Womenzone Spring 2011 edition pdf - St. Paul's Community Trust

Including Women
Quarterly
Newsletter
Vol 1 No 14
Spring 2011
womenzone
INCLUDING WOMEN! is a network organisation which links community groups with women
members. The aim is to consider how issues which especially affect women and their
families can be tackled, and to support groups seeking to make improvements. Examples
of such issues are: domestic violence; poor access to midwifery services, and barriers to
employment. In relation to these and other problems, Including Women! brings groups
together to explore possible solutions.
Celebrating
100 years of
International
Women’s Day
8th March
10am – 2pm
This Years Theme is “Inclusion”
Come join us for a day of fun and pampering.
Guest Speaker
Awards to Community women
Stalls
Free hot lunch
Entertainment
Mehndi & Lots more
Creche (booked in advance only)
Balsall Heath Church Centre
100 Mary Street, Balsall Heath, B12 9JU.
Contact and Creche bookings:
Hafizun: 0121 464 8742 - Elsie: 07815308180
Most women are now aware that March 8th is
International Women’s Day, one day in the year
when we celebrate being women and look back
at the what we have achieved.
So where did it come from and what does it really
mean? International Women’s Day came about
due to several events in history, it symbolises the
long public struggle for women’s rights as well
as the more private struggle waged everyday
by women. Over the years, women have used
International Women’s
Day as a day to take
to the streets to protest
at issues that affect them
as well as holding events
to celebrate our collective
achievements.
Women’s political struggle during the
early 20th century was the catalyst
for the day with protests over working
conditions being held and women’s
unions being set up to challenge
poor working conditions and child
labour. At the time, Industry was
flourishing and women found
themselves working for low wages
in unsafe conditions. In a garment
factory in New York, fire swept
through the building killing over 140
workers, most of whom were young
immigrant girls, all because of the lack of health
and safety measures. The same year women took
to the streets and marched, they demanded
better working conditions and were subsequently
beaten up by the Police. They continued with
their protests and set up the Women’s Trade Union
League and the International Ladies’ Garment
Workers Union. Women had formalised their
struggle against poor working conditions in the US.
Women’s day became International Women’s
Day in 1911 at an International Conference of
Working Women, over 100 women attended
from 17 different countries. The following year
more than 1 million people attended marches to
protest for basic rights for women, and 100 years
later the day remains as important now as it was
then.
So why do we still need it? We have the Equal Pay
Act and the Sex Discrimination Act, laws have
been passed that protect women from being
treated differently especially in the workplace.
.....continued on page 2
Including Women! c/o St. Paul’s Community Development Trust, Hertford Street,
Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12 8NJ. Charity No.1109317 Company No. 4860499

.....continued from the front page.
But despite the laws giving an impression of
equality, the reality is very different:
Statistics show that we are a long way off
achieving equality in the workplace, for instance
women’s average full-time weekly earnings
are 72% of men’s, the average weekly income
from all sources (benefits, wages, pensions etc)
of women aged 30 to 70 is less than half that of
men in the same age range. Women from ethnic
minorities come out worst with Black African,
Pakistani and Bangladeshi women being at least
three times more likely to be unemployed than
white women.
In government we have 505 male MP’s and only
140 women MP’s. Women from ethnic minorities
are even less represented.
Women own around only 1% of the world’s land.
Violence against women is an issue that women
have been campaigning against for years, yet
there are still 2 women a week murdered as a
result of domestic violence. It is estimated that
over 50% of women refugee and asylum seekers
in the UK, are fleeing rape - mostly perpetrated by
soldiers, police or agents of the state.
Women’s bodies are used as objects to sell
products, images of women are airbrushed
and placed on bill boards in prominent places
conveying messages that as women we should
be aspiring to look like them. The beauty industry
is one of the richest industries in the world making
Balsall Heath
Church Centre
By Gloria Wilson
The Day Care and Visiting Service at Balsall Heath
Church Centre has been offering high quality support
for over 20 years with trained and experienced staff
who provide for the needs of the elderly and the frail.
