A local charity that focuses on empowering women and girls has told how proud it is of females from Northern Ireland who have "drive and resilience".
GLOW was established in 2011 as a charity within West Belfast by founder Chara Clarke who was previously providing social activities for mums.
This developed into a volunteer women’s group and many others began to take part to help out.
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They now work to provide support for women and young girls in the most deprived areas, to create life opportunities for them.
This small group of women recognised the need for programmes to build women’s confidence and self-esteem and to help them set positive goals with a positive mindset to overcome life’s obstacles.
A spokesperson told Be the "drive and resilience" of women from NI is inspirational and how the females make the charity proud every day.
They said: "Many of the women and girls in Belfast have either lived through political conflict or have had a form of trans-generational trauma passed on to them. This is on top of the inequalities women already face in society. Yet NI women are still putting themselves out there, campaigning for social change, building businesses, raising children, caring for those in need and trying to be the best version of themselves.
"As a female organisation in Northern Ireland, we work to provide support for women and young girls in the most deprived areas and to create life opportunities for them. Our programmes support the development of mental health, confidence, low self-esteem as well provide training for sustainable life changes.
"The women and girls make us proud every day! Every step forward is an achievement. From the first and often most difficult step of reaching out and attending our introductory session, to then making leaps forward into education, employment, travel etc. We are privileged to play a small part in a woman's personal development journey and every bit of positive feedback we receive reinforces why we need to keep going in delivering this vital service."
The women who attend GLOW aim to support and comfort one another.
The spokesperson added: "The sessions within our programmes are carried out within a small group setting and peer support is crucial as many of our service users come from places of isolation. Often we hear of how a lot of women rarely leave the house and don't bother getting out of bed. However, when they come to GLOW, they are surrounded by other women who are just like them. They can relate to each other and feel comfortable sharing their experience. Many of the women (and girls) form solid, positive friendships which continue long after a programme commences."
Natasha, GLOW Project Support Worker added: "The programmes give them a sense of responsibility as we check in to see where they are and to make sure they coming in. A lot of the women don’t have that in their lives and it’s good for them to feel they belong. To be a part of something as well as recognising that you can make new friends at any age!"
The spokesperson continued: "Our programmes support the development of mental health, confidence, low self-esteem as well provide training for sustainable life changes.
"We curate, develop and conduct programmes to develop life skills and mental health and well-being. The inter-generational programmes we deliver have to meet our 5 aims:
"1. Increase confidence and self-esteem, 2. Help discover purpose & identity, 3. Learn & nurture practical & essential skills, 4. Guide to living a lifestyle of positive mental health, 5. Build positive & lasting relationships."
The GLOW spokesperson described how important a day like International Women's Day is.
They said: "It is a reminder to us all of the great women and organisations that are out there doing fantastic work all year long. It highlights the issues that we all face as women, but it also highlights the positive changes that have happened over the many years to ensure equality is met."
GLOW received a grant front Rosa as part of a Covid-19 emergency response fund, which helped them stay running and offer online services to women and girls during the pandemic.
Rosa are UK’s only funder dedicated to supporting women’s and girl’s organisations across the country and that, by supporting them, Rosa aims to make the UK a safer and fairer place for all women and girls.
A spokesperson said: "Using the grant from Rosa enabled us to take our programmes on-line and continue to deliver to women and girls who needed our support. We were able to reach more women and girls than we would have in person with it being online. Many saw this as a lifeline to continue to interact with people and engage with group work that was useful to help them cope with the stress and pressures of lockdown."
GLOW provides the following six programmes:
- ’The Real Me’ A personal development programme for females 18+.
- 'LILY’ A personal development programme for girls age 10-13.
- Level 2 mentoring programme for women who then mentor women attending ‘The Real Me’.
- ‘Glow Getters’ a follow-on programme for girls who take part in LILY & Fearless & Female’.
- ‘Fearless and Female’ A personal development programme for girls age 14-17 to give them tools to create self-awareness and reduce barriers by developing positive mental health.
- ‘Harmony’ A mother-daughter programme, designed to build good communication through team building and problem-solving activities.
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