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Jump to earlier posts: Low Pay – No Way! ~ Roxane Gay ~The Shine Project ~ Welcome From the Chair ~ Bridge the Gap Facilitators

Ramadan – an insight from the Inara Project

Our friends at the Inara Project are nearing the end of Ramadan and have shared their insights into this special month for the Muslim community. The Inara Project is a group of young Muslim Women who use the power of women to make big changes in local communities. Ramadan is a particularly busy month for them as they focus on the rewarding experience of charity and spirituality. Particular thanks go to Maryam for writing the piece below and Rajni for taking time out to talk with us.

“One month which every Muslim looks forward to is without a doubt the holy month of Ramadan. From an outside perspective no eating or drinking (yes, even water!) may seem scary but for Muslims around the year it is a time of spiritual peace. Historically, Ramadan is the month when the Holy Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammed (Peace Be Upon Him) and the month is still honoured to this day.

To prepare for Ramadan some Muslims may maintain a good diet beforehand to get ready for fasting and adopt good habits such as helping others and giving more charity than they usually would. Essentially, Ramadan fosters good habits and purifies the soul and one of the ways this is facilitated is through fasting- it is one of the 5 pillars of Islam and reminds Muslims to be thankful and remember the less fortunate who have to live without food all year long.

There are many parts of Ramadan that are worthy of mentioning; including the big feasts of food at sunset when the fast breaks and the visits to the mosque at night which brings the community together through worship of God. Of course, also the big Eid al-Fitr celebration which closes the month of Ramadan is a joyous occasion with many presents, festivities and food.

Near the end of Ramadan, women prepare for the last 10 nights, which are meant to be the most holy out of the whole month, by focusing specifically on their relationship with God. A night that is prominent is Laylat al-Qadr (The Night of Power) which is where Muslims do extra good deeds and hope that God forgives them of their sins. The last 10 days can feel very busy but it is honestly such a rewarding experience for every Muslim.

Ultimately, Ramadan is a gift to Muslims as it allows us to feel a close bond with God and practice good deeds which we try to continue for the rest of the year. The aim of Ramadan is to allow Muslims to grow closer with God and their loved ones. It is a reminder of our potential as people to do good in the community not only just for this month but for the whole year.”

Metamorphosis

A joyful celebration of art from a feminine perspective for International Women’s Day 2022

International Women’s Day 2022 encourages us to #BreakTheBias that creates inequality for Women. At Women’s Action Network Dorset (WAND) we fight inequality and bias by honouring Women through celebrating their strengths. That’s why we are excited to be collaborating with ‘Metamorphosis’ – a women’s art exhibition and music event in Bridport, which kicks off on Saturday 5^th March.

We are honoured that any profits raised are being donated to WAND. Read our interview below with the organisers – Weymouth College Fine Art students, Alice & Kathy – to find out more about them, their inspiration for the theme, and what attendees can expect at the event.

So – tell us a bit about yourselves

Alice: I live in Dorchester and have done most of my life. I am a mother of three strong loving children, and I decided to follow my dream and return to education. I started with foundation art and now I am studying a Contemporary Fine Art degree at Weymouth College.

Kathy: I have been living in Bridport for about 12 years now, and I really enjoy the creative feel of the place. I grew up in Bristol and spent many years on a houseboat, mostly on the Kennet & Avon canal near to Bath. I decided to go back into education and study my Art Foundation three years ago and have stayed on to take the foundation degree in Contemporary Fine Art. I had been working with children teaching art and outdoor skills for 20 years, so I felt it was time to fill my own creative well.

What does the Metamorphosis theme mean to you?

Alice: Metamorphosis means the ability to change and grow, and for me it speaks of an innate ability to change and adapt to the experiences of life. I feel that feminine energy is transformative – it is in our very nature to be fluid.

