International Women's Day

Tuesday 8th March is International Women’s Day and the women who are connected to Shekinah, The Eddystone Trust and Trevi House are celebrating in style with a cream tea at The Duke of Cornwall Hotel.
Women’s Space, a joint initiative, runs weekly from Shekinah’s Drop-in Centre in Bath Street and offers a safe and friendly place for women to come together, hang out and learn from each other. Over the last few years specific services for women have diminished across the City and female workers at Shekinah, Eddystone and Trevi identified that many women were skirting on the margins of services and felt like an unheard minority; in the words of one service user ‘I wish there were more women to speak to, because I do not trust men.’ With this in mind, Women’s Space has been operating since October 2015 and has seen more and more women joining each week. There is a lovely warm vibe in the space and women at all stages of their journeys come along and support each other; chatting, laughing, getting involved, learning and growing.

Shekinah, through its award winning employability initiative, works in partnership with many socially responsible businesses in the region. The Duke of Cornwall has recently begun to support Shekinah in this way through offering work placements to service users moving into employment, as well as working with Shekinah’s construction-based social initiative through offering painting and decorating work. International Women’s Day is a great opportunity for the Duke of Cornwall to show their support to local causes in this special way.

Leila Nottage, Director of Marketing for the Duke of Cornwall said: “As a local business we were amazed by the variety of support that Shekinah offer to the community. We wanted to engage with them on several levels and were delighted to be part of this event. As a business we will be welcoming the women in and serving a cream tea to celebrate all they have achieved. As Director of Marketing for the hotel, I am personally looking forward to being part of the afternoon and having the chance to meet each individual on a one to one basis. This is just the beginning for the Duke to engage and support the great work that Shekinah do.”

The event will be an opportunity to celebrate women around the world, to recognise phenomenal achievements and world changing contributions made by women, but to also acknowledge that there are many women around the world who are not free to express themselves due to cultural restrictions, slavery and domestic violence.

Women’s Space is about inspiring, supporting and empowering women to have a voice and to move forward into achieving their full potential.
Shekinah is a Devon based charity that provides opportunities for people in recovery. This may include recovery from homelessness, drug and alcohol issues, offending behaviours or mental ill health. They have a range of projects across a number of locations and provide a safe space for people to develop their skills, regain their self-worth and go on to live independent and fulfilling lives.