# Empowering Women Fund offers grants from £500 to £25,000

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/04/26/empowering-women-fund-offers-grants-from-500-to-25000/
- Published: 2021-04-26T23:24:22+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**A new fund is now offering grants from £500 to £25,000 to support women’s groups
and women’s organisations across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. It has 
been launched as many women face greater gender inequality following the effects
of Covid-19.**

The Empowering Women Fund is part of the [Labyrinth Project](https://www.solacewomensaid.org/our-partnerships/labyrinth-project),
a Tampon Tax project led by Solace, the UK charity which has over 45 years’ experience
working with survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The funding will
provide help for a range of issues, from violence against women and girls, to financial,
employment, and legal support to help build their resilience.

The fund is designed to support all women including women living with additional,
intersectional forms of disadvantage such as disability, unemployment, complex drugs
and alcohol issues and violence against women and girls.

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As such, the fund “particularly welcomes applications from marginalised communities
and in particular from minoritised women, women with disabilities (including sensory
and learning disabilities) and lower income women from all class backgrounds”.

Fiona Dwyer, CEO of Solace said:

> “Solace is delighted to be launching its first external grant scheme as part of
> the Labyrinth Project. The Empowering Women Fund will allow women’s organisations
> to help women navigate the complex issues they face and ensure that we have a 
> strong and vibrant women’s sector in the future.”

Minister for Civil Society, Baroness Barran, added:

> “Vulnerable women and girls need our support more than ever in this difficult 
> year, and these grants will help keep vital services going for thousands across
> the country.”

## Applying for a grant

Eligible organisations can apply for seed funding grants of £500-£1,000, which are
available to small women’s groups to establish and run micro empowerment projects
in their local area that support women to build skills and confidence, and decrease
social isolation.

Larger women’s sector grants of £1,000 – £25,000 are also available for women’s 
groups and organisations to develop capacity to respond to changing needs in their
communities

Organisations that support women can [visit Solace to apply for a grant](http://solacewomensaid.org/empowering-women-fund).

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## Comments

### By: HowardLake

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/04/26/empowering-women-fund-offers-grants-from-500-to-25000/#comment-3987
- Published: 2021-09-01T12:04:23+01:00

Thanks to a grant from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS),
Solace has been able to award a total of £300,000 to organisations and projects 
working to support women across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland through the
Labyrinth Project.

The funded projects have identified and are responding to a significant increase
in need within their community. Mental health and wellbeing are a particular concern,
making up over half of all projects, followed by employment and violence against
women and girls (VAWG).

An important aspect of this fund is to reach a diverse collection of women – 53%
of projects are run by and for marginalised communities and funding is spread across
small and medium organisations in the three nations. The projects cover mental health
and wellbeing, employment and education, domestic abuse and VAWG, capacity building
and legal, debt and financial support.

Solace is delighted to be able to support some incredible work and looks forward
to seeing how these projects develop. The sheer number of applications, however,
draws into sharp relief the gap between what is needed and what is available. At
close, the fund had received a huge 613 applications totalling £9.6 million: a demand
that way outstrips availability.