About Us
Yorkshire Women’s Forum CIC is committed to supporting women through creative workshops and sustainability-focused projects, with an aim to enable women to nurture their mental health and wellbeing through creativity.
Based in Bradford, we are positively changing the lives of women. Every week we are working with around 70 individuals, with complex health, relationship, financial and discrimination challenges. Our activities are specifically aligned to meet needs in our diverse community.
All of our projects are based in ‘creating something unique’. We support women to upcycle household items and fabrics -making new things from old, whilst also teaching and reviving skills that have been lost over generations. Repairing, repurposing and reusing items not only help the environment but also save money, helping those in financial difficulty.
Many people come to us looking to ‘make something’, but they leave with much more, with participants feeling more connected to their community, having better mental health, feeling less excluded and having confidence to achieve in life. For the women we work with, we leave a permanent change.
Our Team
Shazia Ahmed
Director
Shazia is a former solicitor specialising in real estate finance and banking law.
As a mother of two, whilst she took time out to raise her family her focus turned to community work, where she found her skills and experience invaluable. Shazia believes that all women should have the opportunity to reach their full potential, and have the privileges that she has had in her academic and career journey. She is a compassionate advocate and has dedicated her time to supporting women in gaining confidence, a sense of direction and access to resources.
Shazia leads our Women’s Empowerment projects, keeps us all in check and does all the ‘boring’ paperwork! We call her ‘Head Honcho’.
Tanu Patel
Director
Tanu is a former social worker, experienced in family and child care, drug rehabilitation and dual sensory impairment.
She was hit hard by Covid-19, and during her long-Covid journey she discovered her skills in furniture renovation. Tanu believes that focusing on up-cycling helped her deal with the aftermath of Covid and contributed immensely to her recovery. Her experience proves that creativity helps healing and promotes mindfulness. Through her up-cycling sessions, she devotes her time to supporting women in connecting with their creativity, forming support networks, and finding a sense of purpose.
Tanu leads our Restoration Hub and other creative initiatives and can turn any trash into treasure. Her grandchildren call her ‘Nani fixit’.
Zunara Arshad
Director
Zunara is a former banker, with experience in governance and leadership.
A dedicated mother of four, she is a passionate champion for women’s development and community-driven entrepreneurship.
Zunara leads our Soul and Soil project. She believes that nature is the biggest healer and that to move forward one must first begin to heal. Zunara sees this as the first step in a journey of self-recognition, self-worth and self-care. She supports women in finding a safe and happy place amongst the trees and the bees.
A banker turned horticulturist, her children call her “Mother Earth”.
Gulshan Munir
Director
Gulshan works in the field of supporting for vulnerable adults. She has qualifications in various holistic therapies.
An accomplished seamstress, she has a passion for reviving old traditions and is bringing these skills back through her various projects. A mother of five, Gulshan believes all children need to learn old skills and has encouraged her boys as well as her girls to sew.
Gulshan is vehemently against textiles going into landfill and leads our Sewcialise project where she teaches various skills in order to repurpose scrap fabrics into useful household items and art. Her side hustle is making bags and raising money to plant trees.
She is lovingly known as ‘The Bag Lady’.
Our Steering Group
Our steering group are women from varied backgrounds, bringing in a wide array of qualifications and experiences that complete our organisation.
Together, we strive to work with passion, humility and transparency.
We are building a community where women bring out the best in each other and where “How are you?” isn’t just a greeting.
Tanveer is a mother of 3. She is a senior early years practitioner in a nursery school. Tan is a historian with specific interest in Indian and British history .
A keen cook and crafter, she is a participating member of our SEWcialise Hub.
Gemma is experienced in working in community development, business development and economic development roles. Gemma has a focus on building grassroots and medium sized non-profits in disadvantaged communities, and is particularly interested in working with women-led projects in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Zeenat has worked with the NHS in Nursing Management and as a Health Promotion Specialist. She is a first aid trainer delivering courses in Urdu and Punjabi and works with the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS trust as a Muslim Chaplain. Zeenat is an accomplished Hijama and Mizan therapist.
Jen has worked with the most deprived communities in inner city Bradford for 30 years. She has delivered programmes co-designed with the local community and key stakeholders to address deprivation through economic initiative within targeted geographical areas of inner-city Bradford. Jen is experienced in all aspects of funding and programme management ensuring delivery of programmes on schedule within budget and achieving all targets. Jen is particularly interested in projects addressing disadvantage and supporting disabled people to achieve their aims.
