Hayley Dunne, Director of Delivery at gender equality charity Chwarae Teg, writes about how their organisation has changed their services to fit the ‘new normal’ of the coronavirus pandemic.
Demonstrating inequality
Crucially, as Wales’ leading gender equality charity, we are being front footed in highlighting the detrimental effect COVID-19 is having on women.
Via research, media articles and working with Welsh Government we are collating and publishing evidence which demonstrates the entrenched inequality underlined by the pandemic.
Moving online
Internally Chwarae Teg has embraced agile working for some years so we are fortunate to be prepared for home working.
Though of course we are now communicating more frequently and in broader ways with staff and partners to make sure no one is struggling or feeling isolated.
Our teams too have been quick to move the delivery of many of our planned programmes, projects and events to online platforms.
Delivering services
By adapting our delivery we are assisting women participating in our career development programme to ensure they complete their courses by developing and presenting a suite of webinars alongside ongoing personal support.
For those setting out on their career development journey with Chwarae Teg our women’s and engagement teams have been working together to develop ways in which our coaching and ‘getting to know you’ sessions are offered – using new systems and ways of meeting including across Teams, Skype and WhatsApp.
Moving on to the next stage of group delivery, we have moved our women’s courses on from July to now begin in September, and we’re planning ahead of time to deliver this completely virtually if social distancing is still in place.
We have also been busy supporting organisations and businesses by delivering relevant webinars and providing assistance to help them meet their transition needs.
Make it happen
In fact, when it comes to business, our very own new initiative – ‘MAKE. IT. HAPPEN’ – in collaboration with NatWest and Simply Do Ideas, will now take the form of online rather than real live events.
The scheme is designed to encourage 100s of women from all walks of life who have a burning business idea to stake the first step in making it a reality – and we’re hoping that providing the events online will enable even more women to get involved.
We’d love to hear how your organisation is adapting to the challenges and opportunities presented by the coronavirus pandemic. Please get in touch with the team to discuss.