We are now faced with the Big Society and with
that has come big funding cuts and reductions in
spending.
Mary Street Church Centre is based in the heart of
the community in Balsall Heath and is now looking
at getting new funding. As a consequence the
Centre is now trying very hard to raise funds to keep
its valued and much needed services going in the
community.
The day care service provides the elderly with the
chance to meet friends and socialise outside of
money out of the feelings of inadequacy it
projects onto women. Research has shown that
two out of five women would trade three to five
years of their life to achieve the ‘perfect’ body.
So even with the achievements over the past
century there is much to do. And now the
government intends to take some of those gains
away from us through the planned cuts to public
services which will affect us disproportionately to
men. Services to support women experiencing
domestic violence have received devastating
cuts in their funding. Women workers make up the
majority of public sector workers, redundancies
will therefore result in more women losing their
jobs than men. 70% of the savings made for the
Government from the cuts will be taken from
women either in reduced services of wages lost.
The reduction in children’s Centres will leave
more women isolated and vulnerable, the most
hard to reach will become the harder to reach.
Women will be the hardest hit.
International Women’s Day is as relevant now as
it was over 100 years ago, March 8th 2011 signals
a century of women’s achievements but also the
onset of more battles. This year on March 5th,
London will see thousands of women taking to
the streets to join the Million Women Rise March
to continue the struggle for women’s rights.
“you can tread me in this very dirt, but still, like
dust, I’ll rise.”
Maya Angelou, poet, educator.
Kathryn Day
their homes. Through providing quality meals and
snacks and a takeaway food service the elderly can
be further assured of wholesome nutritious meals
throughout the year. For those who need help in
accessing the Centre a transport service with a tail
lift for wheelchairs is available. As well as socialising
clients can make use of the quiet room and the
book lending service.
A varied range of activities are on offer to suit all
tastes with the service Centre being open to men
and women of all races and faiths. Advice and
counselling are available for those who need
additional support and visiting professionals offer
chiropody, hairdressing and keep fit.
A recent visit by a voluntary sector development
agency worker from St. Paul’s Community
Development Trust provided staff and volunteers at
the Centre with advice on the few funding streams
available in this sector. Staff are now completing
applications for further funding but are still looking for
other sources of income. If you would like to make
a donation to help the elderly who use this service
then please contact the Centre on 0121 440 1138.

Making a Start
‘’My most helpful experience today was all the
job related information I got in such a good
environment’’ states one attendee on the
evaluation form.
The environment he is referring to is the first Jobs
Fair event staged by the Way Ahead project at
St Paul’s Community Development Trust.
January 17th saw the Balsall Heath Initiative
C e n t r e
transformed
in to a hub
for recruiters,
t r a i n i n g
p r o v i d e r s ,
t h o s e
searching for
work or those
just curious as
to what a new
start in 2011
could look
like. Recruiters
lined the walls
around the
hall as over 40
eager people
in three
hours filtered
through the stands, choosing to sit and sign up
for jobs with the Census 2011 team or apply for
training opportunities with The West Midlands
Creative Alliance. JHP training offered 16-25 year
olds in the room a chance to join one of their
courses to improve literacy and numeracy skills
whilst gaining national recognised qualifications.
Midland Heart were on hand to talk through their
vacancies working within a housing association
or simply answering questions that local residents
had. Ashok Patel from Midland Heart had this to
say on the day’s events.
‘’I’ve found today to be well organised and I
was extremely impressed with the turnout. It has
been great to network with other organisations
and talk to the people coming through the door.
This has really inspired me to work more with the
Way Ahead project and I feel that local business
should have a go to.’’
The jobs fair began as a response to the number
of young people the Way Ahead project were
encountering who were finding it hard to reach
employers in a market saturated with people
looking for new employment.
‘’ We decided to bring the employers and the
training providers to Balsall Heath’’ Tibs, one of
the projects youth workers tells me.
