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Partners
Introduction to the four lead partners
The Women's Centre's Regional Partnership (WCRP) is funded
by the Department for Social Development and made up of four
lead partners, namely; Women's Centre in Derry/North-West,
WSN, NIRWN and WRDA. The WCRP has a strategic and co-ordinating
function to increase partnership working with the community
based women's organisations across Northern Ireland.
Directors (left to right): Siobhan Doherty
(NIRWN), Margaret Ward (WRDA), Margaret Logue (The Women’s
Centre, Derry), and Patricia Haren (WSN)
Northern Ireland Rural Women's Network (NIRWN)
NIRWN is a Northern Ireland wide network organisation and
is jointly funded by DARD and DSD under the EU BSP Programme
until the end of June 2008. Many years of work have been put
into seeking a regional infrastructure for rural women and
this Network will sit alongside three other women's organisations,
WRDA, WSN and Derry Women's Centre with all four comprising
a new infrastructure for the Women's Sector in line with the
recommendations of the Government Review Report. NIRWN, having
received 25% of their funding from DSD, are playing a vital
role within the WCRP, making up one of the four lead partners,
developing the strategy for the WCRP and developing and delivering
on the operational plan for the Partnership.
The Women's Resource and Development Agency
The Women's Resource and Development Agency has been in existence
since 1983. Originally the Women's Education Project, it became
the Women's Resource and Development Agency (WRDA) in 1993.
WRDA's vision is of a society where women are confident,
valued and respected and occupy visible positions of power
and influence in all areas of life.
WRDA's mission as a regional organisation is to advance
women's equality and participation in society by working to
bring about social, political and economic change.
The Women's Centre, Derry
The Women's Centre is a feminist community education initiative.
In its twenty-one years, the Women's Centre has captured the
collaborative and enjoyable aspects of learning, enabling
generations of women, not only to construct new learning identities
but also to develop and improve many other aspects of their
lives as well.
The Women's centre continues in its role as a key community
development organisation in the North West region, providing
and participating in a wide range of programmes, services
and activities for women and women's groups in the area.
The Centre provides an in house crèche facility. This
service, provided at no cost, addresses a widely recognised
barrier to women's access to lifelong learning – lack
of affordable childcare. The crèche has a full, comprehensive
programme of activities and currently provides up to 300 places
each week.
Activities
- We provide training and educational opportunities for
women from the local communities.
- We provide information on a range of community and individual
issues.
- We support, help and encourage other groups wishing to
use our facilities.
- We offer free on-site childcare for those using the centre.
- We offer a Drop In facility encouraging women to meet
their peers in an informal manner.
- We work in partnership with local training organisations
and statutory organisations and network with other women's
groups local, regional and cross border on a number of related
issues.
The Women's Centre continues to encourage and enable approx
400 women on a weekly basis from a variety of communities
and differing ways of life. The Centre aims to continue this
work and more over the coming years through group work, one
to one tutorials, policy participation, seminars, workshops
and networking.
It is their mission to;
Promote equality of access for women by providing
resources so that women can meet, learn and support each other
to make choices and develop common strategies for the empowerment
of women.
Women's Support Network
The Women's Support Network was first established in 1989.
Since then it has grown in size and influence and has established
itself as a key infrastructure organisation.
WSN's membership presently comprises more than 30 community-based
women's centres and projects, other autonomous women's projects
and regional women's infrastructure groups and women's sections
or projects within larger community and voluntary organisation
for the
community-based women's sector. A number of community and
voluntary organisations which have strong interest in women's
issues are also affiliated to the Network.
Women's Support Network promotes the autonomous organisation
of women in order to achieve social, political and economic
justice through providing accessible, relevant and high quality
support services and resources for our membership; promoting
and developing networking to enable collective action and
to impact on policy and decision-making processes.
Women's Support Network is a collective feminist voice for
women's organisations, providing accessible, relevant and
high quality support services and resources for women's groups,
centres and projects. Women's Support Network enables collective
action by women's organisations to influence policy and decision-making
processes that impact on women's lives.
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