Kathy: For me it is about transformation, and the change we can perform on ourselves to help traverse or travel through life’s challenges. It’s about internal spaces – adapting one’s mind to think outside the box and embrace change. To seek help if we need it, to move on when we feel safe, and to take the next step when we’re ready. It involves seeking comfort and support from talking about our issues, and being prepared to go with the natural flow of life.

What do you create as individuals? What inspires this creativity?

Alice: I am inspired by protest art – how this gives a voice to marginalized communities, and how art can communicate socio political themes in a way that reaches out to everyone. I would describe myself as a conceptual artist, and sculpture and installation are how my work is translating currently. Art is a way for me to process my individual experiences but also translate others’ experiences of the world. Although I tend to explore difficult subjects and problems, the intention is of hope, freedom and finding solutions. Therefore, I create experiences which connect people through audience participation, and encourage the participants to question their perceptions. My work focuses strongly on alchemy – the transformation from one thing to another. Whether that be from concepts, deeper psychological issues or by exploring materials. I love to explore how varied materials behave and misbehave.

Kathy: I like to use a variety of media when making art, including painting, print mediums, photography, and film. I am inspired by stories, especially the untold ones, and looking into places that are overlooked – the darker side and the unseen aspects of life. My work includes a bit of Social Realism and Dada, and I like to find beauty in the unexpected.

Tell us about your own experience of ‘metamorphosis’ of getting back into education?

Alice: The process of returning to education has been quite a lot more than I expected. It has helped me grow in confidence on so many levels, with the wonderful friendships and connections I have made as a result. The college and the lecturers have offered such a supportive and enthusiastic environment that has really seen us all develop and grow – not only as artists but people. I 100% recommend anyone questioning their return to education, whether it be an evening course or something more involved. I really believe education is the key to freedom and transformation.

Kathy: Planning this event has been a new experience for me and so far been quite good fun, but the hard work is not over yet. Events use up a lot of your energy but can be a very rewarding experience. Alice and I spend a fair bit of time together travelling to college and back, plus recently a trip to London. We originally met about 4 years ago when I was still running a toddler group near Dorchester, and it was there I remember chatting to her about the foundation course. I have had some experience running music events, but this is a completely new venture. There are a lot of different people to bring together to make an interesting and successful evening, and together we make a great team.

What are you hoping attendees will get from Metamorphosis? What’s the vibe?

Metamorphosis will be a vibrant social evening with the feeling of celebration. We have all had a very strange last few years and it will finally feel like we can get together and support each other without restrictions in place. There will be a collection of local female artists, some internationally known and some emerging artists from college. We will also have music from a few musicians and an interactive choir for people to feel a sense of connection. The theme of Metamorphosis will hopefully hold together nicely and open up opportunities to network. We are also running a small bar with alcohol and soft drinks.

Where can we find more information and get tickets?

The opening night for Metamorphosis will take place at the Chapel in the Garden in Bridport between on 5^th March, running from 7pm-11pm. The art exhibition will then continue until Tuesday 8^th March. Tickets are available on Eventbrite, and you can also find out more information on Facebook.

WAND will be present with a stand on the opening night – please come and say hello to us! We look forward to seeing you and celebrating women’s creativity with you.

New Strategy – Why Change? Why Now? Why This?

Marianne Storey WAND Chair December 2021

Few people would disagree that the last two years have been difficult and that we’re not out of the woods yet by any means. And many women, certainly the ones I know, would probably agree that, despite some change afoot, there are still too many women experiencing inequality, discrimination, isolation and violence and many issues are being ignored or drowned out by other things in our society deemed to me more important.

The pandemic has hit everyone hard and there’s plenty of evidence that women have experienced an unequal impact. Disproportionately women are in low paid jobs that were lost or impacted by the slump in the economy, women are disproportionately experiencing violence, particularly in their own homes, they are disproportionately balancing home schooling, caring duties and work and women have been disproportionately carrying the ‘emotional load’ of project managing a family in a time of crisis.

