Supported by Amal

We are delighted to be supported by AMAL to deliver Kahani project at WomenZone.

The aim of the project is to enable women to share their own stories with each other and then use those stories as a basis for a performance that will happen at WomenZone and other venues in Bradford, accompanied by an encounter event, such as a discussion or Q&A. 

Amal works to tackle a root cause of the discrimination that adversely affects the lives of all
Muslims in the UK– a dominant narrative which is negative, stereotyping and monolithic.
We exist to help shift the narrative to one that is confident, diverse and just.

Amal challenges the narrative by supporting Muslims to unleash their creative potential. We
do so by enabling three sets of stakeholders – Muslim communities, artists, and mainly
mainstream arts and cultural organisations – to work closely together to grow opportunities
for Muslims to fully express and realise their creative potential and to share and celebrate
this creativity with others.

For more information on Amal’s work please visit www.amal.org.uk 
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WomenZone is thrilled to be awarded NCS grant for delivery of experiences to help local teens become ‘world ready and work ready’

WomenZone have today announced a new community experience programme funded by NCS (National Citizen Service) that will support young people across Bradford.

The grant is part of a significant £20m funding package that NCS Trust have awarded to organisations across England for the delivery of community-based experiences at a local and grassroots level.

These new experiences will complement NCS’ existing away from home residential offer by providing more opportunities for teenagers to engage in local activities that foster skills development, deepen their understanding of the community, and empower them to contribute positively to its improvement.  The grants will also support organisations that cater to specific groups of young people who may not have participated in previous NCS initiatives.

In collaboration with the National Youth Agency and StreetGames, NCS assessed more than 400 applications and WomenZone was selected as one of around 100 organisations to receive funding.

Over the past decade, more than 800,000 young people have benefitted from an NCS experience, dedicating over 18 million hours to community based social action, while gaining invaluable life experiences.

Rubina Khalid, CO-CEO, WomenZone,“The grant will allow WomenZone to empower young people, raising aspirations and supporting them to be better equipped with any challenges they may face in the future”.

Mark Gifford, CEO of NCS Trust, added: “I am delighted to welcome a diverse range of local, grassroots and community organisations from across the youth sector to deliver reimagined NCS experiences. This allows us to reach more young people than ever before, ensuring they are equipped with the skills and perspective to become work ready and world ready. Additionally, our grants for targeted experiences will enable us to reach underserved young people and communities.”

Gifford added, “Together, we will work towards creating a country of confident, connected, caring citizens where everyone feels at home.”

 

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WomenZone July Newsletter

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WomenZone April Newsletter

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IWD23

Coinciding with the IWD’s theme, we celebrated International Women’s Day with service users, partners, friends, and families, at WomenZone to mark women’s achievements and understand how equity works in a working environment and in our daily lives. We were absolutely honoured to have had our guest speakers Sofia Buncy (West Yorkshire Lieutenant) and Mazish Ahmed (Genetics Project Co-ordinator) to share their journey with us. We would like to thank our talented entertainers, Shagun Bharti and Kousher, for the phenomenal performances during the event and everyone who joined us during this special time.

We were very pleased with the outcome and look forward to embracing equity everyday. “While equality gives the same support to everyone at your workplace, equity gives you the support that you require which might not be suitable for your work colleague as their circumstance is different from yours.” Sadia Sajid (CO-CEO at WomenZone).

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WomenZone Newsletter December 2022

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WomenZone team at the Death Festival in Brighton 2022

Team at WomenZone
We are so pleased to have been part of the Dying Matters Festival in Brighton in November. We came together to celebrate the lives of our loved ones and remember those special moments we shared. Our Dying Matters Project at WomenZone touched many hearts. It opened beautiful conversations about death and dying in our community.
he project lead and poet, Sharena Lee Satti, and Dr. Jamilla Hussain, delivered a perception of Pakistani women’s experience of caring for people at the end of life.
We would like to thank Sharena Lee Satti, and Dr. Jamila for their hard work and endless support in delivering the project at our centre. We would also like to thank Hospice UK for allowing us to be part of an amazing journey.
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Rubina’s Story

I remember my Abba and Amma

Death always scared me to my core. Watching burials as a Pakistani girl, I witnessed the rituals.

Maut aik din sab ko aati hai (Urdu: Death comes to all), would say the elders. Kis ki pata si k aj isna aakhri diyarha ai. (Punjabi – Mirpuri dialect: Who knew it would be his/her last day).

As a Muslim, I was taught that death is part of life. I was very close to my father. After my marriage dissolved, I argued about the consequences of his choices; the forced marriage, the new home 4,000 miles away, the struggle as a single-parent. I was blessed to hear his apology and heartfelt sorrow. I was blessed for being able to visit him in Pakistan to apologise for being harsh with him. Days before his death, we argued further. He passed away suddenly after a spell of illness, peacefully and gracefully. My guilt lived on but so did his soul as a spirit guide. I was keen to not to repeat this experience with my mother, who I regularly clashed with. I quashed any outstanding conflicts with her whilst she was alive, as a way to beat life to it this time, before life beat me.

Today, their deaths have rewritten my understanding of death. Abba and Amma, not a day goes by when I don’t miss you. My soul is at peace because I finally understand – your death has not separated us, instead it has reconnected us. It has reconnected me to myself.

Rubina Khalid, CO-CEO at WomenZone

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How one Bradford women’s charity weathered the Covid-19 pandemic and emerged even stronger

In the early days of the pandemic, Rubina Khalid, Co-CEO,  like millions of others, found herself wondering how she and her colleagues at WomenZone could continue to support the hundreds of women that come through their doors each year with such unprecedented restrictions on social contact.  Read the full article here.

 

 

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Independence Day – Zareen Parveen’s story

As we celebrate Independence Day 75 years on from the partition, Zareen Parveen, a lovely member from our wellbeing group, shares her story from when she was 12 years old. Read the full article here

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