It is with immense pride and gratitude for all the votes that came from near and far, that we can announce Bev Lange has won a 2019 Westfield Local Heroes Award. Thanks to our extended community and to Bev’s tireless commitment to wellbeing and harmony, Stepping Out has secured one of the coveted $10,000 prizes to expand our Women’s Social Inclusion Group. Now with your support we are keen to match that amount and grow the group even further.
Stepping Out’s Social Inclusion Initiative
Whilst in her role as General Manager of Stepping Out, Bev was instrumental in coordinating and promoting a Women’s Social Inclusion Group. With statistics indicating that 1 in 6 women have been sexually assaulted as children, the related traumas that can occur in adult life can be horrendous. Alcohol and other drug abuse, poor mental health, risks of homelessness, low self-esteem and an inability to moderate emotions are all potential risks of CSA. More often than not, this leads to a dependence on social welfare.
The Stepping Out Social Inclusion Group was established by Bev to support these women and bring them together in a safe and supported environment every Friday. The program offers a healthy lunch and a structured activity focused on wellbeing, self-development and social inclusion. Activities include trauma sensitive Yoga, Tai Chi, Art Therapy and pampering days, and all activities, including lunch, are provided free of charge.
The group of women have developed friendships with each other that exist beyond Stepping Out, resulting in further social wellbeing and inclusion.
What this $10,000 will do for Stepping Out
The Stepping Out Women’s Social Inclusion Group is the direct beneficiary of this $10,000. This injection of funds now allows Stepping Out to increase the number of locations and participants in the Social Inclusion program. It also enables us to fund more facilitators for programs such as Tai Chi, yoga, art therapy, and excursions, as well as providing housing, job and pamper packs for participants and marketing collateral to promote Stepping Out’s services and programs.
We will be forever grateful to everyone who took the time to vote and look forward to sharing updates on our expanded Women’s Social Inclusion Group in future newsletters.
Our challenge as an organisation and our challenge to you, our supporters and friends
Finally, with this injection of $10,000 we can do so much. As an organisation we have agreed we want to do more so are trying to dollar match this amount with fundraising events and donations. If you can spare any money at all, be it a dollar or ten please hit the Donate Now button at the end of this article. The impact the Social Inclusion Group is making to women who come to Stepping Out is life-changing and the more we can grow this service both in terms of activities provided and geographic reach, the more women we can help.
Comments are closed.