Leith charity Saheliya has received £5,000 from the STV Children’s Appeal, helping the project to reach even more women who need their support.
The organisation, which is based in MacDonald Road, provides accessible mental well-being support and routes to independence and integration for black and minority ethnic women, as well as counselling, advocacy and practical support, youth work, skills-building and employability activities.
Saheliya also works with policy makers and service providers to raise awareness of the specific problems facing black and minority ethnic women, to ensure that agencies in Scotland, including social work, Women’s Aid, police and legal services, can respond effectively and reach women who currently don’t receive any services.
Alison Davis, CEO of Saheliya, said: “Thank you so much to the STV Children’s Appeal. This grant has helped us reach more young women who need our help. The problems they have range from on-line harassment to being trafficked, being young carers to coping with a parent who has survived torture. All of the girls and young women we work with become more confident, less anxious and depressed, and more able to make decisions about their lives. School and college attendance and performance improve. A big part of our success is that the young women begin to help each other too.”
Since launch in 2011, the STV Children’s Appeal has raised over £11 million with 476 big and small grants distributed to projects across all 32 local authority areas in Scotland, providing much needed support to over 59,000 children. The money raised is distributed to provide practical help like food and warm clothes; create opportunities for training and employability; and enable social and emotional support for those who need it most.
Rob Woodward, STV CEO and trustee of the STV Children’s Appeal, said: “All the money donated to the STV Children’s Appeal remains in Scotland and will help bring about positive changes to the lives of vulnerable children and young people on our doorstep. With the help of the extraordinary fundraising efforts taking place in communities across the country we are able to support projects like Saheliya that help improve the lives of children in Scotland. We are extremely grateful to everyone who supports the STV Children’s Appeal.”
Sir Tom Hunter, trustee of the STV Children’s Appeal, said: “Through the Appeal our singular ambition is to deliver sustainable solutions to end child poverty. It is simply unacceptable in modern Scotland to still have young people debilitated by poverty through no fault of their own. Thanks to this project and many more, the people of Scotland are doing their level best to combat poverty.
“This is about communities coming together and with a hand up, not a hand out, from the STV Appeal, helping themselves deliver sustainable solutions to end child poverty.”
Sir Ian Wood, trustee of the STV Children’s Appeal, said: “The generosity of the people in Scotland who provide such great support to the STV Children’s Appeal is always incredibly encouraging and heart-warming. It is deeply concerning that there continues to be a significant requirement across Scotland for this financial support. However, I do believe that the £2.9million raised this year will make a significant contribution to eradicating the issue of child poverty in Scotland. Throughout my working life I travelled a lot seeing an obvious divide between the haves and the have-nots around the world, and to know that this is also happening on our doorstep is deeply concerning. Everyone has a role to play in reducing the alarming child poverty statistics.”
If you’re an individual or group that would like to get involved with the STV Children’s Appeal and help raise funds for children and young people affected by poverty in Scotland, please get in touch with Natalie Wright at natalie.wright@stv.tv
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