It has been a challenging year for everyone, but many have argued that the Covid-19 crisis has had a particular impact on working women.

For International Women's Day 2021 the South Westminster BIDs (Victoria, Victoria Westminster, & Northbank) have partnered with the charity Rosa to help raise funds for the amazing work they do to support women from all backgrounds across the UK.

Rosa is a grant-making charity that funds women’s and girls’ organisations across the UK. Over the last 12 years, Rosa has championed and resourced women’s and girls’ organisations who are all too often locked out of mainstream grant funding programmes. Rosa’s approach is holistic and founded in the fact that women’s organisations are the experts on the issues facing women. They are closest to the context and have solutions to the issues facing women and girls, and Rosa exists to enable and support this work.

In response to the Covid-19 crisis, Rosa launched two funds to meet the immediate needs of these organisations: a small grants fund and one specifically for organisations led ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women working to end violence against women and girls.

Visit Rosa’s impact page to see how funding is helping women and girls and read Rosa’s preliminary report into its Covid-19 response. For the latest updates from Rosa and the organisations it funds, follow @RosaForWomen on Twitter and sign up to the mailing list.

On the Tuesday 9th March 2021 South Westminster BIDs are virtually hosting five renowned panellists to discuss the positive and negative impacts of the pandemic on women and to mark this year’s International Women’s Day and the 2021 theme #ChoosetoChallenge. The Executive Director of Rosa, Rebecca Gill, will speak at the event also.

Register to attend the event here

All attendees to the panel event will be entered into a raffle to win prizes to win one of four prizes that have been very kindly donated by some of our local businesses. These prizes are:

Alice Queen of Hearts, Afternoon tea for 2 at the Taj Hotel

An Aperitivo Experience at Gordon's Wine Bar

£150 Gift card from Hobb's

A one-night stay in an Executive Room with breakfast included for 2 people at the Park Plaza

Donations to Rosa are not required to be entered into the prize draw but they would be very greatly appreciated.