This is a network which supports, informs and provides opportunities for women from various geographic locations and diverse walks of life now living and working in the Furness Peninsula. It aims to remove barriers to opportunity and enable women from different backgrounds, each with their unique experiences and views, to participate fully in public and community life. It is dedicated to helping these ladies find their place in the community and learn about the lifestyle in the UK, recognizing that networking is imperative in todaywomens's rapidly changing society.
Multi-Cultural Women’s Network was founded in 2004 and is directed by Donika Celina Begaj, based at Cumbria Multi-Cultural Service in Barrow-in-Furness. At present the MCW Network brings together women from Mongolia, Poland, China, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Lithuania, Kosova and Albania, South Korea, Nigeria, Turkey, Russia and Slovakia.
What we do:
- We provide opportunities for women to meet and support each other
- We create an environment where everyone is encouraged to participate and contribute
- We share knowledge and collective experiences
- We acknowledge and celebrate own cultural heritage and embrace the diversity of other cultures
- We create opportunities for continual learning, self-expression and empowerment
- We acknowledge, celebrate and capitalize the talents of our members.
How do we do this?
We hold regular meetings for coffee and chat where we promote education and quality of life and inform women on news and events. We put members in contact with local ladies to socialize and to improve their conversational skills in English, helping them overcome the language barriers possibly the greatest contributing factor to the social isolation of ethnic minority women. In partnership with Sure Start regular home visits are offered to young mothers who find it difficult to attend mother and toddler groups for the same reasons. We direct women to attend ESOL (English for Students of Other Languages) classes at the Furness College, the Library and at our Centre and help them access childcare. With support from the Public Health Development we organize weekly aerobics sessions promoting healthy lifestyle and an opportunity to leave own Community which in many cases is an enormous step. We offer a range of group activities and courses as well as talk sessions with speakers on relevant topics.
We support women with current or past experience of domestic violence - in addition to the problems generally faced by women escaping domestic abuse, ethnic minority women in the UK escaping domestic abuse face particular problems related to their ethnic origin and their length of stay in the UK, such as lack of appropriate refuge space for these women and the Immigration legislation which prevents women who have stayed in this country for less than two years from receiving any formal support.
How to join
Please get in touch if you would like to join whether to offer assistance to members and the Network or if you are seeking opportunities for contact. The membership is not exclusive: you don’t have to be from an ethnic minority group to become involved. We look forward to hearing from You.
     
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