Women’s Fund for NI Golf Day 2018 Roundup

16 Oct 2018

On 21st September the Women’s Fund panel headed to Bangor Golf club for a great day of golf, food and raffle prizes, all in support of disadvantaged women and girls in Northern Ireland.

On the day, over 50 keen golfers came out to support and teams held up well amidst rain that showered on and off for most of the morning but by the afternoon we were greeted by some glorious sunshine, ahead of an evening of great food, many laughs and wonderful raffle prizes that were kindly donated.

Thanks to the generosity of sponsors SONI and Progressive and of everyone involved £1,900 we raised for the Women’s Fund for Northern Ireland.

“This funding will enable us to give at least six women the opportunity to fulfill their potential” said Joan Smyth, Chair of the Women’s Fund. By providing small bursaries to individuals, the fund will help women from across Northern Ireland to overcome barriers preventing them from fulfilling their potential. Women like Mimi, who overcame adversity to fulfil her dream of running her own catering business.

Mimi, a refugee from the Congo is well known for her cookery skills and helping the refugee community through her voluntary work. She is hugely ambitious and wishes to become a chef and run her own small business. However, she needed necessary qualifications to realise this dream. She enrolled on a hospitality course and needed equipment such as a chef’s uniform, knives and the transport costs to and from her course to enable her to qualify. As a refugee with limited income these costs were too high.

The Women’s Fund was able to give her the grant that she needed in order to cover the costs of her kit and transport, allowing Mimi to continue her course and follow her dream of running a business. Her dream is to employ members of the refugee community in NI, allowing them to bring their skills to the wider community and reduce unemployment among refugees in Northern Ireland.

Funds donated and raised for the Women’s Fund, such as those raised through the Golf Day are essential in order to be able to support more women like Mimi. The Fund is also currently accepting applications from organisations working with women across NI and to find out more about the work of the Women’s fund or to make a donation please click here or contact Rachel Leitch rleitch@communityfoundationni.org

You can see all of the wonderful golf enthusiasts who came out that day to support us in the Gallery below.