A calendar celebrating courage and resilience of women aims to raise funds for a South Cheshire organisation dedicated to increasing safety and diversity.
Volunteers with the Alpha Omega Women Peace and Security (WPS) Foundation unveiled the calendar to guests at its annual dinner.
Their stories of overcoming cancer, domestic abuse and personal trauma received a standing ovation at the event.
Beautifully shot, the calendar includes individual accounts of bravery in the face of adversity with personal affirmations such as ‘I am Strong,’ ‘I am a Survivor’ and ‘I am Enough.’
The friends, all mothers with 15 children between them, vary in ages and levels of body confidence.
But they united in a bid to inspire other women and further the organisation’s aims.
The calendar, costing £15, will plough vital funds into WPS which has introduced a raft of activities to empower women and develop a ‘sisterhood’ bonding all ethnicities since being established in 2021.
The WPS security hub, which opened in Crewe this summer, is home to self-defence courses, counselling sessions and language classes.
It helps women who have English as a second language escape domestic violence and oppression.
This has expanded into English and Maths tuition for children of vulnerable families in Crewe.
And it’s a new project for young people to share their personal security challenges at home, in school and in the community, through theatre helping them develop confidence.
The WPS mission to spread harmony has seen the launch of another project – a Comfort Kitchen providing ethnic food to residents in the area’s asylum hotels.
So far it has supplied Eritrean, Ethiopian, Afghan and Turkish dishes.
This will be extended to schools in the new year to allow children to embrace diverse culture through food.
WPS co-founder Amaka Lawton: “We are a core group of women passionate about making society a safer place.
“We strongly believe ‘It’s Our Right to Be Safe’ and to raise awareness, and funds for our campaign, we took the brave step to make a calendar.
“We laughed and cried together, and the final photo shoot took all our sisterly support to bare our souls as well as our bodies.
“We kept the project a secret over several months and were full of trepidation for the big reveal, but our guests gave us a standing ovation and already the calendar is selling well.”
The dinner, staged at Crewe Hall, also produced a surprise for local mum-of-one Amaka.
His Majesty the King’s High Sheriff of Cheshire Dr Dennis Dunn MBE presented an award recognising the WPS ‘Contribution to Cheshire’ empowering women to reach their full potential with projects that celebrate diversity and foster inclusion.
It came hot on the heels of South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Contribution to the Community’ accolade at its annual awards ceremony in November where business leaders hailed the organisation for ‘going above and beyond’ to make a positive impact.
Amaka, from Wistaston, added: “We seek to empower women and support them to break barriers and become independent and self-assured enough to reject systematic oppression, misogyny and racism through practical measures such as English classes amongst others.
“Evidently, language barriers lead to isolation, inability to communicate, or report crimes to the police, as well as causing women to remain trapped in abusive relationships.
“We want all women to feel confident and empowered, just like the images in our calendar. There are so many projects in the pipeline for 2024. A key priority is helping women achieve financial empowerment.
“We’re also thinking big, aiming to take our safety campaign not just national, but global.”
Proceeds from the WPS second annual dinner are being totted up.
They are expected to run into several thousand pounds with a 10% donation going towards cervical cancer support.
Headline sponsors included Alpha Omega Securities, Applewood, Auxilium, C247, Diversity Employment Solutions, Hibberts, LDC Trading, Lyon Griffiths, Mann Roberts, Netbiz, Prism and R K Henshall.
To buy the calendar and learn more about WPS activities, including free and inclusive dance fitness classes, yoga, HIIT and ‘Let the Women Grow’ English classes go to alphaomegawpsfoundation.com or email [email protected]
To support WPS as a sponsor or to become a volunteer call 01270 303187 or email [email protected]
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