‘’With youth unemployment rising, we are finding
more and more young people are struggling to
get their first step on the ladder. The Way Ahead
project aims to help young people gain the
skills and qualifications needed to compete in a
tough jobs market. We wanted the jobs fair to
be a one stop shop where people could come
find out about local vacancies, talk to Balsall
Heath Children’s Centre family support about
c h i l d c a r e ,
grasp an
idea of what
courses are
a v a i l a b l e
and meet
other people
in the same
situation in a
comfortable
way.’’
So what do
the people
the jobs fair
is aimed at
have to say
about the
event.
‘’I’ve found some good jobs to apply for and I
feel more confident in talking to the recruiters
now’’ Mr Bashir informs me.
Another feels like shes ‘’done something positive
with the day and it’s helped me think about the
opportunities that are still available, I don’t need
to be so negative about things, there is still lots I
could do’’.
Whilst a Jobs Fair is no new concept, local action
by local people shows what can be achieved
when people work together. St Paul’s Community
Development Trust is committed to ensuring all
those in Balsall Heath and the surrounding areas
have access to opportunities that could better
themselves and the community.
With new contacts made, jobs applied for,
training dates arranged and positive feedback
from the day, it’s only a matter of time before
it all happens again, and this time more people
will know about it.

What
women think
By Gloria Wilson
With services losing their funding or reducing
their funding I talked to some residents in Balsall
Heath about how their councillors can help
them with the present worries about services.
At first I asked the group what they think the
councillors could do for them and got a range
of answer from people.
One woman who said she lives off Clifton
Road commented that young people were
kicking footballs against the doors of resident’s
homes. The residents got together to talk to
their councillor about the anti social behaviour
and they found a way to tackle it. This lady was
satisfied with her Councillor.
I talked to another resident of Balsall Heath who
lives off the bottom of Edward Road and who
said her councillor had had a part to play in
helping to improve play and youth facilities for
her sons and young people in the area.
A resident from Ladypool Road said that she
would like councillors to be looking to do a lot for
the area with the emphasis on employment and
encouraging business to come to the area and
employ local people. She went on to talk about
the frustration of trying to get things done - for
example how many meetings and forms you
had to fill in before anyone took notice. She also
talked about abandoned buildings within the
neighbourhood, which the council could offer
to small businesses to get started.
Another resident who lives on the Moseley Road
complained about the cars that are parked
on the pavement, “…because of that people
can’t even walk safely on the pavement. This is
very dangerous for the elderly or young children
because they would have to walk around the
cars. Or when they are driving on the pavement,
you feel that they could get knocked down.
You’ve got no way to walk on. It’s ridiculous and
no one is doing anything”.
I also asked them if they think their councillors
could change things to do with present services
being cut or reduced. All the residents were
very negative and were very frustrated by this.
I talked about how youth services will be cut and
one resident with sons expressed disappointment
because she likes her sons to have something do
in the evening. She said she is already paying for
boxing and football training and wanted them to
be able to do other things in the neighbourhood.
This resident said that trying to find play and youth
facilities for her sons was causing her a great
amount stress because of her lack of finance.
All in all – lots for councillors to work on……no
redundancies there!
Social
Enterprise
Mark
Birmingham based Saheli Women’s Group
has been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark,
which identifies them as trading for social and
environmental purposes.
The Social Enterprise Mark is the brand for social
enterprises and was launched 1st February, 2010.
The Mark identifies businesses which meet defined
criteria for social enterprise, and consumers will
recognise that businesses displaying the Mark are
trading to benefit people and planet.
Saheli joins other ethical businesses that have been
recognised by being awarded the Mark such as
the Age UK, Eden Project, Big Issue, the Phone
Coop and the Co-operative Group. The Social
Enterprise Mark builds off the pilot run by RISE, the
voice for South West social enterprise.
Government data estimates that there are 62,000
social enterprises across the UK, contributing £24
billion to the economy and employing around
800,000 people.
