- The Women’s Fund for Scotland has so far invested around £3 million to over 640 groups and is the only sex and gender specific grant maker in Scotland
- Almost 1,000 life-changing grants have been made by The Women’s Fund for Scotland
- 42,967 women and girls have benefited from The Women’s Fund for Scotland funding
The Women’s Fund for Scotland (WFS), a charity created to help girls and women across Scotland, has released its 2022 Impact Report.
The report details the way WFS has been able to inspire and empower women across the past 20 years to help them overcome inequalities that affected their freedom, health, income, pay and power.
Founded in 2002, WFS is the only gender-specific grant maker in Scotland and the report highlights that to date, it has invested around £3 million in over 640 groups helping almost 43,000 women and girls. The work of the fund has helped to create 48 social enterprises and the grants have supported 65 women to become self-employed.
The report highlights many examples of the life-changing impact support from the fund has had on women from all walks of life in Scotland.
The fund has helped and supported a wide range of groups across Scotland from a textile training project, partnerships with Glasgow Girls Football Club and the Women’s Business Station, supporting Deaf Link to develop a tailored service to meet the needs of deaf women and girls experiencing abuse, to the “Followitapp”, a digital resource for women being stalked that is accessible through the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre.
One user of the app described how it has helped her record incidents, and feel like she doesn’t have to have the evidence of her stalker in her home:
“I never felt safe. I was at breaking point. When the App didn’t exist, I wrote things down. I would get to the stage where I didn’t want to write it down anymore. I didn’t want it lying about my house. It was just a constant reminder of my stalker. I just wanted to forget about it all.
“In the App, the time and date are already there for you, and it’s a lot quicker. You don’t need to fill in all the information there and then. I filled the rest in when I got to a safe place.”
Sue Robertson, Chair of the Women’s Fund for Scotland, says: “Our impact report provides the perfect opportunity to raise awareness of the important work that The Women’s Fund for Scotland supports.
“In Scotland you are never more than 50 miles away from an organisation funded by the Women’s Fund for Scotland, and more than 42,000 girls and women have benefited from our funding. This is something we are extremely proud of and hope to build upon in the coming years.”
Shona Blakeley, Executive Director at The Women’s Fund for Scotland adds: “We are extremely proud of all the support we have been able to offer over the years.
“However, this is only possible thanks to our supporters, and we rely on their generosity and kind donations. For those who would like to donate, you can do so via our JustGiving page – https://www.justgiving.com/womensfundforscotland”
The full impact report can be found here:-
https://www.womensfundscotland.org/project-stories/impact-report-2022/