Local charity Smart Works Birmingham is celebrating after being awarded £20,000 in funding from the Severn Trent Community Fund Core Funding to support its work getting women in need from across the West Midlands into work. Smart Works Birmingham will use the cash to cover rental costs for their Digbeth based centre.
Smart Works Birmingham has been running since 2016 and is staffed by 4 people alongside a dedicated and passionate team of 40 volunteers. The centre was opened to help tackle the high unemployment rate in Birmingham. The charity harnesses the power of clothing, coaching and confidence to help women succeed at interview to get the job.
The Digbeth centre is open Monday until Friday, 9am – 5pm, where women from across the West Midlands visit for the dressing and coaching service ahead of their interview. Last year Smart Works Birmingham supported nearly 800 women and aims to increase this number to 1,200 this year. 75% of the women they see get a job within one month.
The new funding from the Severn Trent Community Fund: Core funding, which awards grant money to maintain three elements of community wellbeing – people, places and environment – means that Smart Works Birmingham can keep their centre open and are able to focus on reaching more women to provide their transformational service to.
About the Severn Trent Community Fund
From 2020, Severn Trent is giving away £10 million over five years through its Community Fund to support local projects, charities and community groups in the Severn Trent region – helping to make a real and tangible difference to the wellbeing in our communities. The Community Fund is overseen by an independent panel, made up of Severn Trent customers, who review applications and make the final decisions on where the money will go.
The Severn Trent Community Fund looks to support projects that aim to improve community wellbeing, focusing on three elements:
- People: projects that help people to lead a healthier life and gain new skills
- Places: projects that help to create better places to live in and use
- Environment: projects that will help look after our natural environment, give people greater access to that environment or help look after water.
More can be found out on their website stwater.co.uk/communityfund