Recent research found that social enterprises
are twice as confident of growth compared to
typical small to medium enterprises (SMEs), with
48% of social enterprises saying they are positive
about the future as opposed to just 24% of SMEs
(The Social Enterprise Coalition’s State of Social
Enterprise Survey, 2009).
Social enterprises are working to make a difference
across the UK and beyond, but not enough people
know what they are or how they work. The Social
Enterprise Mark aims to raise awareness of what
social enterprises do in order to get more people
to buy from, engage with, start up and work for
social enterprises.

Naseem Akhtar, Saheli Project
Manager said, “we’re really
proud to have been awarded
the Social Enterprise Mark. Saheli
is absolutely committed to
supporting sustainable businesses
and consequently helping local
communities to thrive and prosper”.
‘Saheli’ means ‘a friend’ - dedicated to improving
community health and wellbeing by providing
innovative services and solutions that educate,
motivates, inspires and empowers. Saheli are a
growing social enterprise supported by Young
Foundation, a centre for social innovation
that brings together insights, innovation and
entrepreneurship to meet social needs.
10 Best Foods For Women
by Embreen Idrees
Women who are the exemplary balancing act queens.
These are the people who, more often than not, somehow
manage to get the kids off to school in the morning
and figure out a congestion and the school run, after
school activity schedule, cook dinner help the children
with their homework, get them to bed before even taking
a minute to herself she become’s the amazing wife,
the only time she gets to herself is when she sleeps. To
stay sane and manage her busy daily grind, women
need to eat right.
10. Bean There, Done That
Beans should be included in everyone’s diet -- they’re
nutritious, low in fat and are cheap to boot and most
importantly full of fibre.
9. Kale to the Womanhood
Kale is an often-overlooked vegetable that is positively
loaded with folate, an important B vitamin for women.
8. Beta Sight
Those orange squashes (and tubers) like pumpkin, butternut
squash and sweet potatoes are like diamonds a
girls best friend. Beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin
A, is just screaming to get out and work its antioxidant
magic on your body.
7. Fanc Flax
Flax seeds and flax seed oil have so much to offer women.
flax is full of Omega 3 fatty acids (EFA’s) which may
help protect a woman from heart disease (the leading
Lucy Findlay, Managing Director,
Social Enterprise Mark Company,
advised:
“We are delighted to award the
prestigious Social Enterprise Mark
to Saheli..With more and more
opportunities opening up every
day for social enterprises to deliver
health services, the Social Enterprise
Mark has an important role to play
in helping people understand when their health
provider is genuinely socially motivated. The Social
Enterprise Mark will be available across the country
and we hope it’s as successful as Fairtrade, in
helping people buy in a more ethical way.”
cause of premature death among women) and the
pain of arthritis. The fiber in flax is due to lignans, an important
type of fiber especially for women.
6. Iron The Creases
Women need to eat more iron-rich foods. Lean red
meats and dark poultry, as well as lentils.
5. Oh Soy!
Phytoestrogen-rich soybeans can help a woman significantly
lower her bad cholesterol (LDL) and raise the
good (HDL) cholesterol. Tofu is a great way to get soy
protein. You can use it in place of ricotta cheese in a
lasagna.
4. Water
Water is a nutrient and we need plenty of it. Water
keeps the fat awaysimple. Water may be one of the
best ways in weight loss.
3. Broccoli Power!
Broccoli is a fabulous source of calcium and contains
other important nutrients like potassium and a good
smattering of B vitamins, too.
2. Chalk up the Calcium
The RDA is 800 milligrams a day, but some experts say
that isn’t enough and it should be more like 1,200 to 1,500
milligrams a day. When you take into consideration the
epidemic of osteoporosis among older women.
1. Something’s Fishy Here!
Omega 3 EFA’s, evident in salmon. Salmon is also high
in protein, low in cholesterol and contains quite a few B
vitamins, calcium, zinc, iron and magnesium.

By Brooke Akwah
WAGS
back boundaries, and ensuring women have a range
of new opportunities. We also have a small canal
boat & plan to encourage some of our women to
take to the water in the spring!
