Owners
What it's all about
The SISTER'S project want to set a centre up for the empowerment of young women from minority groups in Birmingham. A small group of us (with almost all of us having a different background from European to Arab, Pakistani, Indian and English) found the seperation between all the 'faith groups' in Birmingham hard to see, since there are so many girls in need of a place where they can build a vibrant sisterhood network, develop their social and leadership skills, gain confidence and care for each other and promote an active role in the community.
There's literally no centre out there where young women from different backgrounds can come together to be empowered by informal activities such as workshops, training and out-door activities. The SISTER'S project is now urgently looking for a building to set the centre up (even if it's for 2 days a week to start) to support all the young women out there to benefit themselves and their environment.
What's needed to make it a reality
Firstly we just need a building! Preferably that can be ours to decorate into a homely, livingroom environment.
Comments
Thanks for posting up your idea to Junction49 - I'm loving the name! I'm Sarah from the Junction49 helpdesk and here to help you with anything you need to help turn your idea into reality.
You sound like you're already quite established - have you already run sessions or informal activities with all of your members or is this a completely new project you're hoping to establish? If you're just starting out, it might be worth seeing if you can trial it in a local community centre and see if you can have a regular time/slot where you can all meet and do stuff (when applying for funding for a centre of your own, this can really back up your case and provide the evidence you need to prove how worthwhile having your own centre is) Here's a link to a list of community centres in Birmingham which may be useful http://www.locallife.co.uk/Birmingham/commcentandhalls3.asp
You mentioned the city council, have you managed to speak to them out or got any help? They might be able to let you know what buildings are available and then you can look into applying for funding to rent/own the building and make it into your own place. The Junction49 helpdesk can then help you look for potential funding which you might be able to apply for.
There have a been a few other Junction49 ideas recently where Junction49ers are interested in setting up their own centres for various different things. I've provided the links to them below and it might be worth getting in touch to see if they can offer you any advice about how to go about finding a building based on their own experiences:
http://www.junction49.co.uk/idea/2193/community_centre/
http://www.junction49.co.uk/idea/2068/community_arts_centre/
http://www.junction49.co.uk/idea/1458/somali_women_s_support_centre/
http://www.junction49.co.uk/idea/2186/youth_cafe/
I hope that's useful. Let us know how we can help, especially with funding etc... Happy to answer any questions you might have.
Sarah
Junction49 Helpdesk
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I've just been having a look into some funding which you might be able to apply to for your project and have given you a few links below. They're all funds for the Birmingham area so definitely worth looking into. If you do want to apply to any and need some advice, then just let me know and I would be more than happy to help. One thing to consider though is it is probably worth calling them up first before you apply, so that you can make sure you're eligible for the funding and just sound out your idea. They might also be able to give you some hints and tips about what they are looking for in the applications and what to include in your application.
http://www.bhamfoundation.co.uk/how-to-receive/charles-henry-trust.html
http://www.bhamfoundation.co.uk/how-to-receive/esf.html
http://www.bhamfoundation.co.uk/how-to-receive/targeted-support-fund.html
I hope that's useful,
Sarah Report Abuse
We've been running in a building since april 2009, but unfortunately the building is not suitable anymore. We have an appointment with a part of the city council (External funding support) and with another organisation through the council that helps with project development.
Because we already runned in another building and there is so much positive attention for the activities we want to organise as well as sisters who want to be involved in the project, it would be best to have our own building. We are now fully looking into funding opportunities so we can start asap.
Activities will range from :
outdoor activities ( archery, horse riding, trips to the mountains) to personal develoment workshops ( leadership skills, confidence building, solving conflicts, character analysis) and informal workshops and training ( arts& craft, calligraphy, aromatherapy, cupping, nutrition, basic massage) and organising small events and facilities in the centre (drop-in sessions with counselling, young mother & toddler tea time & study circle, sister's dinners) and sports activities (kickboxing, dodgeball, weekly walks in B'ham nature scenary)
We will have an email list that sisters can sign into on the website www.sistersproject.co.uk
So basically we are really looking for our own centre!! Report Abuse
Wow this really does sound fantastic and it sounds like it's already been a huge success. Hopefully some of the funding above is suitable although it's probably not enough.
Just thought of another funding opportunity you could look into:
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_myplace.htm The closing date is Monday though so not long, but it's a lot of money up for grabs and would be well worth it.
Sarah Report Abuse
I am from the solihull sixth form college and we have a wide range of different faith groups in our college. If you want any advertising space at the college as many of our students are from birmingham let me know and i can organise that for you. Even if you just have a poster or something. Let me know, i am more than happy to help.
Cassie Report Abuse
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