On Wednesday 8th March 2023, West Cornwall Women's Aid came together to celebrate International Women's Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.
As part of our celebrations, we created a wellbeing room - a space designed to bring comfort, restfulness and safety. We invited women to spend time in the room; some used the opportunity to reflect on empowering questions, some engaged in calming activities such as colouring in, and some gave themselves permission to just be.
The room embodied the feelings of peace and security we hope to give the women we support, through empowering them to create their own safe spaces.
We also held a number of workshops, including Laughter Yoga, Community Choir and Cornish Language. One participant told us: “I’m so glad I came today, this is the most fun I’ve had in years. Thank you so much, I’ve really enjoyed myself.”
We wanted the women we work with to feel nurtured and cared for, so we joined with a number of local businesses and organisations to offer a range of activities, including hair, nail and makeup sessions, a pre-loved clothing stall and an affirmations tree. We also shared a communal lunch and Food for Families provided a stall with food items available for those in need.
We would like to thank the following organisations for their contributions to this year's International Women's Day:
Jenkin’s Sweets Helston, Tescos Helston, Food for Families, One Blue Eye Helston, Morrisons Penzance, Frame Homes, The Pitstop Penzance, Boo Koo’s Helston, Panorama – Tinman, The Community Choir, Katie Rose White “The Best Medicine”, Katy McGarry MUA, Cornwall Hygiene Bank, GOFA, Judith and Sarah who delivered our Cornish Language Workshop, Cornish Precious Memories.