SCAWDI are currently running a series of highly
enjoyable sporting programmes & ‘taster’ sessions
through its ‘WAGS’ (Women and Girls Sports) initiative.
It’s a direct challenge to local women and girls to step
up and enjoy a wide range of completely different
activities - perhaps something you never thought of
doing!
These range from boating & sailing, indoor climbing, to
skiing & tobogganing! It could be cycling in the Forest
of Dean to enjoying tennis.
We recently introduced a series of ‘Cricket Taster
sessions’ and such has been the enthusiasm for it that
we hope to develop our own club. Our coaches are
women who are passionate about the sport, and
what better time to start than now - right at the start
of the season.
Our staff are very open to new ideas & believe in
widening participation as widely as possible, pushing
Women must
volunteer in the
developing world!
By Dina Choudhury
There is no such thing as the protected woman;
in reality women in the developing world are
battling the pain of poverty working backbreaking
hours in a factory or field whilst caring
for their usually large families. Add a natural
disaster to the sweating toil to equal a frightening
tragedy beyond our homely lifestyles in the
UK. The poor in Pakistan exist on a thin string
everyday. With the thrashing floods of July 2010
affecting 20 million people, countless villagers
drowned and died a horrendous death.
Sabiha Teladia volunteers in Birmingham with
In addition to sports & recreation, SCAWDI offer a
range of other activities: local community classes in a
wide range of community crafts: making handbags,
corsages, jewellery, rugs - the sort of stuff that cottage
industries are made of! We are in the process of
creating some exciting employment opportunities for
local women.
SCAWDI are currently developing a programme
around Women & Mental Health. We are looking at
ways to prevent & avoid many women sliding down
the slippery slope, through increasing pressures placed
on them; as women are the key drivers of family, it is
more critical than ever that we support women when
the first cracks begin to appear; better still, to take
preventive measures and avoid those cracks in the
first place.
Studies are currently underway and we hope to have
some good news in the near future! If you would like
to get involved in any of the SCAWDI projects, please
contact us on 0121 440 7778.
the charity Muslim Hands. Having returned from
Pakistan her truncated media viewing of the
flooding 6 months ago was a faint prelude to her
current eyewitness record.
“Outside the tents were animals scattered about,
children had no shoes with cow dung and mud
marks between their toes. I had no idea where
they used the toilet, there was nothing in sight.

The women came rushing when they saw us
unloading blankets, sadly there were not enough
blankets for every family, they were distributed
by a ticket system prioritising the most desperate.
It hit me when I fed drops of polio medicine to
a line of babies. There was a local villager with
a missing leg via polio; it only takes 2 drops of
affordable medicine to sort it out. The homes in
Peshawar had no light at all, everything was very
dim, cold and the UN tents for schooling children
were so crammed and hot. I saw the left over
flood marking - the water rose up to 3 or 4
metres- and the house were broken, village walls
and crops destroyed.”
Sabiha has so far raised
£2293 after returning to
the UK with a heightened
compassion for the flood
victims. Her humbling
experience and fresh
observations have fuelled
her aid work further.
There were women
living in wretched tent
conditions who could
only talk freely to a
female doctor regarding
health issues. Nusrat, who treated such women
in the female medical camps, saw up to 400
patients in each camp.
“More than 90% of patients were women, with
problems they can never discuss with a male
doctor. They were seen and given advice
but nothing relevant- that’s why I felt it was
important for me to be there at least to identify
their problems.” Nusrat, a volunteer doctor for
Muslim hands.
British women have skills that are needed to be
taught to local women
that are unsuitable
for a man to teach.
Hygiene, pregnancy,
sexual health, women’s
rights are such topics
mapped in a woman’s
experience. In effect the
development efforts in
poorer countries by British
volunteers will empower
the developing world
women.

