A new fund has been launched offering grants of up to £10,000 for groups working with women facing adversity.

The WREN (Women Rising Enabling Neighbourhoods) grant programme offers grassroots organisations providing support to women the opportunity to train them as community champions. It will provide free training and qualifications to upskill volunteers so they can offer professional advice around things like housing, debt, substance misuse and domestic abuse to women in their community.

Funded through the Government’s Tampon Tax Fund, the aim is to empower the women to inspire and create positive change in other women now going through similar issues. WREN is aimed at all grassroots organisations such as community groups, parish councils, small charities and social enterprises.  It will work in King’s Lynn, Great Yarmouth and Margate, offering grants to 15 organisations and create 135 community champions across these areas.

St Giles East of England Manager Clare Bradley said:

40% of the staff at St Giles are made up of people who have first-hand experience of the issues now facing the people they support.  Having ‘been there’ themselves they are a powerful, positive role model to others. We want to extend the benefits of this approach to other organisations working in Norfolk and open up routes for people to gain support and professional skills that change their lives and the lives of others.

94% of organisations working with St Giles who have adopted this approach say that it met or exceeded their expectations. People who were being supported by someone who shared the same experiences as them had their chances of finding employment boosted from 24% to 44%.

To find out more about WREN and how to apply for a grant email wren@stgilestrust.org.uk

Find out more about St Giles’s work in the East of England here.