A NEW fund has been launched to empower women and girls in the West Midlands and Warwickshire.
The Heart of England Community Foundation launched the Women and Girls Fund with £50,000 from its own fund and is calling people to donate.
Tina Costello OBE, chief executive of the foundation pledged to create the fund, during an event at the Ikon Gallery.
Tina said: “There are some frightening statistics out there about the plight of women and girls in our region.
“In the West Midlands, police received 32,000 calls last year to their helpline for women – each one a cry for help.
“A quarter of all women will suffer from domestic abuse at some point in their lives.
“Women earn around 18 percent less than their male counterparts, and 26 percent of girls aged 16 to 19 are suffering from mental health issues.
“I couldn’t sit there and hear such a range of stories and do nothing about it, so I made a pledge that night that we’d launch this fund.
“Here we are, just a few months on, and thanks to the support of so many people we’re able to do it.”
The event featured Jacky Mulveen, project manager with WE:ARE Women’s Empowerment and Recovery Educators, who shared her personal story of overcoming domestic abuse and how she established her organisation in memory of her son, Carl.
Jacky said: “It’s our 21st anniversary this year and we are grateful for the support we’ve had from the Heart of England Community Foundation and everything it does to help grassroots organisations like ours.
“This fund can help the Foundation to do even more from women and girls in our region who desperately need support.”
The Foundation will use the fund to provide grants to a range of women and girls projects across the region over the next year.
Tina added: “We need support to reach our goal of £100,000. Every donation will be matched up to £50,000, doubling the impact. We can also claim gift aid on qualifying donations.
“By contributing to this fund, your donations will mean we can support many local charities and initiatives that empower women and girls across the region.”