There are more women than men working in the NHS, there are more women than men offering counselling and therapeutic or healing services. Women delivered babies without their partners, started periods without their classmates, managed menopause with a limited supply of knowledgeable doctors and hormone therapies and more young women made multiple attempts at ending their lives by suicide than the county has ever seen before.

Dorset has a much higher than average population of older women, and many of them are caring silently and unpaid for partners at a time when everything is online and they are not equipped to work with that. Women from Gypsy and Traveller communities are experiencing unprecedented racism and women in our rural communities have worse access to public transport networks, psychological support for them and their children and fewer childcare options than ever before.

Dorset is a county of inequality. The haves and the have nots, the urban and the rural, the East and the West, the resident and the visitor. Inequality of life expectancy is higher than average in Dorset and worse for women than men. Some of the richest people in the country have houses in Sandbanks whilst some of the worst 5% economically disadvantaged communities in the country are in Weymouth and Boscombe.

Women’s Action Network Dorset – I prefer the full title, it honours women by stating boldly the intent to take action, together – lovingly referred to by its volunteers and followers as WAND has played a variety of roles over the years. And for all the reasons I’ve touched on above, it is time for us to level-up and ride the wave of women rising. It is time for us to listen to, honour and provide allyship to ALL the lives of the women who live and work in this beautiful county but we are still experiencing inequality, violence, poverty, mental suffering and discrimination.

And so WAND has devised a new strategy and started to give itself an upgrade. We intend to update our constitution so that we are fit for the future and equipped to tackle all the ambitious tasks we have set ourselves. We have nailed down a clear vision, based on the recognition and celebration of the strengths of the women we are surrounded by. We have agreed on clear values that will guide us in the work that we do, and we have stated our intent to do three specific things.

We will listen and we will hear Women’s stories. We will learn from their experiences, and we will offer allyship to the issues that affect them.

We will honour Women by sharing their stories, by shining spotlights on their issues and by including all of them in our conversations.

We will create spaces for Women to rise – to heal if they need to, to grow if they want to and to connect in ways that benefit everyone.

We will do this together using our collective strengths and for the benefit of everyone.

I am thrilled to be taking up the role of Chair of WAND at this critical time of change and ambition. We have set ourselves a big challenge; but I am excited about the impact this will have, both with, and for, Dorset Women. I am fired-up to start to tackle the issues that women in this county face. The post-war, patriarchal society within which we have lived and worked is slowly changing. And I want to be part of a movement of Women who are empowered, equipped and ready to ride this wave of opportunity and to be part of creating the opportunities themselves.

So, will you join us? Will you #JoinOUrWANDJourney ? Read more on our page about ‘Getting Involved’ to find out how YOU can help. Start by following us on social media @DorsetWomen and me @WANDorsetChair . Take part in our #WANDThreeQuestions project and tell your friends and families about what we are doing. Any maybe, just maybe, we might inspire you to be even more involved in the New Year. We will have lots of exciting volunteering opportunities, a new company to construct, new networks to build, new partnerships to nurture and new funds to raise. There is lots to do and perhaps there’s a role there for you.

Marianne Storey

Women’s Action Network Dorset

Chair

December 2021

Bridge The Gap Facilitators

Personal & professional empowerment in Dorset

Our latest blog is from Rowan Hedley, co-founder of Bridging The Gap Facilitators. We thought that WAND supporters would want to hear about the support services on offer from this local company. Here Rowan introduces the facilitators, the company background and the types of services they offer. Contact information is at the end for anyone wishing to get in touch with them.

Bridge The Gap Facilitators Ltd is an organisation made up of three female presenting people, Sue, Rowan, and Jennie, working out of Weymouth. We facilitate personal and professional empowerment at reasonable rates.

Having worked together previously, in October 2020 we combined our respective skills and experience to support people in our local area and further afield, since video calls have been embraced. We facilitate people to work through issues that have traditionally been dealt with by expensive personal support or free one-size-fits-all approaches. We do neither. We provide a bespoke and highly flexible service at reduced costs.

