International Women's Day in Elmbridge: Voices of local women
Our mission as a charity is rooted in tackling all forms of inequality. One form of inequality that we often come across is gender inequality and its intrinsic link to poverty, as disadvantages based on gender can manifest into real-world effects on employment and health. Additionally, when addressing our main priority focus of child poverty, we also consider the broader impact on parents by supporting projects that empower women and strive to break the cycle of poverty for families.
To mark International Women’s Day, Amy, our communications and events officer, spoke to some of the talented women that help us in our mission to build an Elmbridge community - where everyone, regardless of gender, can thrive.
Walton Charity are proud to have a diverse team with many women taking up senior leadership roles due to their strong merits. Amy spoke with Sarah, our chair of trustees, and Alex, our vice-chair, about what International Women’s Day means to them.
Despite having different backgrounds - Sarah’s a nurse and Alex works in social policy - both are driven by a shared desire to help other people and are motivated by seeing the impact their governance has on their community. Alex explains how everyone on the board of trustees is brought together by “the human factor”.
Some of the women we work with
When asked specifically about what International Women’s Day means to them, the resounding answer was the desire to celebrate, advocate, and support all women in our shared mission to support a thriving community in Elmbridge.
Alex and Sarah share that this is the ethos of the charity as a whole: everybody deserves a good life and to be lifted up out of poverty and inequality. For some women, they face extra challenges that require additional levels of targeted support, an area we are particularly aware of.
Alex states that “the people I’m most inspired by are the women that are making a success of their lives despite the challenges. In my day job tackling child poverty, I’m very aware of what that looks like, and it’s really flipping hard. Life is not easy for a lot of women, and despite that they’re making a go of it, and within that there are mothers that are managing difficulties and making a success of their lives for their children”.
Sarah explains that in Walton Charity, we’re lucky to have a strong team full of incredible, dedicated people: “it happens that the board back in the day was all men, and now we’re female heavy! We’ve got more working women on our board than the Charity’s ever had. Without each other and our diversity, be it gender or otherwise, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are. Everyone has different strengths and brings their own value to the team”.
When asked about their own partnership, both agree that they “are different, but a real partnership who’ve got each other’s backs. It gives you a sense of possibility, we’re not alone”. What is clear is that working with so many skilled people creates a wealth of knowledge within the charity which we are hugely proud of.
Walton Charity support a range of Elmbridge-based organisations and projects that support women and champion gender equality. Recently, we celebrated the launch of the Voices of Hope Elmbridge Women’s Hub, a women’s only space part-funded by Walton Charity and dedicated to fostering creativity and connection through transformative sessions such as a choir. We have partnered with Voices of Hope on multiple occasions to support their initiatives that uplift vulnerable women in the community.
Through our grants programme, we are pleased to fund a range of projects in Elmbridge that champion equality in all its forms, including gender. Find out more by clicking on this button:
At the heart of Walton Charity is our mission to build a thriving Elmbridge community free from poverty and inequality. We are proud to champion everyone in our community every day of the year and are keen to celebrate the different strengths and experiences of those in our community.
Article by Amy Dixon, Walton Charity’s Communications and Events Officer