Bath area women’s projects have missed out as demand for Tampon Tax Fund far outstrips supply for the second year running.

Quartet Community Foundation, who distribute the Tampon Tax Community Fund in the Bath area, have today announced that six out of seven local women’s projects missed out on funding.

Quartet’s Chief Executive, Sue Turner, said: “It’s very worrying that so many groups who applied will go without funding. These local grassroots groups need our support. They’re facing a significant increase in demand for their services, yet many women’s projects reported a drop in income in 2018.

“Women and girls face disproportionate disadvantages and we must act now to support these vital groups that improve life for women in the Bath area.

“We’d love to support more projects for women and girls and want to work with more philanthropists to make this happen.”

Six grassroots groups working in Bristol, B&NES, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire were successful and receive grants of between £7,000-£10,000 through the Tampon Tax Community Fund to support local women and girls facing challenges.

Sue continued: “This funding supports the groups on the ground that are making a real difference to the lives of women and girls. We know there is huge demand out there for these services and are proud to help small organisations working in our community to get vital funding, which otherwise they may miss out on.”

In Bath, VOICES received £9,928 to offer a specialist user-led counselling service for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse in Bath and North-East Somerset. VOICES’ Director, Ursula Lindenberg, said: “Addressing the profound impacts that domestic and sexual abuse have upon mental health and wellbeing can be a crucial step towards sustained recovery and the opportunity to rebuild and thrive. We are enormously grateful to Quartet Community Foundation for supporting this free, dedicated service for our clients.”

The full list of local projects who have shared in £55,338 of Tampon Tax Community Fund grants through Quartet Community Foundation are:

Greenhouse Bristol, who received £10,000 to offer weekly therapy sessions to 13-18 year-old girls affected by sexual abuse.

Autism Independence received £7,705 for a programme of wellbeing activities for women of Somali background who are caring for autistic children.

Mothers for Mothers received £10,000 for one-to-one support for mothers coping with severe mental health problems and other disadvantages.

Womankind received £10,000 to run a befriending project for isolated women in Bristol living with mental health issues.

Bristol Women’s Voice received £7,705 to train community facilitators to improve access to health services, raise confidence, and reduce isolation among women from Bangladeshi backgrounds.

The need to support women and girls within the UK is major, the facts:

Six groups received £55,338 Tampon Tax Community Funding.

The local Tampon Tax Community Fund could only fund 1 in 7 applications, meaning many vital projects are missing out on support.

80% of women’s groups reported an increase in demand for women-only services, none reported a decrease in 2018 (Women’s Budget Group).

86% of the burden of austerity since 2010 has fallen on women (Women’s Budget Group).

The income of 41% of women’s organisations reduced in 2018 (Women’s Budget Group).