All three facilitators are directors of the company; we have total control over the direction and integrity of Bridge The Gap Facilitators. We integrate intersectional anti-oppression and prioritise values of flexibility, feminism, anti-racism, anti-ableism, LGBTQIA+ pride, and respect for the individuals’ experience and actual needs.

Why is this important?

At Bridge The Gap Facilitators we know how challenging it can be to find appropriate, flexible, and affordable support particularly acknowledging women’s statistically lower incomes and female and non-binary specific challenges.

In the last 10 years lives have gotten harder, disproportionately for women. Societal pressures to maintain unpaid domestic and care labour whilst working for a salary often go unacknowledged.

We focus on realistic and aspirational growth, freedom, and achievement. Listening to women, acknowledging their challenges, and supporting you to achieve your resolution.

Who are the facilitators?

Rowan is part of the LGBTQIA+ community and uses they/them pronouns. They are neurodivergent and is a Law (hons) graduate from Bristol University. Since graduating they have worked with small business owners on their contracts, regulatory compliance including GDPR, and policy development. They have facilitated a successful cross-border debt recovery case; navigated financial recovery from dissolved companies, and is pursuing money judgment enforcement. Thanks to developing technology Rowan also engages with clients online.

Rowan builds accessible web design and social media profiles and facilitates others to enhance their online presence. They are an accomplished creative practitioner, writing and performing poetry, prose, and song in person and online. They deliver workshops on improvisation and writing poetry.

Rowan has extensive experience supporting people through benefits entitlement and claims. They choose to live and work in Weymouth, particularly enjoying cold open water swims.

Sue has enjoyed over 40 years experience of working with people, successfully improving their lives. She has delivered advice and guidance, learning, and business consultancy in many different contexts. Settings include: 3rd sector, corporate, FE and HE, compulsory and special education, prisons and probation, and residential including outdoor activities. Sue has worked with people of all ages from nursery to post retirement, locally, nationally and internationally, in small and large groups and 1-1.

In this time they have collected many qualifications that support the depth and breadth of their professional practice. These extend to vocational Level 5 and Masters Degree.

They have successfully supported people with a variety of specific and combinations of support needs. These needs include neurodivergence, learning disabilities, visual impairment, addiction, trauma, mental illness, and challenging behaviour. Sue uses she/they pronouns and continues to learn whenever and wherever she can.

Jennie has worked locally with young international students and adults for over 30 years. She continues this work with Sue as Homestay & Venture Breaks Ltd. In the spirit of expansion Jennie began her counselling journey to enhance the quality of service HS&VB were offering to all involved. She discovered her new vocation and last year completed her Level 4 qualification to become a fully qualified counsellor.

Jennie has explored bereavement counselling and the impact of nutrition on mental health. She is now pursuing accreditation in the use of art therapy. Jennie is a Person Centred counsellor and has counselled individuals 16+ for periods of 8 weeks to 2 years; face to face, online and on the telephone.

Jennie uses she/her pronouns. To support her own health and wellbeing Jennie walks her loyal black Labrador daily.

What do we do?

When you contact Bridge The Gap Facilitators we listen and ask clear and relevant questions to identify exactly what issues or challenges you are seeking to resolve. Your facilitator will work with you to achieve resolution or construct a clear action plan for you to engage with other agencies, organisations, or individuals.

Resolution looks different for different people. Your facilitator will work with you to establish exactly what resolution means to you.

How does it work?

Your first conversation with a facilitator is a free 30-minute triage assessment to establish the best route for you. If this is continuing with us, we will sign and establish our Service Relationship Agreement and privacy statement.

Each hour of facilitation, up to 8 hours (negotiable), costs £25, payable 48 hrs in advance. The content, duration, and number of sessions is entirely flexible and arranged between you and your facilitator. These sessions can be in person, on the phone, or video call. A longer-term service can be arranged and the cost reassessed. Your final session will be agreed between you and your facilitator.

