07 May London Southend Airport give £1000 to Volunteering Matters
London Southend Airport has awarded £1000 to Volunteering Matters charity to help fund their WASSUP Project led by young women in Southend on sea.
Volunteering Matters believe everyone in the UK should have the opportunity to thrive. The charity brings people together to overcome some of society’s most complex issues through the power of volunteering. Working with communities to overcome adversity, tackling social isolation and loneliness, improving health, developing skills and opportunity and making sure young people can lead change.
As part of its charity commitment London Southend Airport awarded £1000 to the charity to be invested in a dedicated local project; WASSUP (Women Against Sexual exploitation Speak UP) is a youth social action project led by young women in Southend, who are all passionate about helping their peers live safer lives.
The donation will support the ongoing work of the project including dedicated Women of WASSUP (WOW) Podcasts which can be used as an educational tool both in Schools and for parents/young people to engage with if they have a question or difficult topic to address. Particular focus will include health and reproduction, raising awareness of Autism in young women, the power of music, sport, exercise and group hobbies for young women.
In addition to this, WASSUP plan to produce several one-off toolkit sessions, which can be delivered virtually, that Schools can engage with on topics such as: the impact of domestic abuse on young people, female friendship and grooming, consent, and internet safety.
Rachel, WASSUP Volunteer, “As a WASSUP Youth Social Action Volunteer I have loved being part of the group and growing my skills and knowledge with an amazing group of women.”
“My hope for the Southend Airport donation is for this to be used to continue to grow the project and for us to get to physically reach people and educate young people and to move our podcast and platforms to the next level.”
“Personally, I also hope to continue to grow as the project does as I have gained so much confidence, knowledge, friendship and experience from my fellow volunteers and from different agencies we have worked with.”
Glyn Jones, CEO London Southend Airport, “WASSUP have developed a local initiative run by volunteers to help provide support and learning. Their podcasts can be shared within schools and raise awareness and we hope the donation will continue their hard work”.
Volunteers are keen to continue to raise the profile and awareness of WASSUP both online and when allowing, face-to-face. The charity hopes to continue to recruit and train young women in the Southend area to become Youth Social Action Volunteers and campaign for real change in the local area.