Sandwell Women’s Aid
24 hour helpline: 0121 552 6448
Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid
Helpline & Refuge: 0800 0732 606
www.bswaid.org
Domestic Abuse Officer
0121626 7168
The Police Domestic Violence
Officers are officers dedicated to
offering help and support to victims
of domestic violence.
Birmingham Anti-Social Behaviour
Unit (BASBU)
0121 303 1111
The role of BASBU is to investigate
cases of anti-social behaviour
(which includes domestic violence)
in partnership with other council
departments and agencies such
as West Midlands Police, registered
social landlords and other
voluntary organisations.
Forced Marriage Unit
020 7008 0199
Website: www.fco.gov.uk/
forcedmarriage
Email: fmu@fco.gov.uk
The FMU is dedicated to preventing
British nationals being forced into
marriage overseas
Ladywood Project
0121 464 8630
Offers support and advice to local
families on issues including money
advice, domestic violence, family
support and play groups.
NSPCC
0800 800 500 website: http://www.
nspcc.org.uk/
The Allens Croft Project
0121 624 5775
Support group offering mutual
support and better access to
support services.
Childline
0800 111111
Support Services
Ashram Reducing Domestic
Violence Project (South Asian
women’s DV service)
0121 764 3817
Visual Evidence for Victims (VEV)
0121 5431722
Allow victims to have photographic
evidence of a crime recorded by
a trained voluntary sector agency
in confidence that is admissible as
evidence in court.
Victim Support Men’s National
Helpline
0800 328 3623
Broken Rainbow
Men and women in a gay, bisexual
or transgender relationship.
08452 60 44 60
Birmingham Crisis Centre
Helpline: 0121 507 0707
Provides refuge accommodation,
staffed 24 hrs per day to receive
families made homeless by
domestic violence.
Breathe
0121 248 1068
Free confidential advice and
information service for African and
Caribbean women affected by
Domestic Violence.
Anawim
0121 554 8928 or 0121 507 1112
Provides information, support and
advocacy services for women who
are involved in the sex industry
and who are suffering domestic
violence, drug and mental health
problems, and/ or are involved
with the criminal justice system.
Sexual Violence Legal Advice Line
020 7251 8887
Confidential advice from a
qualified woman solicitor or
barrister on: Rape, Sexual Assault,
Child Sex Offences, Family Related
Sex Offences, Trafficking, General
Criminal Legal Advice.
WAITS (Women Acting in Today’s
Society)
0121 440 1443/ 446 5384
(Counselling)
0121 440 7000 (Chinese support
worker)
For all women who have
experienced domestic violence
at some point in their lives. There
is a particular focus on black and
minority ethnic women.
SCAWDI
0121 440 7778
Offers activities and opportunities to
women of all ages.
Stepping Stones Family Support
0121- 772 0613
Family support services offering
support at early intervention levels
through to intensive family support,
parenting groups, Women’s group,
drop-in services based within schools
which provide support and advise
to parents carers services available
to families living in the Erdington,
Stechford Yardley North, Hodge hill,
Sheldon area.
RSVP (Rape and Sexual Violence
Project)
0121 236 5763
Supports people from the age of
14 upwards- all female and male
survivors of rape, sexual assault
and childhood sexual abuse. Our
services can also be accessed by
the supporters, families, carers and
friends of survivors. We also support
female asylum seekers and refugees.
ASIRT (Asylum Support &
Immigration Resource Team)
0121 233 4295
Provides free prompt and
independent advice on
immigration, nationality and asylum.
Ashiana CP
0121 687 6767
Provides voluntary places, ESOL
classes and community resources
for families and residents.
Editor:
Reporters:
Anita Halliday
Gloria Wilson, Hafizun Nessa,
Ally Sultana & Katie Harris
Photography: Various
Graphic Design: Peter Cole @ Heathan Productions
Layout: Peter Cole @ Heathan Productions
If you would like to contribute to the next
issue of Womenzone please contact
0121 464 4376
or
includingwomen@googlemail.com
Womenzone would like to thank Including Women!
Committee members for their help and the Grass
Roots Grants for funding this issue.