Some successes

We facilitated a client to question the root of their anxiety and depression after many years of medication seeming the only option. We worked to uncover possible neurodivergence, which they are now exploring in tandem with their treatment.

A client requested support to submit their first self-employed tax return. We helped her understand the system she was stepping into and explore her future pension provision.

Another client came to us with an interpersonal conflict, which threatened to escalate. We supported them to identify the key issues and constructive strategies to address them.

Get in touch

Find out more at www.bridgethegapfacilitators.com. Contact numbers and a contact form are available on the website.

Low Pay – No Way!

Campaigning for women’s rights at work

26 May 2021

This month’s blog post comes from local campaigner and friend of WAND Jenny Lennon-Wood. Low pay and insecure work blight families across the county and we know these issues particularly impact on women. Jenny introduces Low Pay – No Way!, a local campaign for increased wages and justice at work.

Last year, a campaign was launched to tackle the low pay and insecure jobs that blight much of Dorset, leaving many families struggling to make ends meet. Low Pay – No Way! is campaigning for Dorset Council to pay its employees the Real Living Wage (currently £9.50 per hour) and take the lead to make Dorset a Living Wage County. As women are
among the worst affected by poverty pay, decreasing Dorset’s shocking 21% gender pay gap will certainly be a priority.

Many women in our county are employed in the key sectors of care, catering, retail and leisure, where wages remain stubbornly low. Such jobs are also insecure, causing women day-to-day anxiety that their work could cease and make necessities like a home, food, heating and clothing unaffordable. With women often taking a disproportionate role in
these family responsibilities, they may be going without meals so that their children can eat, or relying heavily on food banks. This dire situation will certainly have been made worse by the Covid pandemic.

The Low Pay – No Way! campaign is a joint initiative by the Dorset Trades Union Council (DTUC) and Weymouth and Portland Action on Wages (WeyPAW), with local union branches supporting community action. Our aim is to ensure that no Dorset workers earn less than the Real Living Wage, an independently calculated hourly rate based on what is
needed to afford the basic costs of living. Currently most employers pay, at best, the National Minimum Wage (£8.91 per hour, less for people aged under 25). Some “rogue” employers even fail to meet the legal requirement to pay the minimum wage and also to provide contracts, holiday pay and other in-work benefits. They must be made to comply
with the law.

Our campaign launch was immediately followed by lobbying a Dorset Council meeting and we seemed to be making some progress. Then the pandemic struck! Lockdown made meetings more difficult, both with our supporters and the Council. We continued to lobby and attracted some media coverage. At the Council’s online Annual Meeting in
September, we spoke against the ruling party’s proposal to reward its own councillors with “special responsibility allowances” of £10,000 a year while thousands of Council workers and others were struggling to make ends meet. Regrettably this was agreed, at an additional £60,000 cost to Council Tax payers.

More recently, we have been supporting local anti-poverty initiatives like the successful campaign against the government’s decision to stop providing school meals for the nation’s poorest children during the school holidays. We also joined the TUC’s mass lobby of MPs, inviting them to an online meeting to hear local key workers’ stories of their Covid crisis experiences – disappointingly, Dorset MPs declined the invitation. Through DTUC, we have joined with other trades union councils to run an online event to enable key workers to share their concerns and seek union support.

We have also been actively supporting the campaigns for fair pay for NHS and public sector workers. Low Pay – No Way! will continue to urge Dorset Council to take our Real Living Wage proposals seriously as they would help to lift local families out of the poverty that has been exacerbated by the Covid crisis. Cornwall Council and Bristol City Council have shown the way by guaranteeing the Real Living Wage for all employees and all those employed on contracts issued by the two councils. Low Pay – No Way! believes Dorset Council can, and must, do the same.

