The Foundation

Feast With Us is a food poverty charity that brings together surplus food and an army of committed volunteers to provide healthy and nutritious communal meals in homeless shelters. The Foundation’s grant supported the expansion of the service to a women’s hostel.

Menstruation is one of the biggest obstacles to women being able to gain an education and earn their own living. Millions of women and girls in rural Nepal have no access to hygienic sanitary wear, using old rags and maybe straw, or nothing at all. Freedom Kit Bags include everything needed for up to two years – washable pads, pad holders, carry purse, waterproof bag for used pads, underwear, soap, washing line and pegs. The materials are sourced in Nepal and Nepali women make the pads, holders and bags bringing employment to those who need it most.

An innovative solution to one of the most pressing problems facing refugees in London – the cost of transport and the impact of lack of mobility – by matching up refugees with refurbished unwanted bikes. Our grant funded a women’s programme to reflect the fact that many women refugees come from societies where cycling is discouraged or even dangerous for them, so learning to cycle is more than a practical necessity, it also represents an act of rebellion against deeply ingrained beliefs and cultural taboos.

The horrifying practices of female genital mutilation, breast ironing and sleeping with the dead continue to be widespread in Nigeria. The Foundation provided funds to Projects for All to support the incredible work of Gift Augustine, a trained nurse who has coordinated groups of women as community volunteers; they travel to at-risk villages to talk to the men and women about the dangers and injustices of these practices, saving the lives of girls and women on a daily basis.

Coaching Inside and Out provides life coaching for people in prison and in the community. As well as reducing crime, coaching aims to create lifelong change, getting to the root of problems, beliefs and hopes to unlock potential, break old patterns of behaviour and overturn negative assumptions that stop people changing. The vast majority of clients are women who have committed offences or are at risk of doing so, and coaching helps them to change their lives by reducing the harm they do to others and themselves, reuniting with their children, taking up education, getting fit, getting jobs and starting businesses.

Generating Genius is a charity that works with students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are highly academically capable, to help them access the most selective universities. Based at University College, London, it has a particular emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects which remain male-dominated. The Foundation funded a series of weekend tech camps for girls focusing on digital enterprise skills and coding.

Swinton Lock Activity Centre was set up by the amazing Jayne Senior, who blew the whistle on widespread child sexual abuse in Rotherham, and provides educational, environmental and arts-based activities on two narrow boats on the South Yorkshire Canal. The Foundation’s grant funded resources for women with disabilities experiencing mental distress and/or social isolation, and victims and survivors of child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse.