profound and life-changing. A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in our first event. We have been emboldened, motivated, and inspired in our work to achieve our vision of a strengthened and valued women and girls’ sector in the North East.’
Our Vision
Represent Women is here to provide an independent advocacy voice for the by-and-for women’s sector. We want to add value to the fantastic work already being done by individual organisations and existing networks, not to duplicate or compete with that work.
Represent Women also aims to take every opportunity to increase funding for women’s organisations in our region. Research in 2022 shows that by-and-for women’s organisations make up 3.6% of all charities in the UK but receive only 1.8% of the funding – we want to change this.