GIRL POWER: The Anah Project aims to help vulnerable BME women and young girls
GIRL POWER: The Anah Project aims to help vulnerable BME women and young girls

A Bradford project has been rejuvenated thanks to a much needed cash injection from the Big Lottery Fund after the council withdrew four years ago.

Bradford’s Anah Project has been helping Asian women since it opened its doors on 1st July 1993.

The Council funding was withdrawn on 31st March 2012 because the project wanted to remain a specialist service provider for women from the ethnic minority community.

The team behind Anah were determined to continue to work with vulnerable women and young girls, despite knowing that it would be a tall challenge to secure funding.

Throughout this ‘difficult period’ the management, Board Members and staff worked continuously to secure funding.

Eventually, in December of last year, the project was awarded £285,263 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme, which aims to support those most in need and build stronger communities.

Today, that money is helping to enable the charity to continue to provide safe, temporary accommodation for single women from the Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee communities.

CELEBRATIONS: The Anah Project team said they were delighted to receive the cash injection which would ensure they can continue to provide a vital service to the community
CELEBRATIONS: The Anah Project team said they were delighted to receive the cash injection which would ensure they can continue to provide a vital service to the community

Joyce Simon, business manager of the Anah Project said: “We were overwhelmed when we heard the news.

“I’m so happy that the Lottery was proud to support a unique specialist provider and the inspirational work that we do to help people coping with incredible difficult challenges to improve their confidence, learn coping strategies and feel more part of the community.”

The concept of the Anah project was borne from research carried out back in 1985, where a group of female Asian community workers studied what the needs of Asian women seeking temporary refuge could be.

Anah provides women and girls with the opportunity to access education and training; better manage their health needs and supports them to rebuild their confidence and self-esteem.

Many women who access the services come from some of the most deprived areas within the UK and as such are deprived of these opportunities.

Thanks to the Lottery funding, the charity’s immediate future plans are to raise awareness, both of the issues that they deal with and also of the service they provide.