Low Pay – Now Way! would welcome your support

• Contact Jenny Lennon-Wood to join the mailing list: rodent.major@btopenworld.com
• Visit the Low Pay – No Way! website to find out more

Roxane Gay: the “Bad Feminist” and LGBT+ Icon

January 30 2021

With our first Virtual Book Club approaching, Julie gives us a little intro into Roxane Gay’s book of essays……

The UK LGBT+ History Month is coming up in February with the theme of ‘Body, Mind, Spirit’. The overall aim of LGBT+ History Month is to promote equality and diversity for the benefit of the public.

This is done by increasing the visibility of the LGBT+ people, their history, lives and their experiences; raising awareness and advancing education on matters affecting the LGBT+ community; working to make educational and other institutions safe spaces for all LGBT+ communities and by promoting the welfare of LGBT+ people, and by ensuring that the education system recognises and enables LGBT+ people to achieve their full potential, so they contribute fully to society and lead fulfilled lives, thus benefiting society as a result.

WAND is launching a programme of online events in 2021, and for our first Book Club in February we have selected Roxane Gay as our author.

Roxane is an American writer, professor, editor and social commentator. She is also bisexual and much of her written work deals with the analysis and deconstruction of feminist and racial issues through the lens of her personal experiences with issue of race, gender identity and sexuality. We will read her collection of essays in ‘Bad Feminist’, a New York Times best seller where Roxane writes about politics, the state of feminism today and her own personal evolution and experiences.

The book is split into 5 sections: in part 1 Roxane writes about her identity as a black woman. Part 2 focusses on issues of gender, equality and sexual violence referencing modern culture such as Sweet Valley High, Fifty Shades of Grey, and Girls among others. In this section she also writes about LGBT+ rights and ongoing discrimination experienced by LGBT+ people.

Part 3 covers race and entertainment, critiquing such films as Django Unchained, 12 Years A Slave and The Help. In Part 4, the essays connect the subjects of gender, race and politics. The final section comprises of two essays which act as a conclusion to Roxane’s belief that she is a ‘Bad Feminist’ – she believes in gender equality but does not always feel allied to ‘mainstream’ feminism.

It’s not even about feminism per se, it’s about humanity and empathy

Roxane Gay

In a 2014 interview with Time Magazine, Roxane explained her role as a feminist and how it has influenced her writing and said “in each of these essays, I’m very much trying to show how feminism influences my life for better or worse. It just shows what it’s like to move through the world as a woman. It’s not even about feminism per se, it’s about humanity and empathy”.

Roxane has also won multiple awards for her writing – in 2015, she was named winner of PEN USA’s Freedom to Write award, a prize that goes to individuals who have “demonstrated exceptional courage in the defence of free expression”.

Our first book club meeting is on 17th February and we look forward to welcoming you all to discuss these wonderful, thought-provoking essays. You can find more information and sign up here.

Julie, WAND committee member

Introducing the Shine Project

21 January 2021

This year, WAND has chosen to fundraise for the Shine Project. Here Anne Clarkson from Shine introduces their amazing work…

In 2006 a student on her gap year was working as an outreach youth worker for young people on the Townsend Estate. She met a girl of 13 who had had an abortion and been given the contraceptive implant. This experience inspired her to put together a course for young teenage girls, helping to improve self-esteem and confidence therefore reducing the level of risky behaviour that young people would engage in.

13 years on The Shine Project has developed using student steering groups and service user feedback into a comprehensive course, covering areas in physical and mental health whilst retaining its focus on teenage girls. Shine currently has 28 schools and youth work organisations on its books and runs 18 courses per year and large-scale health and wellbeing events.

Through the provision of an 8-week course Shine provides students the opportunity to explore subjects closely related to their physical and mental health, in small groups of up to 12 people. The course covers areas in self-acceptance, flaws of the media, healthy relationships, positive communication, respect, bullying, management of social media, healthy eating, the benefits of exercise, management of strong emotions and identifying skills, talents, and aspirations. Each session is between 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours and includes practical activities ranging from self-care to role play, arts and crafts, mindfulness, and exercise classes. All activities have been carefully selected to encourage the students to build friendships, embed the knowledge gained in discussion times, help the students engage in activities promoting their physical and mental health and/or build healthy coping mechanisms developing their emotional resilience.

