Spirit of 2012 and the Southbank Centre are partners in the delivery of WOW Spirit – a three-year partnership which will work with local community groups to deliver Women of the World festivals in new locations across the UK. 

WOW – Women of the World – is the world’s largest festival network of its kind, and has seen festivals held on five different continents. Each festival – made up of talks, debates, music, activism, comedy, workshops, mentoring, pop ups and major concerts – celebrates women and girls, takes a frank look at what prevents them from achieving their potential, raises awareness globally of the issues affecting women and discusses possible solutions.

Spirit has awarded £671,859 to the Southbank Centre for WOW Spirit, and that funding will deliver Women of the World festivals in five towns and cities across the UK between 2016 and 2018. The first of these will take place in Bradford from 5-6 November 2016. 

Spirit has also awarded a £150,000 contract to the Fawcett Society to deliver a conference and small grants programme called Spirit of Women Changemakers, in November 2016. These conferences will bring together stakeholders from a wide range of sectors to discuss barriers to gender equality, and find solutions to address current issues. 

The aim is to generate new partnerships and projects to bring about lasting change. To support this ambition, the conferences will see the launch of a Spirit of Women Changemakers small grants programme to help create and test exciting and innovative ways of tackling inequality.  

Further information: 

WOW Bradford 

Fawcett Society Website