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Big Give Women and Girls Match Fund: Act now for one donation, twice the impact

Sunday October 8th, 2023

This International Day of the Girl, support the rights of women and girls in Wales by donating to Women’s Equality Network (WEN) Wales in the Big Give’s Women and Girls Match Fund here – for this week only, the Big Give will double your donation!

WEN Wales is taking part in the Women and Girls Match Fund to raise £5,000 in just 1 week between 11th – 18th October. These crucial funds will support work for a Wales free from gender discrimination, against the backdrop of the financial pressures facing the women’s sector in Wales.

WEN Wales is an award-winning charity whose ambition is for everyone to have equal authority and opportunity to shape society and their own lives. As a membership organisation bringing together the voices of a diverse network of women from across Wales, WEN Wales empowers those with lived experience of inequality and brings about change.

We need your help – the Welsh women’s sector is facing unique financial pressures and challenges in accessing and diversifying funding. Research published earlier this year by the Rosa Foundation shows that in 2021, a total of £4.1bn worth of grants was awarded to charities in the UK, but the women and girls sector received just 1.8% of these. One third of all grants for activity focused on women and girls went to organisations with no specific focus on women and girls. This shows a worrying lack of priority for organisations tackling complex and systemic issues faced by women and girls in the UK. When seeking funding, organisations in Wales also often face a lack of understanding about devolution, leaving them facing additional barriers.

Donations to WEN Wales will be generously matched by Big Give during the campaign, maximizing your impact on the lives of women and girls in Wales.

Shannon Gossage, Partnerships and Fundraising Manager at WEN Wales said:

“All donations will make twice the impact toward our vision of a Wales free from gender discrimination thanks to the Big Give Women and Girls Match Fund. We’re relying on our amazing members and supporters to help us reach our target of £5,000 to ensure we can continue campaigning for gender equality and providing free mentoring and events to women in Wales.”

Cllr. Patience Bentu, former Equal Power Equal Voice mentee at WEN Wales said:

“I cannot quantify the amount of benefits that being on the Equal Power Equal Voice programme has provided me with […] It has exposed me to the fact that I am not alone in my struggles as a woman, an ethnic minority person in Wales and a single mother.”

How can you get involved?

 

Notes

For further information please contact Shannon Gossage, Partnerships and Fundraising Manager: Shannon@wenwales.org.uk

About WEN Wales: https://wenwales.wpengine.com

Rosa Foundation research: https://rosauk.org/publications/mapping-research/

 

Following a competitive application process, WEN Wales has been selected to take part in the Big Give Women and Girls Match Fund.

Campaign

Act Now for Women’s Equality in Wales!

Our vision is a Wales free from gender discrimination. A Wales where everyone has equal authority and opportunity to shape society and their own lives. As a membership organisation bringing together the voices of a diverse network of women from across Wales, WEN Wales empowers those with lived experience of inequality and brings about change.

Situation

We have three strategic priorities, as developed in partnership with our members, board and staff:

  • Diverse and equal leadership: there has still only been one ethnic minority woman elected to the Senedd in 20 years of devolution.
  • Strengthening and protecting women’s human rights in Wales: enshrining CEDAW in Welsh law.
  • Making Care Fair: Wales has seen the biggest increase in childcare costs (8%) of the four nations, which is disproportionately affecting women.

Solution

With our reach of 43,000 individuals and organisations we can use:

  • Our Diverse 5050 campaign & EPEV mentoring programme to empower women to put themselves forward for public life so they can design intersectional policy and law.
  • Our influencing and policy work to use devolved legislation to protect women in Wales from the impact of Westminster’s plans to reduce human rights.
  • Our campaign Make Care Fair to address the single biggest driver of female poverty and financial inequality.

Donate to the campaign here

About Big Give

https://linktr.ee/TheBigGive

Big Give is a registered charity (1136547) that runs match funded campaigns for charities and special causes at key moments across the year. By connecting charities to match funders (like philanthropists, foundations or corporates) and the public, Big Give helps them double their donations. And, in doing so, makes an extraordinary difference to the world’s biggest challenges. It has raised more than £236m for charities, to date.

It’s a simple idea – when the public donates to a charity through a Big Give campaign, it asks funders (philanthropists, foundations, government departments or corporates) to match that donation. So £50 from a member of the public becomes £100 for a good cause.

Big Give has supported more than 10,000 charities and has worked with some of the biggest names in UK philanthropy and charitable grant-making, which provide match funding, including DCMS, People’s Postcode Lottery, Candis Club Magazine, EQ Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, The Reed Foundation, The Waterloo Foundation, The Hospital Saturday Fund, The Childhood Trust and others including high-net-worth individuals such as Julia and Hans Rausing.

Join WEN today

Support the fight for a Wales free from gender discrimination.