Tuiya was born and raised in Kenya before coming to University of Leeds to pursue a law degree in 1996. Tuiya went on to settle in Leeds after graduating and is a solicitor and lecturer by profession.
Tuiya is passionate about bringing people from all walks of life together through community-based activities and has managed to achieve this over the years through working with various organisations on a voluntary basis.
More About Us
The Need
“Speaking to over 100 women in Bradford we found that the lockdowns, long Covid and losing loved ones has left many in fear of returning to ‘normal’ life. Many women feel left in a void and very isolated. This was especially prevalent in more deprived communities, with Covid having a greater impact due to poverty, lack of financial security, and health inequalities. The cost-of-living crisis has further impacted women in these communities, with women facing deeper poverty than men due to lower earnings, caring responsibilities, and discrimination.”
Who We Are Working With?
Our sessions are exclusive for women. As a space to feel confident, safe and empowered by others around them. We have a mix of ages, our youngest participant being 18 and our oldest 72
We support women with physical disabilities, providing an appropriate and accessible environment for them to work in. We have a number of women attending who suffer from fibromyalgia and have struggled to find spaces where they can work at their own pace.
Recognising the rise in mental health issues, one of our directors, a former social worker and counsellor, is always present to offer support and guidance, both during the sessions and after.
In all situations, we offer one to one support, and wherever possible we signpost further.
Why Our Approach Works:
- Research shows that learning new skills is conducive to mental wellbeing, can increase self-confidence and enable individuals to build a sense of purpose.
- The women we are working with are learning skills that can be cultivated into lifelong hobbies and small businesses.
- We aim to provide safe spaces, where women can share feelings, seek advice, and discuss topics they may otherwise lack confidence in doing. By convening in pursuit of a skill or activity, women of different ages, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and lived experiences are brought together to share their insights and perspectives with one another.
We started SEWcialise and The Restoration Hub in 2024; and with support from our network, we have purchased up-cycling materials, sewing machines and collected a fabric and haberdashery bank. We have around 70 women attending each week, over 4 sessions. We also have a waiting list as we are currently working at capacity. The women are free to create whatever they want as part of the sessions, and we have skilled practitioners available to teach specialist sewing and crafting and up-cycling skills. The women engage in a variety of activities such as mending their own clothes, making bags, creating decorative homewares and making new clothes, repairing and repurposing household items. Some of these the women take home to enjoy, and some the women donate back to the project, which we sell as a means of developing the groups sustainability.
From the women who are currently attending, they are facing the following health and wellbeing challenges:
- Stroke and cancer survivors
- Fibromyalgia
- Physical disabilities
- Visual impairment
- Depression, anxiety, low self esteem
- Isolation
We expect to see the following outcomes for the women who attend our sessions:
- Multiple disadvantaged women can access regular provision to support their individual needs
- Increased engagement and increased participation in creative health and wellbeing activity, with people enjoying a healthy lifestyle or engaging in wellbeing activity for the first time
- Improved social behaviour and collaboration
- Improved social inclusion and community cohesion through shared experiences
- Increased self-esteem, leadership and confidence
- Improved physical and mental health
- Development of skills, education and employability opportunities
- Reduced isolation through building friendships, peer networks and through regular social connection
Measuring Success
It’s important that we know we are doing a good job to support individuals and our community. We are a learning and listening organisation, guided by our community. We collect and measure feedback and ensure any lessons are learnt from previous delivery.
When a new woman joins the group, we hold a consultation meeting to assess expectations and needs. Each participant is asked to fill in a detailed form, which is repeated after 12 sessions. This evaluation shows us the distance travelled on the following indicators, level of participation, improvement in confidence levels, engagement with wider group and skills learnt.
At least 2 of our directors are present at each session, to chat to the participants and take on any feedback and concerns.
We Measure Success Using:
- Attendance and participation rates: Tracking the number of women attending sessions.
- Participant feedback: Gathering case studies, surveys and testimonials to evaluate impact on confidence, mental health and skills.
- Measuring the quantity of materials repurposed and items created.
- Goals – working with women to set personal goals at the start and reflecting on what has been achieved
- Observation – we observe the women and make assessments on actions, behaviours, and interactions and individual progress
- Community impact: Assessing the creation of new connections, friendships, and peer support networks.
