# Emergency fund launches to help young women in financial crisis during pandemic

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/03/30/emergency-fund-launches-to-help-young-women-in-financial-crisis-during-pandemic/
- Published: 2020-03-30T11:24:30+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**The Young Women’s Trust has today launched an emergency fund to help young women
struggling financially as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.**

 

 

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The Young Women’s Emergency Fund will provide relief payments of £150 to young women
aged 18-30 struggling to afford essentials such as food, utilities and rent for 
themselves and their families.

 

 

 

The [Young Women’s Trust](http://youngwomenstrust.org) has donated £85,000 of its
own money to the fund and is seeking to raise a further £50,000 to help women in
England and Wales.

 

 

 

The charity, which evolved from the YWCA England and Wales and was formed more than
150 years ago, has joined forces with Women’s Aid, Women’s Resource Centre and Women
for Refugee Women, who will act as referral partners. The partner charities will
refer women who are economically vulnerable, experiencing domestic violence and 
those who are living in insecure housing to the fund.

 

 

 

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Young Women’s Trust research found that 40% of
young women struggled to make their cash last until the end of the month and 1 in
4 young mothers skipped meals every day. Many fear this will get worse unless the
government intervenes further.

 

 

 

The Young Women’s Trust is calling on the government to step up its emergency response
to protect young women already affected by the coronavirus crisis. It is asking 
it to increase basic benefit allowances such as Universal Credit, Carer’s Allowance
and Personal Independence Payments to be paid at the National Living Wage, to halt
the five-week wait for payments, and to remove barriers to refugee and migrant women
accessing healthcare by ending the policy of “no recourse to public funds”.

 

 

 

Launching the Emergency Fund, Sophie Walker, Chief Executive of Young Women’s Trust,
said:

 

 

 

> “The government has announced emergency measures to support businesses, homeowners
> and the self-employed. We are very worried that thousands of young women who were
> left behind before the crisis, have been left behind in the response to it.
> “Young women are telling us they’re fearful about how they are going to pay their
> rent, electricity and gas and even feed their children over the coming weeks. 
> We want to provide immediate relief to help these young women.
> “The current climate is causing financial difficulties for many, but we know from
> the millions who have pledged to help the NHS and their communities during this
> crisis, that people stand ready to help others in their time of need. We urge 
> them to stand with us as allies to young women who are economically vulnerable
> at this time.”

 

 

 

[More information](https://www.youngwomenstrust.org/emergency-fund) including how
to donate to the emergency fund can be found on the Young Women’s Trust website.

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