By Jess Bourne
The Shama Women’s Centre is hosting a museum takeover to celebrate International Women’s Day at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery tomorrow (SAT,MARCH8).
The idea for the takeover came from the museum, who saw the services and support that the women’s centre, in Sparkenhoe Street, is providing.
Razia Chowdhury, Engagement Officer at Shama Women’s Centre, said: “Leicester Museum and Art Gallery approached us as they are trying to connect with local organisations and community groups to widen their reach.
“They proposed a collaboration where we can show off our services but also introduce the museum to our service users who may not have ever entered the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery.”
The Shama Women’s Centre takeover event will include several information stands, about topics such as volunteering and mental health. The team will also be displaying items that their service users have created in different classes, while also making it interactive. One of the activities that will be available is sewing a button.
“It will be based on everything we do at the centre, and for people to really see what we do and how they can get involved with Shama, or attend some of our classes,” said Razia.
Specific artifacts, picked by the team at the Shama Women’s Centre, will be on display. They have chosen certain ones based on what they feel represents the service users and what they are interpretations of.
“Largely, we’re hoping to support our mission which is to support women and their families,” said Razia. “Even if we help one woman during the event, or we help one woman empower herself, I think we will be happy with that.
“International Women’s Day means we get the opportunity to celebrate all the wonderful things that women have achieved over the last few years and also encourage women who may feel like they can’t do what they dream of doing.
“It’s about encouraging women, no matter what their age, because you don’t have to be a young person to dream,” Razia said.
The Shama Women’s Centre is a Leicester-based charity, which has been established for nearly 39 years. The work that it does aims to help women gain confidence and qualifications through their social, educational and emotional support.
Due to their help and guidance, BAME women in Leicester, who previously may have experienced cultural barriers, have become active and valued members in the community.
“We largely support ethnic minority groups and are known for our culturally sensitive services and the way we do this is by having staff that are multilingual and from the same community as the women that we support,” Razia said.
The Shama Women’s Centre Museum takeover is free entry and open to all. It will be open between 11am and 4pm.
Read more about it here.