Celebrating women with roses and grants

Last night, the WRC team was out in force to celebrate Rosa's first birthday. Undaunted by the tube strike, people turned out to hear which projects had been given funding in Rosa's first round of grants.

Rosa is the UK fund for women and girls, and their first grants will go to the Powerhouse, Mimbre, and Feminist Webs for their work on body image. The guest speaker, Susie Orbach, spoke powerfully about the impact of the beauty industry and cultural pressures on women, girls and increasingly men, calling it a "real public health emergency". Fourteen year old Omena Osivwemu from the Feminist Webs project spoke movingly about her hopes for the project and the importance of feminism to her and other young women.

The atmosphere was celebratory and this carried through to the amazing "Celebrate Her" embroidery, where people could dedicate a rose to a woman they wanted to celebrate (by making a small donation, naturally). The roses looked beautiful and they'll also be transferred to Rosa's online rose garden, so everyone can see!