Women who have never had their own incomes are being offered the prospect of financial independence, thanks to the Evening Standard’s award-winning Dispossessed Fund.
The Women’s Empowerment Project in Sutton has received a grant of £18,540 to help more than 20 mainly African mothers get onto training courses in childcare and catering which will help them to set up their own businesses. They will also receive financial advice and administrative help.
Kau Belleh, chairwoman of the project, said: “This grant has allowed us to get a new project off the ground. Some of the women have never had a job and don’t have skills or much confidence. They can be socially isolated and that often leads to depression and other problems, particularly if there are also language problems.
“We will organise them into consortiums so they can open businesses together and support each other.”
Figures released this year by the Office for National Statistics showed that London was the worst place in Britain for women, particularly for those from ethnic minorities. In some areas, up to 40 per cent of women from ethnic minorities live in poverty.
An all-party Parliamentary group is investigating why one in five black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women is unemployed compared with one in 14 white women.
The Dispossessed Fund stands at £8.3 million, thanks to the huge generosity of Evening Standard readers and a £1 million donation from Sport Relief, with scores of charities around London benefiting from grants.
