Anawim – Birmingham’s Centre for Women is taking part in the Big Give’s Women and Girls match funding campaign which starts at midday today! We’re delighted to have been picked for this opportunity and are aiming to raise £10,000 – including £5000 of match funding – in just one week. This money will help us support women to leave abuse behind.   At Anawim we work with more than 2,000 women a year, most of whom have experienced abuse: domestic, sexual, economic, or another form. Abuse is endemic. It is one of the most common reasons for women to visit our drop-in, and more than half of women in prison have experienced domestic abuse. Aside from the obvious physical effects it is also hugely detrimental to women’s mental health.   Today is a double celebration as our Pre-Loved Clothes Hub is opening too. The hub will serve as a partial replacement for our much-loved Moseley shop, and hopefully more. It’s onsite at the main Anawim centre in Balsall Heath, ideally situated to help us provide extra assistance to any women who come into Anawim. Sitting next to our drop-in service (used by more than 500 women every year) it is an inviting and comfortable space, from which women will be able to pick, try on, and take home clothes.   The hub will also be open to the public as a clothes shop (women’s only) four days a week from 12-3pm. This means the donations we so generously receive will continue to support our fundraising efforts. It will also support our social enterprise schemes, and our women in their pathways into work. Champions (Anawim women) and volunteers will contribute to daily tasks, learning about online and in-person sales, and bringing new ideas and perspectives.   Any donations made between the 8th and 15th of October will be generously matched by Big Give’s Champions, helping us to make double the difference.   Joy Doal Anawim CEO says: “We’re all really excited about this opportunity – and are very grateful to the Big Give for giving us the chance to double our donations! We know the pernicious effect abuse can have and £10,000 would make a huge difference to the women we work with. With your support we hope to reach that goal.”   How can you get involved?

• Visit BigGive.org and donate from 12pm today. The campaign will close at 12pm on the 15th.
• Set a reminder and add our campaign page to it so you don’t miss your chance to double your donation!

      About Big Give Big Give is a registered charity (1136547) that runs match funded campaigns for charities and special causes at key moments across the year. By connecting charities to match funders (like philanthropists, foundations or corporates) and the public, Big Give helps them double their donations. And, in doing so, makes an extraordinary difference to the world’s biggest challenges. It has raised more than £350m for charities to date. Big Give campaigns have been promoted by celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Emilia Fox, Dame Judi Dench and Stephen Fry, among others. It’s a simple idea - when the public donates to a charity through a Big Give campaign, it asks funders to match that donation. So, £50 from a member of the public becomes £100 for a good cause. Big Give has supported thousands of charities and worked with some of the biggest names in UK philanthropy and charitable grant-making, which provide match funding, including DCMS, John Spiers, founder of Bestinvest and B Corp registered EQ Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, The Reed Foundation, The Waterloo Foundation, The Hospital Saturday Fund, The Childhood Trust and others including high-net-worth individuals such as Julia and Hans Rausing