Yorkshire Charity Shantona turns 25 - event hosted by Christine Talbot - video Dailymotion

‘Women are the unsung heroes of our communities,’ huge turnout at star-studded event as Yorkshire charity turns 25.   Video by Christine Talbot.

Transcript

00:00 Please give yourselves a round of applause.

00:02 [Applause]

00:07 I mean, the women in the room, just, you know, respect.

00:11 But also the men in the room as well, allies, friends to the organisation.

00:15 Thank you so much as well for what seems like every step of the way for the last 25 years.

00:21 I actually won a T-shirt with 'I am the hero' on it.

00:24 Since I've started this organisation, I've been hearing that men wanted to look after them.

00:31 And then financially, women are depending on the male member of the family.

00:36 So they never see themselves as a hero.

00:39 But a lot of the women we supported, now they actually are heroes within their family

00:46 to break out those barriers they face, or they achieve their full potential.

00:52 So therefore, why can we not start writing the story about women as a hero themselves?

01:00 So they can be the hero for the whole family, for the community.

01:04 Because those leadership we need to create, that's what actually we would like to see in the next 25 years.

01:11 A lot of heroes within that community, capturing their story

01:16 and also bringing them together to abolish the whole domestic violence

01:23 so they don't have to face the domestic violence anymore.

01:26 Shantona is a real jewel and crown for the city of Leeds.

01:30 They do wonderful work and it's got better year on year.

01:33 In my previous job, I worked with them right back in 1998, making a short video about girls' experiences,

01:41 how things have changed since then, how things have changed in the community,

01:45 in many attitudes, in the opportunities given to women, and this is down to the work of Shantona.

01:53 Alison Lowe is with me now. Alison, Deputy Mayor for Police and Crime in West Yorkshire.

01:59 Can you tell me why you are so supportive of the Shantona organisation?

02:03 So as a former Chief Exec here in Leeds, of a mental health charity, I have worked alongside Shantona.

02:10 And then when I was a councillor, I also worked alongside Shantona because they are amazing.

02:14 They've got such breadth and depth in the communities that they serve.

02:17 Without them, Leeds City Council, Touchstone and now the Mayor's Office would not get the outcomes

02:23 that they need to get if we're going to be a fair, just and inclusive society.

02:27 [BLANK_AUDIO]