This page gives further details about The Fawcett Society, an organisation funded through the Partnerhsip Grants Programme.
The Fawcett Society trace their roots back to 1866 when Millicent Fawcett began leading a peaceful campaign for women’s votes. Today Fawcett continues to campaign for equality between women and men, including campaigns on women’s representation in politics and public life; pay, pensions and poverty; valuing caring work; and the treatment of women in the justice system.
- visit The Fawcett Society website at www.fawcettsociety.org.uk
Femocracy project
This project is aimed at directly increasing the registration rates and understanding of the democratic process of BME women in five cities across the UK; London, Burnley, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow.
There will be one Town Hall event in each of these areas and a number of smaller participatory workshops through local women’s groups to give direct and intensive support including registration support. They will develop 15 Participation Champions who will then be supported to work directly through their own social and family networks running registration drives and increasing understanding (They will work with around 20 women each).Using existing networks and a media campaign they will disseminate a ‘Democracy Toolkit’ to further individuals and groups.
Our grant funds staffing costs, training, events costs, website, marketing and PR, publications and the Participation Champions.
Project outcomes
- that 60% of participants will be registered to vote through the life of the programme
- that 60% of participants will express an increase in their confidence about political decision making including voter registration
- that 50% of participants will express an increased awareness of how democracy is organised and decisions are made
- that 50% of participants will express an increased understanding of the impact that politics makes on their lives
- that 60% of participants will express an increased awareness of the timing and significance of upcoming elections by registering to vote and indicating their intention to vote at the next election
Outcomes achieved
The Femocracy project successfully delivered its outcomes by using a targeted and tailored approach to engaging ethnic minority women in democracy. In total, the project delivered 16 awareness raising events reaching 485 women. The project produced several resources including a “handbag size” toolkit for women that were distributed to more than 670 women to raise awareness of democracy and UK electoral processes. As a direct result of the Femocracy project workshops, 454 ethnic minority women have indicated they are now registered to vote.
Case study
Noreen is an Asian Muslim woman from London. She attended a workshop because she wanted to better understand what tools are available to women to help them become more politically empowered. She also wanted to get information that she can share with others. By attending the event, Noreen felt increased confidence in raising issues that concern her directly with her relevant elected representatives. In particular Noreen found the Your Voice information pack she received at the workshop very helpful.
Since completing the workshop, Noreen has said 'It really helped me to understand how the political system in the UK works. It was so easily explained and I can take the information pack with me wherever I go and talk confidently about politics. I can bring awareness to other women about how to register to vote and how they can raise their voice by getting involved in politics'.
