Small Charity Week: Celebrating women's small charities

Small charities up and down the country make an invaluable contribution to the lives of millions of people. They’re the lifeblood of many communities and, because they often act locally, can provide vital services to people who are otherwise hard to reach.

 

In the U.K., 96% of voluntary or charitable organisations are small charities with an annual income of less than £1 million. This Small Charity Week, we want to celebrate some of the amazing charities run by women that are doing great work.

 

 

Sister System – empowering the next generation 

 

In 2017, three women came together with a shared frustration of the provision, labelling, and ghettoising of care-affected girls and young women.

 

Together, they formed Sister System, a Haringey-based charity that aims to bridge the gap between care-affected girls and mainstream society.

 

They do this by working alongside young women to ensure they have the same opportunities everyone else has – at home, school, work, and within the community.

 

Each year up to 200 young people, aged between 13 and 24 years, take part in its peer mentoring educational empowerment programmes. A key part of their approach is to link young women up with a mentor who is like ‘a big sister they never had’.

 

These mentors have also experienced care and empower young women to make choices, navigate life and, ultimately, fulfil their potential.

 

One of their programmes, ‘Honour Thyself’, was launched in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd to help inspire care-affected Black and Brown girls to embrace and be proud of who they are. The programme was recognised by The Charity Awards for its impressive outcomes: 100% of participants said it had improved their mental wellbeing and 85% said it had raised their sense of pride, place, and purpose.   

 

 

Smalls for All – Scottish-based, international impact

 

When Maria Macnamara volunteered at orphanages in Brazil and Ethiopia, she saw that many of the girls and young women there had a chronic lack of clothing, especially underwear. Wanting to offer longer-term support to these communities, she set up Smalls for All.

 

Based in Scotland, the charity collects new underwear and gently worn bras, then redistributes them to people who need them – to promote health, hygiene, and dignity. But the underwear does more than that. It also provides a level of security. In some poor African communities, women who can afford underwear are seen as having someone who cares for them – a husband, brother, or father. They’re not on their own, so they aren’t seen as vulnerable.

 

The charity accepts donations from the public, who can post them or order through their Smalls for All wish list on Amazon. They also partner with ethical underwear brand, Y.O.U Underwear, which donates two pairs of pants for every pair they sell and Akin Essentials, which runs a ‘buy a pair, give a pair’ of boxers initiative.

 

Smalls for All partners with established organisations for distribution, which means the underwear gets to the people who most need it. As well as supporting African communities,  through organisations including Project Gambia and the Zambia and Malawi Community Partnership, it also works with UK charities including The School Bank in West Lothian and the Happy Baby Community in London.

 

Since it launched in 2009, Smalls for All has distributed over two million pairs of pants, and Maria’s been awarded an MBE for services to charity and women’s health in Africa.

 

 

Street Talk – making therapy accessible to vulnerable women

 

Some of the most excluded women in society are those least likely to access therapy. So Street Talk takes therapy out to them.

 

The mental health charity provides vital psychotherapy and support to women who are trapped in street prostitution or are survivors of trafficking. Psychotherapist, Pippa Hockton, founded the charity 15 years ago when she recognised that some of the most vulnerable women in London were not getting the psychological support they needed.

 

As well as running psychotherapy and art therapy sessions, Street Talk therapists support women at court appointments or meetings with other agencies, to make sure that a woman’s whole story, including her mental health history, is taken into consideration.

 

Collaboration is key to the charity’s work. Partnering with hostels and day centres means they can make therapeutic services easily accessible to women who might otherwise not have this type of support.

 

It also means that the women they work with receive practical support they might need. Some of their partner organisations include St Mungo’s hostels and the Hibiscus Women’s Centre. The success of this collaborative approach was recognised at the London Impact Awards 2022.

 

Street Talk’s therapists see the potential in every woman they work with, whatever their background or experience. One woman they supported had lived on the streets for 17 years and is now completing a PhD in psychology.

 

Take a look at Street Talk’s stories and videos for more examples of their powerful work.