The City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, has awarded a grant of £18,500 to Naree Shakti, a group that supports Asian women living in London to provide more help for female carers and their families.

The grant will be used towards a part-time carers project worker and a contribution to the costs of the programme supporting Asian carers.

Naree Shakti, which mean’s ‘women’s strength’ in Hindi, is based in Enfield and was established in 2005 to support Asian women overcome the language and cultural barriers that can impede their engagement with mainstream services and wider society.

The organisation offers support, advice, training and social activities to help Asian women live more healthy, active, informed and less isolated lives.

Naree Shakti proposes to recruit a dedicated part-time member of staff to run a programme of activities specifically for older Asian Carers.

David Farnsworth, Director of City Bridge Trust, said:

“We are thrilled to be able to help a charity that gives so much back to London’s Asian community. City Bridge Trust is committed to supporting Londoners to make the city a fairer place to work and live. We have awarded over £2.4 million to local charities in the last month alone - all of which provide vital services to the community.”

Hinnah Gill, Director of Naree Shakti, added:

“We are very fortunate to have received this grant from City Bridge Trust during this very unstable financial climate. The needs of the community are increasing but funds to support services are on the decline.

The funds will enable us to continue our work in supporting older Asian carers in gaining access to advice and information and help reduce their social isolation. A series of workshops, support groups and outings are planned in the coming months to identify carers from this community and enable them to gain information, access and support and improve their quality of life.”

City Bridge Trust is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital.

Between September 1995 and March 2015 City Bridge Trust awarded 113 grants for a total amount of £2,935,995 to organisations based in Enfield.

It helps achieve the Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Kristina Drake, Media Officer - The City of London Corporation

07710860884 / 020 7332 1125 Kristina.Drake@cityoflondon.gov.uk