More Scots women move into work

‘a strong economy will help tackle the inequality that blights our society’ – John Swinney

Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary John Swinney has today welcomed news that 2014 has been another encouraging and buoyant year for Scotland, according to employment statistics covering the period Aug-Oct 2014.

Female participation and youth employment are seen as the key successes of 2014.

The level of youth unemployment in Scotland has fallen by over 26 per cent in the last 12 months and is now at its lowest in the last five years, alongside a fall in the overall Scottish unemployment rate.

Latest Labour Market Statistics show female employment has risen by 46,000 over the year to reach 1,288,000 – the highest female employment level on record.

The number of women claiming Jobseekers Allowance fell by 8,900 over the year. At 27,900 it is at its lowest level since February 2009.

Scotland has a higher female employment rate than the UK – with the Scottish rate 3.2 percentage points above the UK rate. Scotland also has a lower female unemployment rate and higher female participation rate than the UK.

Mr Swinney said: “2014 has seen Scotland consistently outperform the UK on employment, unemployment and inactivity rates and Scotland’s economy continues to go from strength to strength.

“A real success story over the last year is increasing female participation and the narrowing gender gap in employment rates. Over the last two years, the gap between male and female employment rates has narrowed in Scotland, unlike the UK – with the gap closing by 3.6 percentage points in Scotland.

“As the Scottish economy grows our task is to ensure that everyone is able to benefit from that economic success. It is a top priority of this government to tackle the inequalities that blight our society, and by strengthening and stabilising our economy with an active and engaged workforce we can go a long way to make that happen.

“With discussion on further powers for the Scottish Parliament now taking place it is essential that we have the full tools we need to support employment opportunities for everyone in Scotland.”

Women: Breaking the Mould at Royston Wardieburn

BREAKING THE MOULD

Breaking the Mould is a new project which aims to record and celebrate inspirational women from North Edinburgh who have made a difference to the lives of others locally, nationally, internationally. The North Edinburgh project is looking to find women from the community who have ‘broken the mould’, and who will be featured in an Edinburgh wide publication.

We are trying to find out and learn more about local women of North Edinburgh, who did/ are doing amazing and remarkable things for their community and who we feel can inspire women and girls today and in the future. To do this we are discussing women from the North Edinburgh area who are or were engaged in a range of social and political campaigns, including women’s involvement in the recent Scottish Independence Referendum. Other areas of women’s activism that will be looked at are throughout the 20th century looking at the 1960s and 70s, the war years and the women’s suffrage movement.

At the moment we are chatting about what we mean by a women having ‘broken the mould’.

The group of women meet every Wednesday from 11 – 1pm in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. A free crèche is provided for participants’ children. Free Tea, coffee and biscuits are provided.

If you would like more information or to join the group please call Lynn McCabe at Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre on 552 5700 or Janette Bond, from the Workers’ Education Association on 225 2580.

Flyer B New Breaking the Mould NorthEd NEW

Women: ask Elaine anything at North Edinburgh Arts!

Actress and comedian Elaine C Smith will visit North Edinburgh Arts on Saturday at 11.30am to talk to women about the referendum, life, anything!

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Elaine is a commited YES supporter of course, so in the interests of balance we should point out that other voting options are available!

WOW! Helping women into work for 25 years

An Edinburgh charity that helps women prepare for work celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year. Women Onto Work (WOW) provides individual packages for women who are keen to get back to work, but don’t know where to start.

Its first project was in Wester Hailes in 1989 when it ran a training course for 10 women. Since then it has provided support for thousands of women across the city, from a wide range of backgrounds such as low skills and qualifications, returning to work after being a mum, or having confidence issues.

And there are places available now for women who are not in work and are thinking about finding a job.

Susan Watt, WOW’s chairperson, says: “We would love to hear from any women in Edinburgh who would like to know more about our service. Please get in touch.”

“WOW is open to every woman who feels she’s struggling to make her way in the job market and we can offer help with childcare and travelling expenses where required.

“We are the only gender based employability organisation in Scotland, but we are about so much more than just finding women jobs, we offer personal and professional support so that women can achieve their full potential.”

WOW’s services include one to one coaching with a wide range of activities and courses from personal development to an enterprise course aimed at women thinking about working for themselves. Its funders include the Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and the Big Lottery.

For more information check out WOW at www.womenontowork.org

Funding for Leith community group

Leith-based community project Saheliya has been awarded almost £43,000 after Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) secured funds from the Scottish Government’s Community Fund.

Saheliya will receive £42,482.00 over the next two years to provide learning activities to improve language and communications skills to over 90 ethnic minority women living in the North Edinburgh area. A number of PoLHA’s tenants use the service.

Mary Hastie Business Development Co-ordinator at Saheliya, said: “This funding is vitally important and allows us to reach out to women and young girls who are disengaged and feel disempowered and give them a voice. This money will allow us to provide vulnerable women with the confidence and skills needed to access additional services to support and encourage integration within the wider community.”

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive at PoLHA, said: “We are committed to supporting communities and creating a sense of purpose and belonging for our tenants. Saheliya is a fantastic initiative and I am delighted we have been able to support them through access to the Scottish Government’s Community Fund.”

SAHELIYA – a friend indeed

BME womens group Saheliya celebrate their twentieth birthday later this month. Saheliya is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘women friends’, and the project has been a true friend to many hundreds of women since it was established in July 1992.

Manager Alison Davis explains that, although some issues being encountered are changing, the need for the support service remains as great as it ever did:

“Since 1992 Saheliya has been providing support to BME women in Edinburgh who have mental well-being issues – mainly women who are not accessing mainstream services. During these twenty years the profile of our service users has changed: now our average service user has moderate to severe rather than mild to moderate mental well-being problems. Their problems relate mainly to experiences such as racism, Islamaphobia, honour violence, in-law abuse, forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking, torture and other organised violence. Compared to only 1% five years ago, presently 38% of our service users are from refugee communities. For eighteen years, we had only one case of FGM; we now have FGM survivors on waiting lists for our services.

“We provide a wide range of learning activities to sustain recovery and to maximize social and economic integration; this includes accredited childcare training with the potential of work experience placements in our childcare service.

“Through our therapeutic and case work support and because of our organisational focus, we are able to identify changes in the local demographic profile and in needs for specialist services that are not easily identified by mainstream agencies or generally acknowledged by BME community organisations. Our organisational statistics and our specially devised database and monitoring and evaluation systems enable us to map mental health support needs, prevalence of harmful cultural practices, and effective support packages. Saheliya is an important resource for mainstream policy makers and service providers in planning responses to population changes and for service delivery.

“We believe that our wrap-around services, move-on opportunities, and collection of statistics makes us an important organisation for Edinburgh and for Scotland as a whole if we are to ensure inclusive services and achieve integration.”

The organisation is holding a

20th Anniversary Celebration Stakeholders Event

on Thursday 15 November from 9.30am to 1.30pm

an opportunity to meet staff, learn about Saheliya’s work and participate in workshops.

For further information about the anniversary event, or about Saheliya’s range of services, telephone 556 9302 or email info@saheliya.co.uk