The Bangladeshi Women’s Association has been established for more than 35 years in the heart of Tipton, in the West Midlands. Funding from our Space to Connect partnership with Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) helped them to develop community spaces and bring different communities together.
“We give people a safe space where they feel comfortable [and] where people welcome them. They feel ownership in these buildings.”
SYEDA KHATUN, CEO OF BANGLADESHI WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION
This International Women’s Day, we’re putting a spotlight on the Bangladeshi Women’s Association (BWA) based in Tipton, in the West Midlands.
The campaign for this year’s International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias. This encompasses BWA’s values as a female-led organisation working to challenge preconceptions by tackling inequality locally and bringing different communities together.
Our funding has been used to strengthen diverse communities, providing opportunities for women to gain education and access to work. This International Women’s Day we want to celebrate BWA’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusivity.
“We run activities to support disadvantaged communities, the most vulnerable really, who feel they are not able to go to mainstream services.
SYEDA KHATUN, CEO OF BANGLADESHI WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION
Syeda continues, “A lot of the people we serve are women and people that other services can’t reach in the same way. They want to learn in the community, [and] they want to find something very local where they feel they belong.
“By empowering our local communities with training and support, we’ve also got volunteers from our user groups. They now want to do more for their local communities and support the centres to keep them running.”