Shine also runs health and wellbeing events. This larger scale event is designed to inspire the students to think positively about themselves, encourage good physical and mental health and signpost the varied supportive resources available to them. On average there are over 20 different charities and organisations with stands and 4-5 workshops for the students to partake in.  In February 2019 we had an amazing inspirational speaker talking about the challenges of trekking across the artic, included workshops in dance and exercise, a choir and skincare advice.  Each year has been successful with over 300 students attending from 16 different schools across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. We hope to continue once restrictions are lifted.

The Shine Project provides early intervention support for female students aged 11-14 regardless of race, religion or economic background. Our young people come from all walks of life, we work in schools in poor socio-economic areas and in Grammar schools, schools for young people with learning disabilities or schools that have young people that have been excluded from mainstream education. What is obvious to us is that no one group is immune to the ever-growing mental health issues that our young people are facing. Poor mental health may manifest in different ways according to the groups but it appears to be an ever present and growing concern.

Having worked with over 2000 students over the last 13 years, the Shine Project workers have witnessed a steady increase in mental health issues, most specifically in anxiety and depression. Many of the partners we work with are also extremely concerned. According to the Department of Education more than one in three teen girls suffer from anxiety or depression. The students themselves tell us that they feel immense pressure both in how they appear and how they achieve academically.  Low levels of wellbeing in young people means they can become socially isolated, academic standards fall; they are less likely to pursue their goals. The risk of self-harm, eating disorders and substance abuse increases. All of these symptoms can mean that a young person will not be able to achieve their full potential moving forward into adulthood, and for some it begins a lifetime of poor physical and mental health.

We are now starting to see the impact of a worldwide pandemic on our young people’s physical and mental health. Physically young people are not able to engage in their usual sport activities, leading to a more sedentary lifestyle. Mentally, so far in Shine we have seen anxiety levels increase. Young people have been scared by the thought of loved ones dying or threat to their own safety, they have retreated into themselves becoming less socially confident and increasing their social media usage dramatically. Fear can have a powerful effect on a young mind, and we think the outworkings of this pandemic on young people’s mental health will be seen for many years to come. Shine now offers both online courses and socially distanced courses to help as an early intervention which gives them the opportunity to explore their concerns in a safe space, helping them to rebuild their confidence and start again.

“At the beginning of Shine, I was quiet. Now I feel more sociable, I am more out there and able to have fun. My teachers said that at the beginning of the school year I was quiet but now I contribute more in class and am more confident.”

Shine Online student

Using data and the written and verbal feedback from Shine students, teachers, youth workers, parents, and carers we can evidence that the Shine course helps students to:

•          Understand the value of themselves and others

•          Build new friendships

•          Recognise their skills, talents, and unique beauty

•          Improve their knowledge and implement healthy habits around food and exercise

•          Communicate effectively

•          Believe in their own decision making

•          Increase their confidence and happiness

In addition to these immediate benefits they have been given the knowledge of good practice for maintaining positive levels of wellbeing. This includes implementing healthy coping mechanisms and an awareness of emotional resilience. A final report highlights areas of development for each student that can be taken on by our partner organisations to help support each student moving forward. The Shine course offers an immediate support to those experiencing the early signs of poor physical or mental health, but the effects can have a long-term positive impact on that young person helping them to become emotionally and physically stronger.

The demand for Shine is increasing. Many of our partners see The Shine Project as a crucial preventative service for students that would otherwise receive no intervention until their situation had seriously deteriorated. With the support of WAND, we will be able to continue to offer these vulnerable young women the opportunity to attend Shine and develop the skillsets and resources to maintain good physical and mental health, providing a firm foundation with which to achieve a successful and happy future.

Anne Clarkson – Lead Co-ordinator of the Shine Project

Visit the Shine Project website to learn more about their work.

A welcome from the Chair

13 January 2021

For our first post, Laura, the Chair of WAND is here to introduce herself, the organisation and our plans for 2021. We welcome guest bloggers – if you’ve got a particular issue or viewpoint you’d like to share here please get in touch.

Welcome, reader, to the first blog post hosted by Women’s Action Network Dorset. To get us started, I’d like to give an overview of what WAND is, what we’ve been up to lately and our plans for 2021.

I’ll begin with some background – WAND is a community voluntary organisation in Dorset, that began its journey back in 2006. In its early years the organisation was council-funded, and has continued to remain firmly rooted within the local community. WAND operates with three key aims:

Social WAND – facilitating events and activities where women in Dorset can meet each other and socialise

Serious WAND – raising awareness of issues affecting women’s wellbeing and supporting organisations aligned to women’s issues

Historically, WAND has achieved these aims with a variety of lively events and fundraising for local women’s organisations – these have included Reclaim the Night marches and the incredible Dorset Women’s Day. We have raised money for organisations that do life-saving work with women who have experienced abuse and sexual violence, from Dorset and beyond.

In 2019, some of our long-standing, wonderful committee members decided to step down due to other commitments. A new(ish!) committee decided to take up the mantle of WAND, as they felt WAND could still make a difference in the local community. However, with only 3 members, the group’s capacity was limited – and then coronavirus hit.

The coronavirus pandemic has of course rocked the whole world, but we know that women and girls have been disproportionately impacted. Women in the UK, for example, are shouldering the burden of increased childcare and other unpaid labour, potentially at the expense of their own careers. Lockdowns have also meant that many women have become trapped with violent, abusive partners at home – deeply troubling statistics show increases in domestic violence incidents, and domestic abuse hotlines have reported a sharp rises in demand for their services. With this context in mind, we feel that it has never been more important for all of us to do what we can to supportwomen – even seemingly small actions can truly have a big impact.

Although the coronavirus threw a significant spanner in the works, there were still some exciting developments for WAND in 2020 – to mark International Women’s Day, we carried out some research into what was important to local women with the wonderful Dorchester Feminist Group (the full research report will be available soon).We also: hosted a couple of “bring & share” events; printed cards for young women about healthy relationships to give out in schools; refreshed our website; and maintained our online network by sharing information we felt would be of interest to local women.

In autumn 2020, we also expanded our committee up to 7 members (on a personal note, these women are all brilliant and I’m really pleased to be working with them!). You may have met them already if you attended our AGM, but if not, hopefully you’ll will get to do so at an event soon. This is a very exciting time for WAND, as we now have more capacity to host events, even though the format of WAND’s events will be different to how they have been run in the past. To protect our community from the risk of coronavirus transmission, our events are likely to take place virtually for the foreseeable future.

We will be hosting monthly events via Zoom, starting this January – you may have already seen that we will be hosting an open public meeting on January 20^th at 7pm (full details available on our website and Facebook page). Then from February, we will be hosting alternate book clubs and listening circles – you can find our book club event on February 17^thhere (we’ll be discussing “Bad Feminist” by Roxane Gay), with details of our first listening circle event TBC. We’re really looking forward to these as a way of connecting women, sharing experiences, supporting one another, and hopefully even finding a bit of joy throughout these challenging times.

Our new committee have also been having discussions about how we can support young women in Dorset, and so we have decided to fundraise for the marvellous Shine Project this year. They do some incredible work to build the confidence and self-esteem of teen girls across Dorset, and so we will be asking that attendees of our online events make a small voluntary donation to them (if they are able to do so).

So that’s us and our plans! The one last thing I wanted to mention was this new blog – we’dabsolutely love to have guest contributors to this, to provide some really interesting content relevant to women’s issues and experiences. If you’ve got an idea for something you would like to write for us, then please get in touch via wanddorset@gmail.com and we will give you some more information.

Hopefully hear from you soon or see you at one of our upcoming events!

Warmest of regards,

Laura

WAND Chair